Further Remarks on <I>Phengodes</I>

88 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

I have long

known

of theeversible nature of these protuberances,and observed

them

first in1873on^{the larvaeof}Parorgyia^{clintoniiGrote. In}

my

descriptivenotesofthis species,

made

_{June4, 1873,} Ireferred to these glandsonthe middleof thebackof_joints9and 10of the_larva,

comment-

ingon theircurious characterandon their recalling infunctiontheosma- terium of Papiliolarvae; also tothefactthat they^arecoral-red andwith- outapparent^odor. Laterobservations led

me

tobelievethat thisnote

was

inaccurateas tothe odor,andthatalllarvaeofboth Orgyia and Parorgyia possess these _tubercles, and that they ^are really scent-organs, ^like the osmaterium inPapilio. ^Ihave noticed_{quite a}strongodor fromthose of Orgyia,^{and, infact,afine}spray ofliquid ^issometimes thrown from them.

Iexhibit

blown

larvaeof theEuropean ^O.

pudibunda

^andof Orgyia^an- tiqua. Thislastspecies alsooccurs in thiscountry,our specimens being

somewhat

smaller, on the average, than those of Europe. This larva shows twocrimson-redeversible tubercles.

I also exhibit, in addition to the

common

_Orgyia leucostigma,

blown

specimens of O. gulosaHy.

Edw.

and O. vetustaBd., bothofwhich I re- cently observed living in California, and both of which have the

same

crimson-red organs,and have been reared tothe

imago

by

Mr

Koebele.

Ialso exhibitblownlarvaeofaParorgyia, which, from ^{the bred} speci- mens, ^I believe to be P. leucophcea Smith

&

Abbott. I have bredone male ofthis from the larva feeding on Persimmon. Inan endeavorto determine

my

bred materialin thisgenus, ^Ihave concluded thatthereare fewer_species thanhave been

made

_by Lepidopterists.

The

_{images vary} considerably^{in details} of coloration and markings, and ^{it is} quite prob- able that obliquata ^will prove ^{to be}

synonymous

^with leucophcea.

The

larva, as figuredby Smith and Abbott, ^isprobablymisleading, ⁱⁿhaving the dorsal tuftstoo conspicuously

shown

on_{joints8, 9,}and _10, for in

my

specimens they have been, as in other _species ofthis genus, large and conspicuous onjoints4, 5, 6, and_{7, inclusive,}butfar less soon the other

joints. *

I also exhibit various

blown

larvae ofParorgyia^clintoniiGr. These varyⁱⁿthe colorof thetuftsaccording^{to state}ofgrowth, and^thereisalso individualvariation.

My

originalspecimens were found feedingon

Honey

Locust, but^Ihavealsofound itonvarious other_{plants, as}wildplum,elm, etc. BoththeseParorgyia^larvae

show

the

same

eversibleglands,though they^arelessconspicuous^{than in} Orgyia,on account of the greater den- sityof the hairssurrounding them.

As

tothe

synonymy

^ofthis species,

my

experiencewith the adolescent statesleaveslittle doubtthat clintonii isa

synonym

of achatina

Sm. &

Abb.,and Iquestion whether, with

more

complete knowledge,parallela and _basiftava and even

cinnamomea

will notprove

synonymous

^{with the}

same

_species.

FURTHER REMARKS ON PHENGODES.

In connectionwith the remarks

made

ata previous meeting,^Ialsoexhibitafemale ofPhengodes^laticollis received from Prof.Geo. F. Atkinson, of the University ofNorth Caro-

lina. This is an undoubted _female,having ^attractedthe male and ^laid

OF WASHINGTON. 89

eggs,

some

ofwhichalso

accompany

the specimens. ^Itagrees ⁱⁿ every respect with

my

^{originalfigure}publishedⁱⁿLeBaron'sfourth reportonthe insects ofIllinois, and is distinguishable from the larva by ^{its smaller}

iaws, and_smaller, finerungues.

INTERESTING LEPIDOPTERA.

Ialsocallattentiontoavery prettyspecies of Syntomeida with ^metallicgreenwings and^{steel blue}abdomen, tipped withferruginousred,and with_largewhite_spots onthe body,^collected by Mr.Schwarz at Cocoanut Grove, Biscayne Bay, ^{Fla. It will} doubtless prove^{tobe a}

new

_species.

Also specimens^ofanotherinteresting, silverywhitemoth, theposition of

which

is not very^clear, and which Mr. Schwarz also collected.

The

interest attaching^to

them

isthat longstringsor pencils of ^{hair are} seen to issue fromthe_tipof the body

made

_bythedeath

movement

of theovi- positor separating and welding ^{the hairs} from a conspicuous ^{anal tuft} whichthe female possesses.

Mr. Schwarz commenced an account

of a recent _trip

through

the coral region of southeastern Florida,

and

narrated his

expe-

rience

during

^{a short} stay,ⁱⁿ the

month

_{of April,}

on

theisland

of

Key ^{West. The} following

^is

an

abstractof his

remarks

:

The

island of

Key

West, extending ^{in a} west-easterly direction,has a length of fromsix tosevenmiles,withawidthoffrom oneto two miles.

The

western thirdof theisland isoccupied by^thecityof

Key

^{West, and}

the trees in the gardens and on ^{the streets are all} artificially imported from the

West

Indies or South America.

A

^{rather wide} beach, partly rocky and partlysandy, extends ^all along^{thesouthside; the north side}

iswithout beach andcoveredwith adense growth ^of

mangrove

^trees,or rather bushes,which extendalso in awide_beltalong^{thesouth side} back of the beach.

The

middleof theislandisoccupiedby an extremely^thick growthof shrub-liketrees,nothigher^thanabout₁₅feet,butwithout

much

undergrowth. This shrubbery represents

what

^is

known

as the semi- tropical forestofsouthern _Florida,and its low growth on

Key West

^and theother smaller

Keys

^{isno doubt} attributable to the small elevation of the landabove thelevelof the sea. Thereisacomplete^{absence offresh} water_{springs, creeks,}and

swamps,

^and consequently, the Dytiscidaeand

allotherfamilies livingⁱⁿ or nearfresh waterarenot represented onthe island.

The

_ground is eitherrocky^or covered with coralline sand,and sincethe porousrock absorbsatonce_everydrop of the frequent showers, the surface of theground ^is _constantlydry.

The

few herbaceous _plants growing^inthe

woods

orontheopenplaces are^allofamaritimecharacter.

The

whole _aspect of the island is, entomologically speaking, by no

means

_inviting, and

my

^firstattempts in collecting resulted indisappoint- ment. It took

some

time beforeIfoundoutthat,

owing

^{to theextreme} dryness,collectingunderstones,and_siftingtheold leavesandother debris in thewoods, producehardly anything, andthe sparse vegetation of herb- aceous plants^also harborsa very scant fauna ofno_special interest.

On