1925] Hitherto Undescribed Habits of Meskea dyspteraria 73 
tuft of hairs which we may call the copulatory tuft. After this 
tuft is extruded, it is spread out much in the manner in which a 
peacock or turkey spreads its tail. This spreading is dorso- 
ventral as well as lateral, and the tuft is vibrated if the moth 
is disturbed. Though the presence of the female in the same 
breeding cage is not necessary to induce this behavior, there 
every indication that the tuft functions in mating. Unfortunately 
the author was not able to observe the moths at the moment in 
which the final stages of courtship took place and a more thorough 
study would probably bring out other details of interest. In this 
species the wings and body of the two sexes are identical in 
color pattern. 
Attempts to photograph the copulatory tuft when spread 
were rather unsuccessful, as the moth usually vibrated the tuft 
when disturbed or retracted it entirely, and the feathery nature 
of the tuft makes it a hard object to photograph even when ex- 
panded. Its form is however shown in a sketch reproduced as 
Fig. 2c. Fig. Id, is an excellent photograph of the contracted 
position of the tuft in copulation. The tuft is drawn into the 
abdomen and remains completely concealed in the daytime. 
Several females deposited eggs after copulation; but no 
larvae were hatched. The odd shaped egg is shown in top and 
side view in figures 2, d and 2, e. 
Young galls found on Abutilon May 24, 1924 showed the 
first larval instar. The life history has thus been traced except 
the larval molts. 
Meskea dyspteraria was described in 1877 by Grote in the 
Canadian Entomologist. A very brief and utilitarian life history 
is given by Heinrich in the Journal of Agricultural Research and 
his plates give only drawings of the head of the larvae, the pupae, 
and the arrangement of the larval setae. 
Some of the observations made in this paper are not new; 
but those describing the copulatory tuft in the male are, as far as 
I have been able to find, original and unique. I intend to make 
some further study of this species before discussing it in relation 
to other know phases of insect courtship. 
In the photographic; work on this paper I owe much to 
Reginald Painter, formerly tutor in Zoology at the University 
