63 



gregate more or less on the under surface of the leaves and to eat 

 through to the epidermis of the upper surface. With increased growth 

 large holes were eaten entirely through the leaves, and a leaf would 

 in some cases be completely devoured except some of the larger veins. 

 There are among office records two of the earlier occurrences of this 

 species, one at St. Louis, Mo. , where this species was stated to be feed- 

 ing in its larval state upon the leaves of apple and peach, but in confine- 

 ment only, and another dated May 13, 1884, of the receipt of specimens 

 from Ashby, Mass., where the larva was stated to have done much dam- 

 age to the buds of grape, and apple and other fruit trees; but as the moths 

 reared are not to be found among our Prodenias, it is fair to presume 

 that the person who identified the species may have been at fault. In 

 short, there is nothing to show that this or other species of the genus 

 ever assume the climbing habit, as is the case with the spotted cut- 

 worm, JSToctua c-nigruin, which somewhat resembles Prodenia in the 

 pattern of the markings of the dorsal surface. There is also a record 

 of the larva identified as P. eommelinw eating holes into the leaves of 

 raspberry, May 30, 1879, at Ithaca, N. Y., but it is not stated that this 

 occurred in the field. Larvae of this species have several times been 

 taken on grass by the writer and others in the District of Columbia. 



PUBLISHED RECORDS. 



Smith and Abbot's description appeared in the year 1797 in Natural 

 History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia (Vol. II, 

 p. 189, Plate XCV). The specific name was derived from the insect's 

 food plant, Commelina comnmnis Linn. We quote the original descrip- 

 tion and remarks: 



Ph. Noctua spirilinguis cristata, alis deflexis: primoribus fusconebulosis litura 

 diffracta maculaque ad apicem flavescentibus posticis albidis. 



Feeds on Wild Comfrey {Commelina communis), Hickory, Groundpeas, etc. It 

 went into the ground August 19, and the fly came out the 10th of September. This 

 moth, though found also in Virginia, is not very common. 



The illustration furnished of the moth is quite recognizable, but 

 that of the larva might serve about equally well for ornithogalli or 

 eudwpta, our other common species. 



Smith and Abbot gave this species the name of Commelina or wild- 

 comfrey owlet moth, and the first name we may retain for lack of a 

 better one, since another plant, Cynoglossmn virginicum, is the one 

 recognized by present-day botanists as wild comfrey. 



In Glover's u Manuscript Notes from My Journal" (p. 60), two ref- 

 erences are made to Prodenia commelince in his own earlier accounts 

 in Patent Office Reports for the years 1854 and 1855, respectively, but 

 these accounts can not be referred to the species in question with any 

 degree of certaint}^. Mention has been made by the writer in Bulletin 

 No. 10 (new series, p. 60) of the occurrence of this species on asparagus 

 at Colonial Beach, Va. , in August. 



