2 S° BEUTENMULLER, MONOGRAPH OF THE SESIID^E. 



Trochilium polistiformis Fitch, 3d Rep. Nox. Ins. N. Y. 1856, p. 387. 

 Algeria polistcB for mis Glover, Month. Rep. Dept. Agricul. Oct. 1867, p. 329. 



Sciapteron polistiformis Grote, New Check List N. Am. Moths, 1882, p. 11 ; Beutenmuller, 

 Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sc. Vol. V, 1890, p. 204; ibid. Vol. VIII, 1896, p. 22 ; ibid. Vol. IX, 

 1897, p. 218; Davis, Proc. Mich. Hort. Soc. 1894 (1895), p. 78; Lugger, 4 th Rep. Ent. 

 Agricul. Exp. St. 1898 (1899), P- 55, figs. 

 Male. — Head on top dull rufous, face dirty whitish, palpi rufous. Antennae rufous beneath, 

 black above. Thorax brown, sometimes rufous on the patagia. Abdomen brown with a vio- 

 laceous reflection and a yellow ring on the second and fourth segments ; anal segment with four 

 orange brown pencils, the lateral ones shorter. Legs orange, femora black. Fore wings opaque 

 brown black, with a violaceous lustre, and a short transparent streak at base. Underside washed 

 with orange basally. Hind wings transparent, border narrow, violet brown, discal mark very 

 narrow, oblique, inner margin at base orange. Underside with margin marked with orange. 



Female.— Much heavier than the male, with simple antennae and no anal pencils. The thorax 

 wants the rufous color on the patagia and the abdomen is somewhat darker. 

 Expanse : Male, 21-30 mm.; female, 30-37 mm. 



Habitat— Vermont, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Illin- 

 ois, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota. 



Types : Two males and one female. Coll. T. W. Harris, Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 



This moth very much resembles one of the large paper-wasps (Polistes) and 

 on that account was named " iW&^j-shaped " (polistiformis). The sexes are 

 dissimilar, the male having four long pencils on the last abdominal segment. The 

 insect is destructive to the roots of the wild and cultivated grapes, especially in 

 the southern States, and is popularly known as the Grape-root Borer. 



Memythrus scepsiformis {Hy. Edw.). 



Plate XXX, Fig. 3, Female. 



Sciapteron scepsiformis Hv. Edwards, Papilio, Vol. I, 1881, p. 183; Grote, New Check List N. 

 Am. Moths, 1882, p. ii ; Beutenmuller, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Vol. VIII, 1896, p. 121. 



Male and Female.— He&a deep purplish brown, palpi and collar rusty brown. Antennae 

 blackish, dull orange beneath and at the tip. Thorax purplish black brown, patagia with a small 

 yellow dot at the tip, sometimes a yellow stripe on each side and one at the base Abdomen 

 purplish black with the second segment narrowly edged with yellow behind. Legs black tibiae 

 and tarsi marked with orange. Fore wings blackish or brownish, with a bluish purplish reflection 

 ferruginous along the inner margin, and sometimes with a small yellow spot at the base Hind 

 wmgs transparent with a broad outer border, the opaque portion being carried a considerable 

 distance into the wing. Discal mark distinct, violet black ; base of wing at inner margin ferruginous 

 Underside of wmgs same as above, orange basally. 



Expanse : 25-30 mm. 



Habitat : Maryland, Kansas, Texas. 



Types : Male and female. Coll. B. Neumoegen, Brooklyn Institute Arts and Sciences. 



Memythrus simulans {Grote). 



Plate XXIX, Fig. 16, Female. 



Trochilium {Sciapteron) simulans Grote, Bull, Brooklyn Ent. Soc. Vol III 1881 p 78- Bull U S 

 Geog. Surv. Hayden, Vol. VI, 1881, p. 257. ' ' ■" ' 



