A division of the genus <I>Sphingicampa</I> Walsh, with remarks on the larvae

OF WASHINGTON. 427

macula Schaus

I have

made

the type of Episibine^{; dicolon} Sepp,

plugma

Sepp,

norba

Druce, and copac

Schaus

_belong to Euclea; sulla

Schaus becomes

the type ofProtalima; determi- nata

Walk., rufa

^{Butl., and varia}

Walk,

are_clearlynot Sibine;

the latter probably ^isEuclea,

and

otherswill have tobe

exam

ined.

In discussion

Mr. Ashmead

_suggested the

possibility of _split tingthegenus ^into

two

_genera

by

^{reasonof the}

marked

difference exhibited

by

^the larvae, suggesting^thatcareful study of the geni- talia

would

demonstrate corresponding generic differences in the adult insects.

He

illustrated this

by

^{reference to}

Hymenop-

tera,

and

stated thatthe chief objection ^to the use of genitalia as a

means

of separation

was

the extraordinary difficultyof

making

thestudies

and

the vast

amount

oftime _necessaryfor such work.

Dr.

Dyar

^then presented^a second _paper, entitled^:

A _DIVISION OF THE GENUS SPHINGICAMPA WALSH WITH REMARKS ON THE

By ^HARRISON

^G.

^DYAR.

Our

_{species of}

Sphingicampa

^areobviouslyseparable ^into

two

groupsor genera, ⁱⁿ oneof

which

the antennae of the femaleare pectinated, ⁱⁿ theother simple.

The

first

group

contains bicolor Harr.,

which

is the type ^of

Sphingicampa,

^{the second the re}

maining

species.

The

_types of the othergenera of the Cither- oniida3 have been_specified

by

Kirby. Adelocephala

H.

S. has type

cadmus and

OrthoreneBoisd. the same. Boisduval states thatboth sexeshave the antennae pectinated

and

therefore these

names

cannotbe _applied to the second group.

There

remains only^thegenus Sissphinx Hiibn. (not Sissisphinx, as written

by

Kirby), type molina. Thishas the antennae of thefemale simple and, though ^the

male

_frequently has the outline of the

wings waved and

the larva is unusually ^modified,

we may

^{refer our}

species ^{to this} genus, ^rather than create a

new

one

on

_slight characters.

Genus Adelocephala H.-S.

(=Sphingicampa Walsh, =

Orthorene _Boisd.)

A. cadmus H.-S. According

^{to Boisduval}

(Ann.

^{ent. soc.}

Belg., xv, ^82, 1872), the female has the antennae pectinated.

The

larva hasthe subdorsal spines equal

on

all the segments. Bois duval_says^{: "}

Le

_premier

anneau

_garni de _pointes acereesde longueur mediocre, ^les

deux anneaux

suivants

munis

de longues

428 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

epines dentelees etlesautres he"rissesdepointes longues,chochues, recourbees en arriere etde longueuregale."

A.

bicolor Harr.

The

larva has been _fully described

by Walsh

(Proc. Bost. ^{soc. nat.} hist., ix, 292, 1863,

and

Proc. ent.

soc. Phil., iii, 425, 1864), Jewett (Pap.ii, 138and _{144, 1882)}and

Packard

_(Proc.

Am.

phil. soc., xxx, _{137, 1893)} and referred to without

name _by

Siewers (Can. ent. x, 85, 1878). ^It varies re

markably

^{in the subdorsal silver horns}

which

are usually

un

equally developed on successive segments, ^but occasionally revertto the generalized condition

and

areequal

on

allsegments.

Genus _Syssphinx

Hiibn.

(=Psephopaectes

G. &

R., Ceroderes _Boisd.)

.5".

molina

Stoll. This larva is the

most

_highly modified of

any

^{of the} group.

According

^{to the} figures ofStoll (Suppl.

Cram.

_Pap. exot. _pi. 22 _fig. 4)

and Sepp

(Surin. Vlind. iii, pi.

118) ^itis

humped up

^atjoints 5

and

12 in a peculiar ^attitude

and

the horns are nearly ^absent.

The

subdorsal thoracic pairs are short, wholly or partly red,

and

the single dorsal one

on

_joint 12

is reduced to a granule. Otherwise the larva isnearly smooth, though the dorsal surface of_joints 12

and

_13,

which

forms an oblique plane, ^is

roughened

^with granules.

Boisduval

remarks

_(Ann. ent. soc. Belg., xv, 82, 1872) ^that a

specimen

^before

him had

the horns long, black,

and

recurved;

but _possibly this isanother _species distinct

from

molina. It is

not stated thatthe larvae

were

bred.

5. bisecta Lint. Jewett

remarks

_{(Pap. ii, 40, note)} that a larva obtained

by

^bush beating ⁱⁿ

company

^with

^A.

^bicolor

larvae

had

no silver horns, but only ^the rudiments

on

one _seg ment. Otherwise it

closely resembledbicolorand

was

_supposed

to bea larval variation till it

was

bred.

6". heiligbrodtiHarv.

An

unbred _larva,

which

I

am

inclined

to refer to this species,

was

received

from San

Antonio, Texas.

Another

_specimen is in the collection of the National

Museum,

received from Dr.

Duges

ⁱⁿ

^Mexico.

Head

conic,

somewhat

triangular, but ^flat at the vertex, ^flat tened also before and at the _sides, the clypeus small, shield- shaped, both ^itandthe paraclypeal pieces coarsely roughened, the head surface punctate-shagreened^;green,^a white _stripe from before ocelli to vertex of each _lobe,

edged

^{before and behind}

by

^{a darker} green than ^the

ground

^{color; antennae and}

labrum

white; width₅

mm. _Body

cylindrical, feetlarge with _coarsely granular^{shields; the anal} shields large, triangular. Joint²con

tractile, cervical shield small,smooth,

weak,

^a

row

of_large,conic granules on the anterior edge with patches of smallerones

below

on the sides. Subdorsal horns ofmeso- and metathorax _(tuber cles _ia-{-ib

and

_{iia-j-iib) long,} recurved, _slightly dentate with

OF WASHINGTON. 429

small granules^; single horn of _joint 12 stouter

and

with _larger pointed granule^. Subdorsally

and

laterally

on

_{joints 5} to 12 a stout, pointed, recurved, short horn, silvery whitewithout, red within, ^less than one-thirdas long ^asthe thoracic horns; ^a simi

lar, smaller pairon_{joints 12}

and

13 anteriorly^; a _small, scarcely silvery horn subventrallyonjoints 5 to ^12. Dorsally^a

few

_large, sparse granules, principally ⁱⁿ one transverse

row

posteriorly

on

each

segment

^;

many

granules subventrally,

more

pointed than the dorsal ones.

Anal

_platesemi-elliptical,not furcatebehind_(as in bicolor], densely granular

around

the

margin

^{with a doubleor}

triple

row

ofwhitegranules, the

two most

posterior of

which

are large

and

erect_; centrally

on

the plate areabout seven ratherre

mote

_granules.

The

_granulesare alllarger

and

fewer than in

A.

bicolor. Color _green, except ^the silveryhorns

and

_{white gran}

ules, the thoracic horns _tinged with brown.

A

broad, white, substigmatal

band

on _joints5 to _12,

edged

^{with darkred above}

and

yellow below.

S. anthonilis H.-S. Boisduval remarks: "

La

chenille esten- tierement noire et

pourvue

de longues pointes d'egale longueur toutes dirigees en _arriere,

comme

celles d'un herisson _lorsqu'il marche.

Les

_epines de la colerette sontbien prononce"es mais

beaucoup

plus courtes

que

^lesautres." Evidently^a generalized form.

S. brevis

Walk.

Boisduval

remarks: "La

chenille est fort jolie^{; elleest} d'un vert jaune avec des pointes couleur d'ortres brillantes de longueur mediocre recourbees^etdirigeesen _arriere, dont celles

du

second et

du

troisieme

anneau

sont dentele"es ainsi

que

^celles qui ^se trouve au milieu de 1'avant dernier, laquelle a un

pen

^la forme d'une

queue

^recourbee.

La

colerette n'apas de pointes

proprement

^{dites; elles sont}remplacees par ^lespetits tu- bercules coniques." ^Itisa pity^thatBoisduval'smanuscript

name

chrysacantha could ^not have been usedfor this species.

^>\ leucantha Boisd.

The

author _says^{: "}

Les

chenilles . . .

paraissent ^etrevertes; elles sont

munies

depointes blanchatres ^a

sommet

noir, de longueuregale,dirigeesenarriere,dont celles

du

secondet

du

^troisieme _anneau,^ainsi

que

^cellequi ^se trouve au milieude 1'avantdernier sont

un pen

^{dentelees et}

un peu

plus grosses.

La

colerette estgarnied'une rangee de petites pointes assez saillantes."

S.

argyracantha

^{Boisd. Said to be avariety of 6". crocata} Boisd., described

on

the

same

_page.

Two

^larvae _bearing ^this

name from Mr. Ruscheweyh, Buenos

^Aires, Argentina, agree ⁱⁿ general with Boisduval's brief description except ^thatthelong thoracic

and

anal horns appear^to have been_{green, not silvery,} a point

which

Boisduval omits ^to mention.

The

head is conictri

angular, ^flatbefore, denselygranular shagreened, the paraclypeal pieces nearly obliterated;

two

narrow, ^blackish

brown

lines on

430 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

each lobe

from

ocelli

and

from before antennae tovertex; width, 4

mm. _Doubly

_paired horns on _joints3 and 4

and

_singledorsal one

on

_joint 12 long, recurved, with _slight granules toward base, larger

on

the anal horn.

The

_{upright subdorsal,} silver thorns are nearly half ^as long^as the thoracic horns, subequal. Silvery granules large

and

_{sparse, only about} 10 in the

row on

anterior edge ^{of cervical shield}

and

^rim of anal _plate; of the _latter, the

two

behindare erectandratherremote.

The

centerof the shield hasabout_{5 granules.} Coloration destroyed ⁱⁿ the specimens.

S. subaitgulata

H.-S. Concerning

^{this larva Boisduval}

was

only ^{ableto state that "}

Les

_epines

ou

_pointes sont _noires, assez longues ^etdentelees sou le second et le troisieme

anneau

; la col-

erette estaussigarnie de _pointes roides."

The

curious Notodontian genus Crinodes

H.

S. (=Astyiis Boisd.), the ^larvaeof

which

arecovered with_long,recurved black hornsso thatBoisduval placed

them

in the Citheroniidae, needs furtherinvestigation.

General discussion relating particularly ^to the larvae of these

moths

followed,

which was

participatedⁱⁿbyMessrs. Chittenden, Gill,

Ashmead,

^and others,

Mr. Ashmead

_stating that the_larva,

when

first received

by

^the

Museum, ^was

successfully photo

graphed by Mr.

Smiley.

A

discussionfollowed

on

the popular

names

_assignedto

some

of these _larvae, and particularly ^to the larva of Citheronia _regalis*

A

_paper sentfor reading ^{before the} Society

by

^Prof. J.

M.

Aldrich, of theUniversity ^of Idaho,

was

read

by

the Secretary.

It

was

entitled

"

_{Sketch of the}

Recent

Flea

War

in

Germany."

and

_gavein a

humorous

vein an accountofa controversy^relative to certain Diptera supposed ^{tofurnish a} connecting^link

between

thefleas

and

the Phoridse.

The outcome

of the

whole

matter is

the description of several

new

species of Phoridae

and

Borbori-

dse,

and

as

none

of the

new

forms sustain any^close relationship to the _fleas, the origin ofthe latter

was

left as

much

in the dark as ever.

FEBRUARY

S, 1900.

The

¹49th regularmeeting

was

held at the residence of

Mr.

Schwarz,

230

N.

_J. ave.

N.W.

President Gill in the chair

and