FAMILY XYLORICTIDÆ

A small family which contains in our fauna two genera and nine species. The group may be represented by Stenoma schlægeri Zeller, which is portrayed on Plate XLVIII, Fig. 41, by a male specimen. The insect is very common in the Appalachian subregion, and is particularly abundant in western Pennsylvania.

FAMILY ECOPHORIDÆ

"Entomology is a science, not a pastime."- WESTWOOD.

This is another comparatively small family of interesting insects, numbering in our fauna about ninety species, which are distributed into thirteen genera. We can represent only a couple of them, for the purpose of showing the readers of "The Moth Book" what they are like.

Genus DEPRESSARIA Haworth

(1) Depressaria heracliana De Geer. (The Parsnip Webworm.)

FIG. 247. D. heracliana. a, larva, side view; b, dorsal view; c, pupa; d, anal extremity of pupa; e, moth, enlarged; f, umbel of parsnip webbed together by the larvæ, natural size. (After Riley.)

Syn. heraclei Retzius; umbellana Fabricius; umbellella Zetterstedt; pastinacella Duponchel; ontariella Bethune.

The Parsnip Web-worm is an importation from Europe,

where it has been known from time immemorial as an enemy of umbelliferous plants. A full account of the insect is given by Riley in "Insect Life," Vol. I, p. 94. To this the reader may refer. The remedy for the insect is to gather the portions of the plants which have become infested, and to burn them. The insects, many of which conceal themselves in the stems or are hidden in the foliage, are thus most conveniently destroyed.

Genus SEMIOSCOPIS Hübner

(1) Semioscopis merricella Dyar, Plate XLVIII, Fig. 38, 9. This is not at all an uncommon insect in western Pennsylvania. There are numerous specimens in the collection of the writer which have been taken during the past twenty years.

FAMILY BLASTOBASIDÆ

This is a considerable family of minute moths, as representative of which we have selected for illustration a species of the genus Holcocera, to

9

d

which Professor Riley applied the specific name glandulella, because it infests acorns. The Acorn-moth is an inquiline; that is to say, it takes possession of the remnants of the repast left in the acorn by the grub of a weevil, which has developed within the fruit and forsaken its burrow in order to undergo transformation elsewhere. Between the weevil and the larva of the moth very little is left of the contents of the acorn, and farmers who expect to derive sustenance for their hogs from the oak-mast are often disappointed. The accompanying cut shows the different stages in the development of the larva, and also the moth. The insect is quite common in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.

FIG. 248.-H. glandulella. a, acorn showing larva; b, acorn showing opening left for moth; c, enlarged view of head of larva; d, lateral view of nodule to which antenna articulates. (After Riley.) segment; e, dorsal view of segment; f, moth; g,

FAMILY ELACHISTIDÆ

This is a large family of moths, many of which are almost microscopic in size, but all are very beautiful.

One of the larger species we have selected for illustration. It lives in the galls which its presence produces in the stems of the FalseIndigo(Amorpha fruticosa). It belongs to the genus Walshia, and was described under the

specific name amorphella by Clemens. In its habits it re

minds us somewhat of the moth with the frightful name which lives in the galls of the Golden-rod, about which something has already been said. The accompanying cut, which has been taken from Professor Riley's "Second Missouri Report," shows at a a figure of the female moth enlarged. The larva, which is a soft white little affair, is delineated at b, and the figures c and d show the galls as they appear. The insect is found in the Appalachian subregion.

FAMILY TINEIDÆ

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." MATTHEW.-VI, 19, 20.

The Tineida are a very great family of moths, some of which are of moderate size, but most of which are very minute. Among them there are many insects which are exceedingly beautiful, although they are so small, while many of them have great economic importance, being destructive or beneficial. Of a few of these we shall take opportunity to speak briefly.

Genus BUCCULATRIX Zeller

(1) Bucculatrix canadensisella Chambers. (The Birchleaf Bucculatrix.)

This little insect in its larval stage is known to infest the leaves of the birch and the wild cherry. The caterpillars feed

upon the parenchyma of

the leaves, attacking both the upper and the lower

sides, and completely skeletonizing them. Forests of birches in New England are known to have been completely stripped of living tissue in the fall of the year, in such a manner as to suggest that a fire had passed over the trees. The larvæ are sluggish in their movements, when disturbed dropping down by a silken cord. The cocoons are white and ribbed, as represented in the annexed figure. They turn dark FIG. 250.-B. canadensisella. a, skeletonized after they have been spun of same; e, anal segments of do.: f, anal segment birch-leaf; b, pseudo-cocoon; c, larva; d, head up for some time. The of pupa; g, cocoon with extended pupal skin; insect is not uncommon, moth. All figures magnified. (After Packard, "Insect Life," Vol. V, p. 14.) in Rhode Island, and is known to occur throughout New England, northern New York, and Canada. It probably has even a wider range, and may be found in the mountains of Pennsylvania, where its food-plant is abundant. The best account of its habits has been given by Professor A. S. Packard in "Insect Life," Vol. V, p. 14.

(2) Bucculatrix pomifoliella Clemens. (The Apple-leaf Bucculatrix.)

Syn. pomonella Packard; curvilineatella Packard.

The minute moth, a greatly enlarged figure of which is given in the annexed cut, has the habit of denuding the leaves of apple

trees of their parenchyma. While it does not appear to have wrought great destruction generally, nevertheless there are in

a

FIG. 251.-B. pomifoliella. a, cocoons clustered upon end of twig; b, cocoon, greatly enlarged; c, moth, very greatly magnified. (After Riley.)

stances on record where it has done much damage in orchards. The larvæ have the habit of forming their cocoons in company, attaching them to the twigs in great clusters, as represented in Fig. 251. This fact has led to the recommendation that the trees, when infested, should be lightly pruned all over in the fall, and the twigs carefully collected and

burned. As the cocoons are located at the ends of the twigs, this may be a partially effective remedy. Another remedy is to thoroughly spray the trees with coal-oil emulsion or with linseedoil. The greasy application is said to destroy the pup in the thin papery cocoons.

Genus TINEOLA Herrich-Schæffer

(1) Tineola bisselliella Hummel. (The Clothes-moth.) Syn. crinella Treitschke; destructor Stephens; biselliella Zeller; lanariella Clemens.

There are several species of Tineid insects which attack garments made of woolen fiber and furs. One of the commonest and most widely distrib

uted of these is the insect

which we are now consid

ering. In Pennsylvania and in Maryland and southward, so far as observation shows, this is the commonest of the "Clothes-moths." The damage, it is needless to say, is not done by the