■iuuujuiuuuiu] nil 
THE POTATO TUBER MOTH. 
CLASSIFICATION AND SYNONYMY. 
The tuber moth belongs to that very large and cosmopolitan family 
of Microlepidoptera, the Gelechiidae. The genus Phthorimaea was 
founded by Meyrick in 1902 (43), the tuber moth being made the 
type. 
There seems to be not a little difference in the synonymy given 
this insect by various authors, so the following list has been selected 
from the literature cited in the bibliography: 
Phthorimaea operculella (Zell. ) Meyr. , 1902. . '. (43) 
Gelechia terrella Walk., 1864 l (2) 
Gelechia operculella Zell., 1873 ' (5) 
Bryotropha solanella Bdv., 1874 (6) 
Lita solanella Meyr., 1879 : (9), (11) 
Gelechia tabacella Rag. , 1879 (10) 
Lita tabacella Rag. , 1885 (15) 
Gelechia solanella Meyr. , 1886 (16) 
The foregoing synonymy does not take into consideration the Gele- 
chia similiella (3) and the G. solaniella (4) of V. T. Chambers, which 
were described in 1872 and 1873, respectively. G. similiella was de- 
scribed first and the name subsequently changed to solaniella when 
the larva of this form was found mining in Solanum carolinense. 
Later, in 1878 (8), Chambers adds to his description of G. solaniella. 
Specimens were collected in Kentucky and Texas. It appears from 
the life notes he adds that the insect in question might be PJithori- 
maea operculella, but there seem to be no types in existence to sub- 
stantiate this. 
DESCRIPTION. 
THE EGG. 
The egg when freshly laid is opaque, pearly white in color, and 
with a faint iridescence. As the egg becomes older it becomes yel- 
lowish and the iridescence becomes more pronounced, so that at the 
time of hatching it is nearly lemon-yellow with the iridescence 
strongly marked. As hatching time approaches the thin shell 
sometimes becomes more or less distorted, and the outlines of the 
embryo within can be distinguished. Due to the habit of the moth 
of ovipositing on rough surfaces, the eggs are often distorted and the 
shape varies greatly. Two masses of eggs on the surface of a potato 
are shown in figure 6. 
The egg is ellipto-cylindrical in shape, the bluntly rounded ends 
closely resembling each other. An average of several measurements 
gave a length of 0.48 mm. and a width of 0.36 mm. 
1 Oldest name, but a homonym, 
55889°— Bull. 427—17 2 
