Syn. plena Walker; fasciata Grote & Robinson; montana Henry Edwards; aurea Pagenstecher.

The species is widely distributed throughout the entire United States. It is very common in western Pennsylvania.

Genus HEXERIS Grote

(1) Hexeris enhydris Grote, Plate XLVII, Fig. 35, 8. Syn. reticulina Beutenmüller.

The moth occurs in the subregion of the Gulf.

Genus MESKEA Grote

(1) Meskea dyspteraria Grote, Plate XLVII, Fig. 36, 3. The moth is found in Florida and the region of the Antilles.

Some

The Cossida, "Goat-moths," or "Carpenter-worms," as they are familiarly called, have sorely puzzled systematists. writers have been inclined to regard them as allied to the Tortricida. We assign them the position in the linear series which is accorded them by Hampson and also by Dyar. They form a very distinctly defined group, whatever their relationships may be. They are succinctly described by Hampson in "The Moths of India," Vol. I, p. 304, as follows: "Proboscis absent; palpi usually minute or absent; antennæ bipectinated to tip or with distal half simple in both sexes, or wholly simple in female. Tibia with spurs absent or minute. Fore wing with vein 1b forked at base; Ic present; an areole formed by veins 7 and 10; veins 7 and 8 forking after the areole; the inner margins usually more or less lobed. Hind wing with three internal veins; vein 8 free from the base or connected with 7 by an erect bar at end of cell. Both wings with forked veinlets in cell. The female may have as many as nine bristles to the frenulum.

Larva. Smooth, with a few hairs; internal feeders, boring galleries in wood or the pith of reeds, etc., and often doing considerable damage.

Pupa in a cocoon formed of silk and chips of wood."

Six genera are recognized as occurring within our fauna.

Genus ZEUZERA Latreille

(1) Zeuzera pyrina Linnæus, Plate IX, Fig. 9, 3. (The Leopard-moth.)

Syn. hypocastrina Poda; asculi Linnæus; hilaris Fourcroy; decipiens Kirby. This insect is a native of the Old World, but has within recent years become introduced and acclimated on Long Island, and has

FIG. 212.-The Leopard-moth. a, dorsal view of larva; b, lateral view of do.; c, male; d, female; e, burrow in wood made by larva. (After Pike, "Insect Life,' Vol. IV, p. 317.)

multiplied to a great extent in the environs of the city of Brooklyn. It has already inflicted much damage upon trees, and, apparently being firmly established, is destined to work still greater injury. It is a promiscuous feeder, but evinces a particular fondness for elms and maples.

The eggs are generally laid near the crotch of the tree, and watch should be kept in the spring of the year to detect their presence and destroy them before they are hatched.

Genus COSSUS Fabricius

Cossus

The genus is found on both sides of the Atlantic. Cossus Linnæus is a large species which does great damage to trees in Europe. As I am writing, my friend, Dr. Ortmann, relates that when he was a boy of eleven, living in his native village in Thuringia, his attention was called to a notice posted by the Bürgermeister offering a reward for information which would lead to the detection and punishment of the individuals who by boring into the trunks of a certain fine avenue of birch-trees, upon which the place prided itself, had caused great injury to them. Already the instincts of the naturalist had asserted themselves, and the prying eyes of the lad had found out the cause of the trouble. He went accordingly to the office of the Bürgermeister and informed him that he could tell him all about the injury to the trees. The official sat wide-mouthed and eager to hear. "But you must assure me, before I tell you, that the reward you offer will surely be paid to me." "Yes, yes, my little man; do not be in doubt on that score. You shall certainly be paid." "Well, then, Herr Bürgermeister, the holes from which the sap is flowing were not made by boys who were after the birch-sap to make beer, but by the Weidenbohrer."1 A small explosion of official dignity followed. The act of the presumptuous boy was reported to a stern parent, and the result was, in Yankee phrase, a "licking," which was certainly undeserved.

(1) Cossus centerensis Lintner, Plate XII, Fig. 1, 3.
The insect is quite rare. It is found in the Atlantic States.
(2) Cossus undosus Lintner, Plate XLI, Fig. 9, f.

Syn. brucei French.

The moth occurs in the region of the Rocky Mountains. The specimen figured was taken on the Arkansas River in Colorado, near Canyon City.

It is undoubtedly the most attractively marked and most elegant species found in our territory.

1 The common German name for the Cossus.

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Genus PRIONOXYSTUS Grote

There are two species of this genus found in the United States. One of them, Prionoxystus macmurtrei Guérin-Méneville querciperda Fitch, is a rather rare species. It bores its larval passages in oak. The female, which resembles the female of the other species, is quite large, sometimes four inches in expanse of wing. The male, on the other hand, is quite diminutive. I have never seen a male much more than an inch and a half in expanse of wing. The species has been taken most frequently in recent years in western Pennsylvania by local collectors. The other species, Prionoxystus robiniæ Peck, is very common. quents various trees, but shows a preference for the wood of the common locust (Robinia pseudacacia) and various species of the genus Populus. The male is depicted on Plate XLI, Fig. 11, and the female by Fig. 10 on the same plate. The insect is widely distributed throughout the United States. I have found the males exceedingly abundant about the electric lights in some of our Western cities, as St. Paul and Omaha.

Genus INGUROMORPHA Henry Edwards

Two species of this genus occur within our limits. Both are found in the extreme southern portions of the United States. I. arbeloides Dyar is a native of Arizona. I. basalis Walker, which is shown in the annexed figure, is found in Florida and Mexico.

The general color of the fore wings is pale ashen-gray, with the outer border dull ochreous, marked with dark-brown striæ, and broader spots and blotches toward the outer margin. The hind wings are darker gray.

"I recognize

The moths, with that great overpoise of wings
Which makes a mystery of them how at all

They can stop flying."

E. B. BROWNING.-Aurora Leigh.

Genus COSSULA Bailey

Only one species of this genus is known from our fauna. It occurs in Florida and Mexico. It was named magnifica by Strecker, and subsequently also by Bailey. Druce in the year 1891 applied to it the specific name norax. It is represented in the annexed cut one third larger than the size of life. It is as yet a rare insect in collections, only a few specimens having been found. No doubt it is locally common, and when some shrewd observer discovers its haunts and mode of life, we shall all have a good supply of specimens in our cabinets.

Genus HYPOPTA Hübner

Nine species are said to belong to this genus and are reputed to occur within our territory. They are all Southern or Southwestern forms.

(1) Hypopta bertholdi Grote, Plate XII, Fig. 2, 9.

The specimen figured on the plate came from California. The author has also received it from Colorado.

(2) Hypopta henrici Grote, Plate XII, Fig. 3, 8. The moth is found in Arizona and New Mexico.

FAMILY ÆGERIIDÆ

"I'll follow you, I'll lead you about a round

Through bog, through bush, through brake, through brier."
SHAKESPEARE.-Midsummer Night's Dream, III, 1.

The name Sesia being, according to the laws of priority, strictly applicable to a genus of the Sphingida, as has been pointed out on page 61, the name of the family which we are now considering must be that which is given above. The name Sesiida" must yield to the name "Egeriida." This is on

66

some accounts regrettable, as the former name has for many years been consistently applied to the family by many authors.