301 
particularly in the lower apical cells. The chief point of difference is in the 
abdomen, which is generally reddish-yellow; the first segment (second of Fitch's 
description, the basal plates of the metathorax having been inaccurately described as 
the first abdominal segment) is black, with yellow apical margin, and a more or less 
distinct dusky oval spot, growing fainter on the posterior segments, marks the sides 
of each of the following segments at the base. 
HABITS OF STIBADIUM SPUMOSUM OR. 
By Mary E. Murtfeldt, KirJcwood, Mo. 
The Eussiau Sunflower, in which the disk is very large — not infre- 
quently from five to six inches across — and consequently productive of 
many seeds, is already cultivated to considerable extent in parts of this 
country, as well as in eastern Europe and Asia, for the value of its 
seeds as food for horses and poultry. The seeds also yield a well- 
flavored and delicate oil, of which small quantities are manufactured 
for commercial purposes, and it is probable that plants of this and 
allied species will become, in the course of a few years, of considerable 
enconomic importance. 
In view of this fact its insect enemies, of which there are a large 
number, are worthy of attention. Among these the species named 
above is prominent. It belongs to a small and peculiar group of 
Noctuids, of which but three species have been characterized, and, so 
far as I can learn, the immature stages of these insects have never been 
studied. A year ago last August I found a large proportion of the 
heads of the sunflowers infested with some insect which ejected its 
castings upon the surface of the flower, which, mingled with the with- 
ered florets, formed a dry, matted crust that in time became more or 
less moldy. Upon breaking open the injured disks one or more short, 
thick, and grub-like lepidopterous larvae were disclosed. These had 
been feeding upon the achenia from the under side and forming cavities 
and channels in the spongy receptacle. 
The full grown larvae were about one inch in length by one-fourth 
inch in diameter, with very large golden brown head and broad corne- 
ous collar of a darker shade of the same color. Otherwise they were 
of an opaque cream white, in some cases with a slight dorsal rosy suf- 
fusion. Specimens sent to Washington were not recognized, and there- 
fore a large number of infested flowers were placed in a rearing cage 
in the hope that they would complete their transformations so that the 
species could be ascertained. 
When full grown the larvae dropped from the flowers and burrowed 
into the earth to the depth of two or three inches, where they inclose 
themselves in broad, oval, thick, felt-like cocoons, which were out- 
wardly encrusted and disguised with earth. Within these cocoons 
they soon changed to pupae, in which form they remained for many 
