72 



naked, bluish larvte fed on the internal tissues 

 of the segments, bringing about a withered, 

 brown, dying condition. The cavity in the joint 

 was nearly filled with irregularly shaped trans- 

 lucent casts. Hulst (1890, p. 7) has also given 

 an account of the adult.* 



In the Bulletin on Cactus Insects (p. 28) 

 there is given a figure of a hymenopterous para- 

 site, Chelonus laticinctus, bred out from mate- 

 rial from Colorado. 



Melitara prodemaUs, Walker. — This moth 

 was bred by Kiley (1891, p. 256) from an Optp- 

 tia from Florida, and by Smith (1891, p. 243) 

 from New Jersey material. Both Hubbard 

 (1895, p. 129) t and Smith (1892, p. 208) have 

 given an account of some of its habits. 



Its importance as a prickly-pear destroyer 

 will appear from the following introductory para- 

 graph in Hubbard's paper (pp. 129-130) : — 

 "Owing to the attacks of the larvae of Melitara 

 many of the more delicate species (of prickly- 

 pear), including most of our native Floridan 

 Opuntias, cannot be grown successfully in that 

 locality. I have observed that our most widfily 

 distributed species, Opuntia vulgaris, is so much 

 subject to their attacks that large clumps of the 

 plant are rare in internal Florida, and are to be 

 found only near the coast, and upon small islets 

 in the island lakes, and thus a plant which would 

 otherwise probably form one of the most strik- 

 ing objects in the flora of the State is held in 

 check and reduced to insignificant clusters and 

 scattered isolated parts which are seldom per- 

 mitted to attain the normal size and never to 

 produce a numerous colony. Only the wonderful 

 vitality of the Opuntia saves it from complete 

 extinction at Crescent City and elsewhere, yet 

 thanks to its recuperative power it remains, there 

 as elsewhere, one of our commonest types. ' ' 



Eeferring to its depredations on Opuntia 

 when acting in conjunction with a cactus weevil, 

 OerstcBcheria hubhardi, Le Conte, Mr. B. A. 

 Schwarz informed the Commission that it had 

 quite exterminated prickly-pear around Crescent 

 City, Florida. He, however, believed that the 

 greater part of the damage was occasioned by the 

 weevil. 



This Floridan Melitara, according to Hub- 

 bard's account, is a large moth with its wings 

 partly fuscous and partly light-grey, conform- 

 ing in general appearance to the other species of 

 Melitara. It has a wing expansion attaining 52 

 mm. (2 in.) and a body length— palps included 

 —of 27 nun. (li^ in.). J "Its neutral colour is 

 highly protective, and the difficulty of detecting 

 it is increased by the attitude it assumes when 

 at rest— with its wings closed and bent sharply 

 downwards while the abdomen is curved upwards 

 between these slanting organs." (Hubbard, p 

 132). ^ 



* According to Hulst and Kellogg, this moth differs 

 from its nearest ally M. prodenialis, from Florida, in being 

 of a much lighter colour— whitish or light grey — and in 

 possessing stronger dentations on the outer line. Besides, 

 the basal line has a larger outward dentation in the middle! 



t In the Bulletin on Cactus Insects (pp. 28-29) there 

 are published some of Hubbard's notes regarding the 

 moth. ° 



t As Hulsb's diagnostic description (1890, p. 171) of 

 Mehtara prodenialis. Walker, is not readily available it is 

 here given .—Forewings fuscous at base, half along inner 

 margm, and on outer part except towards apex ; rest light 

 grey; whole wing sprinkled with black and marked with 

 black on veins ; hind wing pellucid whitish to fuscous 



This insect attaches its eggs to the minute 

 true leaves or to the spines of its host-plant in a 

 manner similar to other Melitaras. There are 

 generally 45 or 50 eggs in each ' ' egg-stick. ' ' The 

 latter, which may be 80 mm. long, are fixed by' 

 one extremity and directed obliquely upwards 

 from this support (Hubbard, fig. 6). The young 

 caterpillars, after hatching out, feed for a time 

 externally on the bud-like leaves of Opuntia, but, 

 later, penetrate into the segment. From the 

 wounds caused by them, there may exude a 

 gummy fluid which, on drying, forms a scab-like 

 crust. Under this the larvae live more or less 

 gregariously until about one-third grown, when 

 they burrow deeply into the succulent substance 

 of the stem-joints where they remain until full- 

 grown, their length then being about 40 mm. 

 The caterpillars when young or while feeding 

 superficially are brown, but after burrowing into 

 the plant-pulp and having nearly attained full 

 size, they become deep blue as in the case of the 

 larvae of the other species. When full-fed, they 

 issue from the food-plant, gain the surface of the 

 soil, and spin each a relatively large cocoon, 

 2 inches in length, and of an open texture, usually 

 below a fallen stem- joint. The chrysalis is brown 

 and measures 22 mm. in length. Hubbard men- 

 tions that there are two broods of the insect 

 during the year, the moths appearing in June 

 and July and again in October. 



The injury caused by M. prodenialis is simi- 

 lar to that brought about by M. dentata and M. 

 fernaldialis. The attacked segment is generally 

 eaten out before the caterpillar proceeds to the 

 next. The wounds are often aggravated byj 

 various secondary organisms, and as a result a 

 much more rapid destruction is caused (Hub- 

 bard, p. 130). 



Besides Florida, New Jersey and Missis- 

 sippi are mentioned as being included in the 

 range of this species (C.I., p. 45). 



The adult is a large moth with a wing 

 expanse of 2 inches and with an outline and 

 colouration resembling that of other .species. 

 Grote (1890, p. 172) informs us that the hind 

 wings are pellucid fuscous, with an iridescent 

 sheen, and are whitish towards their base; the 

 basal line is fine and black and runs half-way 

 out along the wing beyond its disc. This species 

 has been recorded by Schwarz (1899) and Hub- 

 bard (1899) as breeding in Cereus in Arizona 

 and New Mexico. 



Melitara sp. larvae which were found by Mr. 

 Pratt in 0. engelmanni at Tucson, and which dis- 

 charged their excreta from openings in the seg- 

 ments in the same manner as that referred to as 

 occurring in the case of the Western Texan form 

 of M. junctolineella, probably belong to M. fer- 

 naldialis. In one locality in New Mexico about 

 30 per cent, of the plants of 0. arborescens were 

 more or less injured by larvae which were regarded 

 as belonging to this species (C.I., p. 29). 



Melitara spp. Very little of the work of these 

 boring moths was seen by the Commission during 

 its stay in Texas. In only one instance was a larva 

 of Melitara (M. junctolineella) found — viz., at 

 Brownsville — the insect infesting a swollen joint 

 whose interior contained the hard proliferous 

 tissue referred to by Messrs. Hunter, Pratt, and 

 Mitchell. The excreta were tightly packed in 

 the cavity. Several instances of swollen joints 

 ("fat pear") were met with, but in no other 



