THE ALFALFA LOOPER IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST. 



113 



Fifth instar (fig. 45). — Body dark olive-green, dorsal edge of stigmatal line 

 opposed by an almost black line which fades into the general body color dorsally ; 

 head brilliant green, mandibles and palpi brown, a black oblong patch on 

 posterior margin of eye extending from near median line almost to base of 

 mandibles ; thoracic legs almost black. Length, 21 mm. to 28 mm. 



THE PUPA. 

 (PI. XI, fig. 4.) 



" Pupa depressed somewhat above the wing cases at back of the thorax, the 

 eyes prominent, the tongue case projecting below the wing cases, forming a round 

 prominence over the first abdominal segment. The cremaster is short and blunt, 

 and the hooks with which it is furnished are fastened in the silk of the cocoon. 

 Wing cases slightly creased. Color brownish-black, but paler at the joinings of 

 the parts and between the abdominal joints. In occasional instances the whole 

 pupa is pale." 



The above description of the larval stages of this moth agrees in 

 substance with that published by Dr. II. G. Dyar * for this species 

 in California. The larva?, however, are not constant in the matter 

 of coloration. Adult 

 larva? were found with- 

 out the characteristic 

 black markings, while 

 others had the entire 

 head black. Some 

 larva? were of the same 

 pale-green color in the 

 fifth instar as in the 

 fourth, while others 

 were almost white. 



That we had the first 

 instar is only an as- 

 sumption from the number of subsequent molts obtained. Dr. Dyar's 

 description of the pupa is used, as it agrees identically with those 

 found in the Northwest. The pupa is dark olive-green, with brown 

 shadings and pale intersegmental bands when first formed, but soon 

 becomes uniformly brown. 



THE ADULT. 2 



(PL XI, figs. 5, 6.) 



The following is a translation of Speyer's original description : 



Two California males from Moschler's collections differ from the European 

 gamma (which I can, however, only compare with native specimens) in the fol- 

 lowing points : The color of the dorsal surface of the forewiugs is a clear, 

 light-blue gray, except the punctuation which is rose colored or rust colored; 

 this is exhibited in all the gamma found here by me, and also in several dis- 

 tinct variations. 



Fig. 45. — The alfalfa looper (Autographa gamma call- 

 fornioa) : a, Larva, dorsal aspect ; &., same, lateral 

 aspect. Enlarged 21 diameters. (Original.) 



1 Entomologica Americana, vol. 6, p. 14, 1800. 



2 Stett. Ent. Zeit., vol. 36, p. 164, 1875 ; syn : russea Hy Edwards. 



