29 2 BEUTENMULLER, MONOGRAPH OF THE SESIID^E. 



Algeria inusitata Hy. Edwards, Papilio, Vol. I, i88r, p. 201 ; Grote, New Check List N. Am. 

 Moths, 1882, p. 12 ; Beutenmuller, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Vol. IV, 1892, p. 172. 



Male. — Head blue black, sometimes with a few yellow hairs between the antennae, palpi pale 

 yellow, black above. Collar at the sides pale yellow. Thorax blue black with a narrow pale yellow 

 line on each side. Abdomen blue black with a very narrow pale yellow ring on the second and 

 fourth segments ; the ring on the fourth segment encircles the body, or is only present beneath and 

 sometimes in form of a patch. Anal tuft hastate, blue black narrowly edged with white at the sides. 

 Legs blue black, with pale yellow tufts on the tibiae, and yellow rings on the tarsi ; anterior coxae 

 marked with yellow. Fore wings transparent, with the margins very narrow, blue black ; discal 

 mark narrow, straight. Sometimes the inner margin is scaled with pale yellow. Underside with 

 inner and costal margins, and discal mark scaled with pale yellow. Hind wings transparent, no discal 

 mark and with very narrow outer margin ; fringes becoming whitish towards the base. Underside 

 like the upper. 



Female. — Same as the male, but more robust, with straight anal tuft and simple antennae. 



Expanse : Male, 15-20 mm ; female, 20-26 mm. 



Habitat. — Canada to Florida and Texas, westward to the Pacific. 



Type : Lost. Algeria inusitata, one female. Coll. Hy. Edwards, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



Larva. — "Normal (S. exitiosd). Epicranial lobes meeting in a point, the paraclypeal pieces 

 almost reaching the vertex ; clypeus not distinctly truncate at the lower corners ; paraclypeal pieces 

 rounded at the vertex and narrowed centrally. Cervical shield luteous brown, pale, nearly white 

 centrally. Crochets of abdominal feet 14 to 17 in a row. Middle annulet narrow and higher 

 than the others." (Dyar, MS.) 



The sexes of this species are very similar and resemble the male of San- 

 ninoidea exitiosa, from which the species differs by having only two yellow rings 

 on the abdomen, one on the second and one on the fourth segment, the latter 

 usually only present on the underside of the body. In the larval stage it lives 

 under the bark of the plum, wild and cultivated cherries, beach-plum, peach, 

 Juneberry (Amelanckzer canadensis), and chestnut. The eggs are laid on the 

 trunk some distance from the ground and also on the branches. It also feeds in 

 the black-knot fungus. The moths make their appearance during June and 

 July. 



Sesia albicornis (Hy. Edw.). 



Plate XXXI, Fig. 23, Female ; Plate XXXIII, Fig. 15, Male. 



Algeria albicornis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, Vol. I, 1881, p. 201 ; Grote, New Check List N. Am. 



Moths, 1882, p. 12 ; Riley, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. Vol. I, 1888, p. 85 ; Beutenmuller, 



Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sc. Vol. V, 1890, p. 205 ; Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Vol. IV, 1892, p. 



174 ; ibid. Vol. VI, 1894, p. 92. 

 Sesia albicornis Smith, List Lepid. N. Am. 1891, p. 21 ; Beutenmuller, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



Vol. VIII, 1896, p. 136 ; ibid. Vol. IX, 1897, p. 219. 

 Ageria proxima Hy. Edwards, Papilio, Vol. I, 1881, p. 201 ; Grote, New Check List N. Am. 



Moths, 1882, p. 12. 

 Sesia proxima Smith, List Lepid. N. Am. 189 1, p. 21. 



Male.— Head bronzy black ; palpi white, rarely pale yellow. Antennae blue black, rarely with a 

 white patch before the tip. Thorax bronzy black with a very slight, pale yellow stripe on each side, 

 sometimes absent. Underside of thorax with a very pale yellow spot on each side. Abdomen 



