A new cactus - frequenting orthopteron from Texas

OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME

XIII, 1911. 79

Commissioner

in

San

_Francisco,

and

witnessed the _inspection of a large steamer

from

_Japan.

Stanford University

was

_visited, as well as

Pomona

_College,

at Claremont, California.

Photographs were shown

of Prof.

V.

L. Kellogg, ^Prof. A. J.

Cook, and

^{Prof. C. F. Baker.}

A

visit

was made

to the

Southern

California

Phytopatho-

logical

Laboratory

^of the University ^{of California at}

Whit-

tier.

A _photograph was shown

of the laboratory

and

also of the _great Leffingwell

lemon

orchard,

where

_they

were

^in-

formed

that the

work

^of R. S.

Woglum

on the fumigation ^of citrus trees

with

hydrocyanic-acid gas

had

already saved the locality at least $250,000.

Visits following ^{these to} Dallas,

Texas;

College Station,

Texas; Audubon

Park, Louisiana;

Baton Rouge,

Louisiana;

and Urbana,

Illinois,

were

_brieflymentioned, entomologists

and

entomological laboratoriesbeing illustrated

by

photographs.

A NEW CACTUS-FREQUENTING ORTHOPTERON FROM TEXAS.

BY

A. N. CAUDELL.

In their investigation of the insects of the cactus Messrs.

Mitchell,

Hunter, and

^Pratt

have

taken a

number

of interest- ing representatives ^of the subfamily Decticinae. I

have

re- cently described one very ^distinct

new

_species of the

genus

Stipator?

and

^I

now

present the description of another

new

species of _this, the dominant,

genus

^of Decticinse. Itake pleasure ⁱⁿ

naming

^the species pratti ⁱⁿ

honor

of

Mr.

F. C.

Pratt.

Stipator pratti,

new

_species.

Male. Alliedto mitchelli in general appearance but ^differs from that species, as well asfrom haldemanii, ^itsnext nearest_ally, inthe shape ^{of the cerci}and that of the last abdominal segment, ⁱⁿ which particularsit ismore_nearlyallied tothe

much

smaller S. stevensoni, as figuredⁱⁿ

my

^{revisionofthe}group.²

Head

moderate,well inserted into the ponotum; fastigium ^{of the} vertex _slightly more than one- thirdas broadas the interocular space; front very broadly rounded;

eyes moderate, ^alittle longer than _broad, somewhat _larger than in mitchelli; antennasas usual in the genus. Pronotum _large and _pro- duced posteriorly considerablyoverthebase of the abdomen; ^lateral lobeswell developed butscarcely so deepas long, the posterior mar- gindistinctlysinuate; lateraland median carina? wholly absent; an- teriormargin ^of pronotum truncate, posterior margin rounded; pro- sternal spinesmoderate, sharp. Organs ^of flightnot_projectingfrom

'Can. Ent., ^vol. XLIII, p. 137 _(1911).

2Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., ^vol. xxxn, pp. 285-410 (1907).

80

PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

beneaththepronotum. Legs long and stout; anterior tibiae armed above withthree spines on the outer side, the inner side unarmed;

hind femoraveryheavy^{on the basal} three-fifths, the apical portion slender, armedbeneath with several short, stout, sharp, triangular, backward-directedspines; plantulas of theposterior^tarsiscarcely half as long as the basalsegment^{ofthe tarsus,} convexand_black, beneath light incolorand deeply^concave.

Abdomen

_largeand plump, no^dorsal carina evident; ^cerciaboutthreetimesaslong as broad, rounded and very slightly incurved, the inner tooth situated

much

_beyond the middle near thetip; ascompared^withthat portion of the cercus be- yond^{itthe toothisaboutthe}same width _{basally, a}little longer and

much

_sharper, being acute apicallyandtherecurved alittle inwards andconsiderablydownwards; tubgenital plateroundly notchedapically, the stylesstout, nearly four times as long as broad;^lastdorsalsegment of the abdomen_mesiallyprojecting considerablybackwards _{and deeply}

cleft, theangleslongandslender, beingfullyfourtimesaslong^asthe mesial width; ^inthealliedspecies mitcKelliandhaldemanii these angles areno_longerthan broad. Generalcolor yellowishbrown, probably green inlife. The pronotum ^ismarginedposteriorlyabove with asoliddeep black bandnearly²

mm.

broad; the abdominal segments, except the

last, are marginedposteriorly with reddish brown; ^all the spines of the legswiththe_tips black.

Female. Very^{like the}maleingeneral^structure, indeedalmostex- actly^like thatsex except^{that the} pronotum ^is more _generallyinfus- cated above,not_onlybehind on the disk asinthemale. Thisis very probably a variable character. The _ovipositoris stout, lessthan the hind femorain length and curvedstronglyupward, ^the apex^blackish.

Measurements Length, pronotum, male, ¹² mm., female, ¹¹

mm.:

posteriorfemora, male, 31

mm.,

female, ³¹

mm;

ovipositor, 19

mm.;

width, hindfemoraatwidest_{part, male,} 7mm., female, ⁷

mm.

Type: Male

(Cat.

No.

13554, U. S. Nat.

Mus.),

^Alice, Texas,

August

28, 1908,

on Opuntia.

^{J. D. Mitchell, col-}

lector.

Paratype:

^Female,

same

data.

Mr.

Busck showed

_specimens of the

common _European

tineid moth,

Sivamwierdamia

_pyrella Villers, bred

and

col- lected _{at light}

by him

at

Monaduock Lake, New _Hampshire,

last

summer, and

^{stated that this is the record of this}

genus

in America.

He

also presented ^{a series of} the

West ^Indian

tineid

moth

Ereunetis

minuscula Walsingham, which he had

^bred

from

mummy

^{fruits of} loquat, received

through Mr.

^Sasscer

from

Miami,

^Florida.

He

stated that

he had

bred this species ^this

OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME

XIII, 1911. 81

fall also

from

_{dry cacao}

pods

^sent

him from Trinidad by

^Mr.

W.

F. Urich,

and

that he

had

bred this

same

_species in large

numbers

in 1902

from

the

sweepings and

offal in a copra

warehouse

near Baracoa, Cuba. Mr.

Busck

said that

he had

also specimens ^labeled "rotten cottonboll"

from

_Jamaica, others "in

tamarind" from

Nassau,

and

still others labeled

"from

_Diasp/s laiuttiis"

from

Barbadoes,

which

_{proves the}

species, the life history of

which

has not hitherto

been

re- corded, ^to be a very general ^feeder

on any

^{kind of} vegetable oranimal refuse.

The _genus

has not hitherto been recorded

from

the

United

States. In repose ^the tips of the

wings

^of thesesmall yellow

and brown moths

are bent

up

sharply ^at rightangles with^the plane^of the

moth and produce

^{a curious} resemblance to a bit of chaff.

Mr. Busck

said that

he

looked

under

the floor of the

warehouse

in Baracoa,

which was

ele- vated abouf4 feet

above

the ground,

and thought

^he

saw

merely the

rough

^boards until a flying

moth

_apparently ^dis- appeared

through

a crack;

he

then looked closer

and

realized that the

rough appearance

^{of the boards}

was

effected

by thousands

of these

moths

_resting close together

under

the

floor,

and

he then

found

the cracks of the floor filted with the galleriesof the larvae.

A NEW SPECIES OF DIORYCTRIA.

[Lepidoptera; Pyralidae.]

BY HARRISON

G. DYAR.

Dioryctria xanthrenobares,

new

species.

Ferruginousyellow; forewing^{withtheinnerline far}fromthe baso, oblique, white, ^ill-defined; outer line rather near the margin, twice waved, white; arowofterminal elongated white spots; a whitedash along medianvein, joining the lunate discal mark: an _oblique dark redshadeat baseand one on theinner half of terminal _space. Hind wings thin, whitish, scarcely cinereous tinged. Expanse,^{27to 31}

mm.

One

_male,

two

females. Kaslo, British

Columbia, August

20, 1905

(W.

T. Cockle); Seattle,

Washington

(O. ^B. John- son);

Pullman, Washington

(C. V. _Piper).

Type: No.

13825, U. S. Nat.

Mus.

Allied to

D.

aurantiace.Ua Grote, but _{larger, paler,} the hind

wings

^{white instead of}

dark

_gray, the fore

wings with

much

less of red.