FAMILY PYRALIDÆ

"All multiplicity rushes to be resolved into unity. Anatomy, osteology, exhibit arrested or progressive ascent in each kind; the lower pointing to the higher forms, the higher to the highest, from the fluid in an elastic sack, from radiate, mollusk, articulate, vertebrate, up to man; as if the whole animal world were only a Hunterian Museum to exhibit the genesis of mankind."- EMERSON.

The Pyralida constitute an enormous complex of subfamilies, genera, and species. They are found in all the temperate and tropical parts of the world, but are more numerous in hot lands than in the colder portions of the globe. Nearly eight hundred species belonging to this family are already known to occur within the United States and Canada, and the region will undoubtedly yet yield many new species to science. We cannot in these pages undertake to give even an outline of the genera and the species, but we have selected a few for illustration in order that the student, encountering these interesting insects, may be able to at least recognize their relative position in the great suborder with which this book deals.

The moths of this family are described as follows by Sir George F. Hampson in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1898, page 590: "Proboscis and maxillary palpi usually well developed; frenulum present. Fore wing with vein 1a usually free, sometimes forming a fork with 1b; 1c absent; 5 from near lower angle of cell; 8, 9 almost always stalked. Hind wing with veins 1a, b, c present; 5 almost always from near lower angle of cell; 8 approximated to 7 or anastomosing with it beyond the cell.

Larva elongate, with five pairs of prolegs. Pupa with segments 9-11 and sometimes also 8 and 12 movable, not protruding from cocoon on emergence."

The Pyralida have been divided into a number of subfamilies. Of the subfamilies represented in our fauna, we shall in the following pages give illustrations of a few species which are com

monly encountered or possess interesting traits. While it is to be wished that we might be able to give a monographic view of the entire family, such a procedure is wholly out of the question, in view of the limits imposed upon us in the matter of space by such a volume as that which has been undertaken.

SUBFAMILY PYRAUSTINÆ

The genera of this family may be distinguished by the fact that the median nervure is not pectinated upon the upper side, or is at most very slightly pectinated, by the absence of tufts of scales in the cell of the fore wing, and by the further fact that vein 10 of the fore wing rises from the cell. In the hind wing, vein 7 and vein 8 almost invariably anastomose.

Fifty-seven genera are found in our territory, represented by two hundred and twenty-four species.

Genus ZINCKENIA Hübner

(1) Zinckenia fascialis Cramer, Plate XLVII, Fig. 28, 3. Syn. angustalis Fabricius; recurvalis Fabricius; diffascialis Hübner; albifascialis Boisduval.

The moth is found all over the temperate and subtropical regions of both hemispheres. It is common in the southern portions of the United States.

Genus DESMIA Westwood

(1) Desmia funeralis Hübner, Plate XLVII, Fig. 37, 8. (The Grape-leaf Folder.)

head of larva, magnified; 3, pupa; 4, male moth; 5, female moth. (After Riley.)

The caterpillar of this pretty little moth feeds upon the leaves

of various wild and cultivated grapes, showing a preference for those species the leaves of which are thin and tender. The caterpillar is of a transparent green color, and is very lively when disturbed. The insects, which do considerable damage in vineyards, may be kept down by crushing the larvæ and the pupæ when found in the folded leaves, which are easily detected. The moth is found from Canada to the Gulf east of the Great Plains.

Genus SAMEA Guenée

(1) Samea ecclesialis Guenée, Plate XLVIII, Fig. 2, . Syn. castellalis Guenée; luccusalis Walker; disertalis Walker.

The insect is widely distributed throughout the hotter parts of the Western Hemisphere. It is common in Florida and ranges south as far as Argentina.

Genus DIASTICTIS Hübner

(1) Diastictis fracturalis Zeller, Plate XLVIII, Fig. 1, 3. This is a neatly marked species, which is found in Texas and Arizona, and ranges southward into Mexico and Central America.

Genus CONCHYLODES Guenée

(1) Conchylodes platinalis Guenée, Plate XLVII, Fig. 60, 3. Syn. ovulalis Guenée; erinalis Walker; magicalis Felder; concinnalis Hampson.

The moth is found in western Pennsylvania and southward through the southern portions of the United States into South America.

Genus PANTOGRAPHA Lederer

(1) Pantographa limata Grote & Robinson, Plate XLVII, Fig. 38, ô.

Syn. suffusalis Druce.

The insect occurs from Maine to Patagonia.

Genus AGATHODES Guenée

(1) Agathodes monstralis Guenée, Plate XLVIII, Fig. 3, 8. Syn. designalis Guenée; floridalis Hulst.

The moth ranges from Florida to the Rio de la Plata in South America.

Genus GLYPHODES Guenée

This is a large genus, represented in both hemispheres by numerous species. We give figures of three.

(1) Glyphodes nitidalis Stoll, Plate XLVII, Fig. 43, 8. (The Pickle-worm.)

The insect feeds in its larval stage upon cucumbers and melons, into which the caterpillar bores. A good account of its habits is given by Riley in the "Second Annual Report of the State Entomologist of Missouri," page 67. It has, like most of the Pyralida, a wide range, and extends from the southern portions of the United States to the southern portions of South America. (2) Glyphodes hyalinata Linnæus, Plate XLVII, Fig. 39, 8. Syn. marginalis Stoll; lucernalis Hübner; hyalinatalis Guenée. The range of this species is very much the same as that of the last mentioned.

(3) Glyphodes quadristigmalis Guenée. moth.)

(The Privet

FIG. 217.-Glyphodes quadristigmalis. a, lateral view of larva; 6, dorsal view: c, cocoon; d, moth; e, lateral view of two segments of larva, enlarged; f. anal segment of pupa from below, greatly enlarged. (After Riley, "Insect Life," Vol. I, p. 24.)

This moth has in recent years proved at times troublesome as an enemy of privet-hedges in the southern portions of the country. As many as four broods of the moths have been detected in one