Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXX, No. 8 
778 
FAMILY PYRALIDAE 
Subfamily Pyraustinae 
PYRAUSTA NUBILALIS HUBNER 
Pyralis nubilalis Hiibn., 1796, Eur. Schmett., 
Sechste Horde, 25, 14, Pyr., pi. 14, fig. 94. 
Pyralis silacealis Hiibn., 1796, Eur. Schmett., 
Sechste Horde, 25, 15, Pyr., pi. 18, fig. 116. 
Pyralis glabralis Haw., 1811, Lepidop. Brit., p. 
380. 
Botys lupulinalis Clerck, Guenee, 1854, Delt. et 
Pyr. (Bdv. et Guen., Hist. Nat. Ins. Lepi¬ 
dop.) 8: 331. 
Botys zealis Guen., 1854, Delt. et Pyr. (Bdv. et 
Guen., Hist. Nat. Ins. Lepidop.) 8: 332. 
Botys lupulina Heinemann (nec Clerck), 1865, 
Die Schmett. Deutsch. und der Schweiz, 1, 
2, 70. 
Hapalia kasmirica Moore, 1888, New Ind. 
Lepidop. Ins., p. 222, pi. 7. 
Hapalia lupulina Butler (nec Clerck), 1889, 
Illus. Typ. Spec. Lepidop. Het. Coll. Brit. 
Mus. 7: 19. 
Pyrausta nubilalis Hiibn., 1901, Staud. and 
Rebel, Cat. Lepidop. Aufl. 3, 2: 65, No. 
1218. 
For complete information on the 
status, habits, life history, etc., see 
paper by Vinal and Caffrey (21). 
The European corn borer (Pyrausta 
nubilalis Hiibn.) was described by 
Hiibner in 1796 as Pyralis nubilalis. 
The description consisted of a careful 
drawing of the male and a descriptive 
note added to the text of “Sechste 
Horde. ” Hiibner also described the 
female as silacealis in the same manner 
with a figure and a note, apparently 
not recognizing, owing to the complete 
difference in coloration of the two sexes, 
that this species was the female of his 
nubilalis. It seems that Clerck ( 3, 
Sect. I, pi. 9, fig. 4) in 1759 attempted 
to describe a species under the name 
Phalaena lupulina , but executed so 
poor a figure that the majority of 
workers have disregarded it. Guenee, 
although admitting that Clerck’s figure 
is poor, believed that lupulina should 
take precedence over Hubner’s nubila¬ 
lis , since he was convinced that they 
were identical. He therefore assigned 
the name Botys lupulinalis to the 
species, giving Clerck credit for the 
authorship, and several succeeding 
writers have used the name lupulina of 
Clerck for Hiibner’s species. A study 
of Clerck’s figure by later workers, 
however, has convinced them that 
Clerck’s lupulina is not identical with 
Hubner’s nubilalis. Since then the 
species has been described under a 
variety of names, but all recent cata¬ 
logues on Lepidoptera maintain the 
name nubilalis Hiibner. On account 
of priority, the generic name Botys 
erected by Latreille in 1802 has been 
supplanted by Schrank’s Pvrausta of 
1801. 
The full-grown larva of the European 
corn borer (description, 11, p. 174) 
(pi. 1, D) averages 0.81 of an inch in 
length, or 19.95 mm. (20, p. 27). The 
integument on the dorsal side of the 
larva is heavily granulated, the granu¬ 
lations extending to the pleura of the 
body segments. Laterad and ventrad 
the integument is a dirty white. The 
skin granules carry the pigmentation 
which varies from a pink, slate gray, 
or “smoky-fuscous” (11) to a light 
brown. Since each color may pre¬ 
dominate over the other, various color 
combinations are present in living 
larvae which are obviously difficult to 
describe. The skin granules are most 
dense on the dorso-median plane and 
take the form of a distinct stripe which 
is more or less interrupted where the 
integument folds in on the dorsal side 
of the larva to delimit the body seg¬ 
ments; notwithstanding this interrup¬ 
tion, the stripe is plainly visible to the 
unaided eye as a dark, pigmented, 
longitudinal band. On the larva of 
Pyrausta ainsliei , a close relative of 
the larva of the European corn borer 
and almost identical with it struc¬ 
turally, this stripe or band is very in¬ 
significant (pi. 1, C), narrow, and diffi¬ 
cult to establish as present. This 
difference has been found to be a safe 
field character for the separation of 
full-grown living larvae. This char¬ 
acter can not be depended upon for 
use in separating material preserved in 
alcohol, as it is a well-known fact that 
even with the utmost care in preserva¬ 
tion pigmented areas fade. 
The abdominal segments bear on 
the integument of the dorsum or in its 
creases and folds small rounded clear 
areas, some of which appear fused with 
each other, forming thereby somewhat 
irregular moniliform clear spaces. Miss 
Mosher endeavored to establish the 
constancy of these areas on the ab¬ 
dominal segments (18, p. 265) and 
used them in separating nubilalis from 
ainsliei. Heinrich has pointed out 
(11, p. 176) that this character is 
elusive and unreliable. It is possible 
to find in a small series of selected 
larvae some constancy as to the num¬ 
ber and placement of these clear areas, 
but in a large series of larvae the char¬ 
acter is at once seen to be inadequate 
and unreliable. As to the morphology 
of these areas Heinrich believes by 
analogy that they afford attachment 
for certain muscles and homologizes 
them with similar weakly chitinized 
areas in certain Phycitinae—notably 
Dioryctria and Pinipestis by way of 
example (11, p. 174, footnote). Micro¬ 
scopic sections through these areas 
