THE CALIFORNIAN PHRYGANIDIA. 
123 
" The larva is slender, with the head prominent, globose ; last segment but one 
iiutnped ; head pale brown; body black above, dirty green below, with a broad dor- 
sal line of dirty greenish, divided by three narrow black lines, and the sutures 
faintly marked with same color. There is also a narrow, broken, stigmatal line of 
dirty greenish, and a similar line above each of the abdominal legs. Tip of the last 
segment horny, the segment not being used to assist in progression, but usually 
slightly elevated ; body smooth, transversely wrinkled. Younger specimens chiefly 
differ in the disproportionate size of the head. Length .90 to 1 inch." (H. Edwards. ) 
Pupa, naked, suspended by the tail, greenish white, with black markings ; all the 
sutures of the head, thorax, legs, and antennae lined with black. The mesothorax has 
a central black line ; the abdomen has a dorsal row of black points on the front edge 
of each segment, and a lateral row blending into each other towards the anal seg- 
ment, which is black ; below with two sublateral series of black transverse spots 
nearly blending into two longitudinal bands. Length 0.75 inch. (Stretch.) 
Moth. — Sable brown, partially transparent ; antenna? and veins darker ; fore wings 
with the costa straight and apex obtuse, subrectangular. The hind wings of the 
female scarcely reach to the* end of the abdomen. Expanse of wings, 1.22 to 1.47 
inches. 
Mr. Behrens, of San Francisco, 
writes me that three generations of 
the Phryganidia appear in a year. 
" In 1875 it, with the larva of the 
Clisiocampa calif ornica, ate our ever- 
green oaks to broomsticks. You 
could hear the caterpillars eat and 
their manure drop, the latter cover- 
ing everything; it could be swept 
together by the bushelful. In the 
wake of both followed ichneumon 
parasites." 
This singular insect was originally, 
from a study of the moth alone, re- 
ferred by me to the Psychinae, but 
Mr. E. H. Stretch, with a knowl- 
edge of its transformations, has 
shown that I was in error, and has 
placed it very properly in the Zy- 
gaeuidae, in his valuable work enti- 
tled Illustrations of the Zygaenidae 
and Bombycidae of North America 
(1873). Having recently received 
specimens of the larvae and pupae 
from Mr. James Behrens, it was at once evident on a cursory examina- 
tion that the early stages show all the characteristic features of tbe 
Zygaenidae. The venation of the moth is, however, unusual, and this, 
together with the dull-brown coloration and semi-hyaline wings, misled 
me into placing it near Psyche. Mr. A. G. Butler, of the British 
Museum, regards it as closely allied to Dioptis. 
Fig. 39.— a, larva of Phryganidia californica, 
after Stretch ; b, pupa ; c, d, end of pupa. Bridg- 
ham, del. 
