228 BEUTENMULLER, MONOGRAPH OF THE SESIID^E. 



setae (normal) ; the third on the middle of the posterior margin is cut off by a 

 curved groove or suture, that separates the lower posterior angle of the shield 

 from the rest. The three lower setae are gathered together at the lower part of 

 the shield on a sort of tubercle. On the meso- and metathorax, tubercles \a 

 and \b are united, \\a and \\b likewise, but iv and v are well separated, iv being 

 even nearer to iii than to v ; a curious condition. The abdominal segments 

 (Fig. 6) are more or less distinctly divided into three annulets as in Tortriciclae 

 and Pyralidae. All the tubercles and setae are single, there never being any 

 development of warts or secondary hairs. The skin is minutely granular. The 

 spiracles are small, slightly elliptical, that of joint 12 the largest, pushed upward 

 a little and directed partly backward, to gain the air space in the burrow behind 

 the larva. 



The larvae of about 20 per cent, of the known species have been under 

 examination. The following table may aid in their identification, though several 

 of them offer no tangible points of difference that I can obtain from the material 

 before me. The specimens are preserved in alcohol or inflated. Most of them 

 are from the collection of the U. S. National Museum and my own collection ; 

 five or six more have been handed to me by Mr. Beutenmuller. 



Vespymima sequoice is the most generalized form before me. Not only are 

 the tubercles unusually large and distinct, but the clypeus plainly reaches the 

 vertex of the head, separating the epicranial lobes, much as in some leaf-mining 

 Tineidae. The most specialized form is Melittia satyriniformis. This has lost 

 both the tubercles and the segmental annulets. The other species are all closely 

 allied, one scarcely more specialized than another. 



Synoptic Table of the Larvae. 



Epicranial lobes separated by the paraclypeal pieces, which touch the membranous vertical triangle. 

 Body tubercles large, setae coarse and distinct ; crochets of abdominal feet 7 to 10 in the trans- 

 verse row, the outer part of the row absent Vespamima sequoia. 



Epicranial lobes distinctly touching or somewhat broadly contiguous. 

 Spiracles brown-ringed, tubercles moderate ; segments 3-annulate. 



First annulet (tubercle i) more elevated than the others ; crochets of abdominal feet 10 to 

 14 in a row. 

 A black band across between eyes over lower part of clypeus Memythrus dollii. 



This area more or less brown, the black restricted to a spot above ( Sanninoidea exitiosa. 

 antenna \ Sanninoidea pacifica. 



( Algeria apiformis. 

 Second annulet (tubercle ii) more elevated than the others. 

 Crochets 6 to 9 in a row. 



Crochets large and thick ; brownish with distinct paler tubercles Parharmonia pini. 



Crochets small and slender, white, tubercles indistinct Sesia pyri. 



Crochets 9 to 14 in a row. 



Slender, head small Sesia tipidiformis. 



More robust, head larger. 



Lower posterior ocellus as distinct as the others though without pigment. 



