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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 17 
are indicated. There is no reasonable doubt of the identity of this variation with the 
borealis of the North. In the Northern States the species is more brightly yellow 
and has larger black spots, and it is true that the Arizona specimens do have some¬ 
what the appearance of corrupta Muls., being of about the same size as large speci¬ 
mens of the latter species; so the entomologists at Phoenix are not to blame for 
stoutly maintaining that this is a variation of the bean beetle. In other words, the 
extremely small dotted specimen received does present more of the appearance of 
corrupta than it does of the northern borealis. At this point it is interesting to remark 
that few species of beetles have such an extreme geographical range as borealis. 
which extends from Canada and New England through Central America into South 
America. 
F. H. Chittenden 
A New ‘Canker-Worm.’ In the spring of 1923 the larvae of a Geometrid moth, 
Coniodes plumogeraria Hulst, totally defoliated over forty acres of walnut trees in 
the Simi valley, Ventura County, California. 
According to H. G. Dyar this moth is not closely related to Paleacrita vernata. 
Like the latter, however, the female is wingless and the larvae have two pairs of pro¬ 
legs. They also pupate in the ground and emerge in the spring. 
There appears to be only one brood a year. This year the moths commenced to 
emerge the middle of February and the eggs to hatch the middle of March. Most of 
the eggs observed were deposited on twigs killed the previous seasons. 
The wings of the male are silver-gray. The forewings are transversed by narrow 
wavy brown bands; four on each wing, the distal being most distinct. The charac¬ 
teristic marking on the hind wing is a brown spot near the center. The wing expanse 
measures 4p2 centimeters from tip to tip. The antennae are light brown and beau¬ 
tifully plumose. 
The female is brownish-gray. Ventrally, the abdomen is light gray; dorsally, it 
is tinged with bronze. In length the female measures 1 to lp 2 centimeters. 
The eggs are ovoid and slightly ridged. When first laid they are of an iridescent 
bronze but when about to hatch they are of a light blue. 
The newly-hatched larvae are black with white patches along the lateral line. 
After feeding they turn brown but the white patches remain distinct for some time. 
The integument is sparsely covered with hairs and spined tubercles. 
It is noteworthy that the infested orchard is some distance from any native 
growth and intervening orchards are apparently free. 
Stanley E. Flanders, Entomologist , Saticoy Walnut Growers Assn . 
Woodpeckers and Smartweed Borer. In February, 1924, the State Entomologist 
at Ames, Iowa, received a package of dry corn stalks from Henry Marshall of Clear 
Lake, Iowa. They were found to be infested by larvae of the smartweed borer, 
Pyrausta ainsliei Heinrich. The sender stated in his letters that there seemed to be 
about two or three acres of stalks thus heavily infested in rather low ground. His 
attention was attracted by the activity of a number of downy woodpeckers, ( Dryo - 
bates pubescens medianus Swainson). Though the day was bitterly cold and the field 
three-quarters of a mile from any kind of trees or shelter, yet these birds were busily 
pecking the stalks to pieces. Examination proved that they were getting about 90% 
of the larvae. There seemed to be little or no promiscuous prospecting on the part 
