762 FIFTH REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 
86. TlIK 1*1 HI III 
Fieri* memafia Felder. 
The following account of this destructive insect ia copied from Mr. 
Stretch's article, contributed to Papilio (ii, 103-110 . 
While in company with Professor Hagen ami Mr. Samuel Benshaw, of the North 
Transcontinental Survey, during (he present summer, it was my fortune to find this 
delicate battel lly in excessive profusion, and as it mnst now take rank among our 
injurious insects, it is thought that th«- following notes may Le worthy of publication. 
i ibuiimi. — The species waa first Been by our party at Spokane Falls, in Wash- 
ington Territory, near the Idaho line, ou July 22, the altitude above the sea being 
about 1,900 feet. The few specimens captured were all males and much worn. A 
number of others were seen, but their peculiar habit of flitting around the tops of the 
Larger trees prevented capture. On July 23 I found the larva,- and pupa- in great 
numbers on the trunk of a yellow pine, at a point on the Colville road, about ten 
miles north of the crossing of the Little Spokane River, and about ten miles south of 
Loon Lake, but did not notice the insect on the wing. At Loon Lake a few worn 
specimens were seen (all males), and I again found the larva,- and pupa on the trunks 
of pine trees in immense numbers, say not less than from 200 to 300 within six feet 
of the ground. Between Loon Lake and Brown's, the latter place being fifty-four 
miles from Spokane Falls, the same phenomena were again noticed, but with the 
difference that the imago was emerging in great numbers. I took probably seventy 
specimens, both male and female, in a few minutes, and over one hundred and fifty 
in the course of the day. It would easily have been possible to make the number 1,500. 
Most of those taken were picked off the truuks of the trees, just fresh from the pupa, 
having never been on the wing. At Brown's both larva?, pupa?, and imago were 
equally common, though not many of the latter were on the wing until towards eve- 
ning, as the day was cloudy. Towards evening the sun shone out for a few minutes, 
and instantly the air was alive with butterdies, flitting round the pines in countless 
numbers, and glistening against the dark green of the young timber like the most 
delicate snow-flakes. Some idea of the immense numbers of the insect may be gath- 
ered from the fact that in the infected district near Brown's, on every little pine, 
though not more than two feet high, ou each terminal bunch of needles, from one to 
twelve larva? or pupa? could be counted, and every weed could show its quota of 
pupa-. Our trip did not extend northward beyond this point, but the appearance of 
the forest showed that we had not reached the limit of the plague. On July 25 we 
returned to Loon Lake, finding the insect in all stages, from full grown larva to 
imago, excessively abundant, with eggs, larva', and pupa? on both the fir ( Abies bal- 
8amii) and tamarack (Pinus contorta), as well as on the pines. Returning south, the 
insect was common for eight miles : in the next three it grew gradually rarer, and 
then we lost it altogether, though this may be partly the result of the greater rarity 
of yellow pine timber (Pinus ponderosa) and the predominance of fir and tamarack 
along the line of travel. On July 27 we saw a few sporadic butterdies as we ap- 
proached Spokane Falls, say five miles from town. Round the latter place it did 
not seem to be abundant, but occurred ou the 28th in greater numbers, as we ap- 
proached Cheney by rail, and was seen about ten miles west of that place, or about 
twenty-five miles southwest of Spokane Falls, near the edge of the timber. 
What the extension of this affected area maybe it is impossible to say. as there are 
no accessible data at hand : but as the insect is found in California, in Plumas County 
about Lake Tahoe and elsewhere, more than 630 miles to the southward, and also in 
Colorado and Vancouver's Island, it is evidently of very wide distribution, latitude 
in the north taking the place of altitude in the south : and consequently the same 
phenomena which we are lure called to note may occur in localities where the tim- 
