4 
in about ten days. The young larvae are very active and strong; they soon begin to 
construct the typical cylindrical nest (see e, copied from Felt), composed of ' web 
and an outer layer of bits of dry grass. The bits of grass are cut with great regu- 
larity, being about 2 mm by 75 mm . Iu these nests the larvae retire when not feeding. 
The larvae feed upon the common grasses. Some were observed. to eat considerable 
sheep sorrel (Bumex acetosella). The larvae feed mostly at night, and occasionally a 
blade of grass was cut off and the end drawn into a nest. As cold weather came on 
the larvae became more dormant, thenests were made thicker, and finally in Novem- 
ber the tops of the nests were closed. The winter is passed iu the iarva state. In 
the spring the larvae complete their growth and then transform, and emerge in July. 
The following are descriptions of the insect in its several stages, so 
far as yet known: 
Imago (/) : Fore-wings above of a pale straw color, growing pale buff apically 
heavily marked with blackish fuscous of varying shades and with silver; the latter 
is mostly confined to two subapical cross-bands, the upper half of the inner and the 
whole of the outer oblique, the inner bent just above the middle and crossing the 
entire wing (excepting that it fails to reach the costal margin above), the lower half 
at nearly right angles to the upper half and subparallel to the outer margin; the 
inner band is bordered interiorly with brown which extends to the costal margin ; 
a broad stripe of silvery gray tapering apically follows the subcostal vein to the end of 
the ceM and four fuscous longitudinal stripes reach nearly or quite to the inner sil- 
very band, the uppermost more or less mingled with buff following the costal edge 
for nearly a third its length and then running a little obliquely across the upper 
extremity of the cell, the next tinged with silver so as to become pearl gray extend- 
ing along the middle of the cell; the other two follow the median and submedian 
nervures; three other short longitudinal fuscous lines, much overlaid and concealed 
by silver, follow the nervules beyond the cell, while a supplementary brownish and 
oblique line intervenes between the oblique portion of the costal stripe and the inner 
margining of the inner silvery band; the extreme outer margin of the wing has a 
black line on the upper half, and on the lower half at the nervule tips three or four 
black points ; the fringe is silvery. Hind- wings uniform silvery gray, narrowly edged 
on the upper half of the outer border with pale brown, the fringe silvery white. 
Expanse of fore wings, $ 15 m,n ; $ 17 mm . Described from four bred males. 
Egg. — When first laid pellucid white, obovate, broadly rounded at both extremi- 
ties, but slightly more so at base than at summit, broadest barely below the mi Idle, 
0.36 mm high and0.3 mm broad, with about twenty-three straight and vertical ribs of 
slight elevation reaching to the dome of the summit, their interspaces crossed by 
finer, horizontal, raised cross-lines which traverse also the vertical ribs, giving 
them a beaded appearance, the surface thus broken up into quadrangular cells 
whose length (the width of the interspaces between the ribs) in the middle of the 
egg is 0.04 runi , and whose height is scarcely 0.02 min , the surface itself very delicately 
shagreeued. On the dome of the summit the surface is broken into polygonal cells 
which are about 0.04 mm in diameter below and grow smaller toward the apex. 
The eggs were laid in confinement npon the stem of the cranberry. 
They hatched in seven days. 
The figure given by Felt, here copied (a), represents the egg as less 
regular than it should be, and the cross lines are not accurately drawn, 
a feature exaggerated in the copy. 
Larva (first stage).— Head diameter, 0.2 mm ; body diameter, 0.125 mm ; length, 0.99 ram . 
General color, a smutty white; head, a little darker than the rest of the body. 
Scattered hairs occur on the head; numerous small dark-colored tubercles occur on 
the body, each bearing at least one hair. (Felt.) 
