Notes on the life-history of <I>aegeriido</I>

OF WASHINGTON. 85

NOTES ON THE LIFE-HABITS

OF ^EGERIID.E.-

A

specimenof Melittia gloriosa Hy. Edw., from San Diego,^Cal.,the food-habits of which, ^{so far} asIknow,^are not jet recorded, though ^the

moth

itselfhas been found flyingaround cucurbitaceous plantsby Mr. Edwards, and ^\\ wasnaturally inferred that the larva

might

^{live, like its} congener,

M.

cucurbitce, inthe roots of these _plants. This _species, however, was ^reared by Mr. ^{F. E.}

Blasedalefromthe rootsof RJnis laurina.

The

_pupal

exuvium

showsthat the spines ^are

more

_strongly

marked

than in any other ^Egerian with whichI

am

acquainted, the^frontal thornsbeing noticeably strong,and re- callingthe

same

_{parts in the larger}AsilidceandAnthracidce.

sEgeria impropria Hy.

Edw.

_(specimens of imago, ^larvaand pupa) ^is injurious, ⁱⁿ the larval state, to strawberries in southern California. I

have, ^for

some

_years,

known

of great injury^tostrawberry^rootsby

some

borer ofaLepidopterous^{character, but the}species had remained undeter- mined, as I had been unable to obtain specimens.

As

soonasIhad an opportunity ofexamining

some

strawberry plants on the plantation of Mr.I.V.Wilcox,^ofSantaClara,Cal.,^itwasevidentthatthelarvabelonged tothe;3Lgeriidce.

The

larva of impropria ^has been hitherto

unknown

andthe

name maybe

^said, paradoxically, ^tobe_quiteproper,and_yetquite improper; ^forMr.

Edwards

had alsodescribed _{a species}ofsEgcria by^the

name

offragarice, the^larvaofwhich was _{not yet}

known,

though Mr. Ed- wardsinforms

me

that it

was

found on the flowers of strawberry.

The

bred material

shows

thatimpropria^isvery variableⁱⁿcolorationalmark- ings of thebody. ^{> '}

A

third sEgeriid^{exhibited is} the very pretty

Phemonoe

$-caudata Rid- ings,the larva ofwhich I have received from Dr._J. C. Neal, of Archer, Fla.,

who

founditboring ⁱⁿthe root ofagraftedJapan Persimmon.

The imago

^issued April

n,

1887. ^I also exhibit specimens ^of Sciapteron

rob'inicefrom

Los

_{Angelescounty,} Cal., rearedfromlarva?boring^{in Salix} californica;^alsospecimens^of^Egeria ^albicornisHy.

Edw.

from southern California, rearedfrom larvaeboring under^thebark of Salix californica.

An

interesting^factconnected withthislastspecies^is thatthe type^is from Centre,N.Y.,wherethelarvaisnot

known;

^{so that the} species occurs on bothcoasts.

Finally, aspecimenof the very smallsEgeria pyri Harr., bred at the Departmentof Agriculturefrom_apple, isincluded.

COLOR-VARIATION

IN

THE LARVA

OF

AGRAULIS VANILLA.

^Iwouldalso callattention toan interesting variation whichI noticed at

Los

Angeles inthe coloration of thelarvaofAgraulis ^vanillce.

The

eastern form of this larvaisgenerally reddish orvinous-brown in color, with an indica- tionoftwodarker longitudinalrays, as

my

^{notesand preservedmaterial,}

andthe_figuresby Smith and Abbott and the older authorsshow.

Those

foundat

Los

Angeles were very striking by ^virtue of the general color being^ofabright leaden-blue or pale indigo-blue,withabroadbright^lat- eral cream-colored_stripe

more

or less diversified with ferruginous, the head_distinctly

marked

with vertical pale^vittseandwithapale crown.