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Psyche 3:63-67, 1880.

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NOTES UPON SOME TINEID LARVAE.'
BY VACTOR TOUSEY CHAMBERS, COVINGTON, KY. Antispila nyssaefol~ella and A. cornifo- liella.
I have had specimens of the images of
both of these species in my collections, but not at the same time, and therefore have not been able to compare them. Dr.
Clemens notices some minute differences
between them, but seems to rely more upon supposed differences in the maculation of the larvae as indicating their specific dis- tinction. But these characters are not
altogether reliable ; for the number and distinctness of the maculae differ in the same individual at different ages, the num- ber increasing with the age of the larva until it reaches the last larval stage. At least, this is the case with nyssaefoliella, of which Dr. Clemens says, LC dark atoms along the dorsum ; ventral surface with a line of two black spots," though just what a line of two black spots " may mean, I
do not know. In a specimen now before
me there are nine blackish spots behind
the cervical shield on the dorsal surface, and twelve on the ventral surface. Dr.
Clemens further says that LC after the last moulting the first segment is black, and the dorsal spots become a black vascular line," which is certainly incorrect ; for in its last larval stage, when taken from its cocoon, I have found the larva to be depressed, fat, snowy white with the mouth parts tinged
with ferruginous, but the larva otherwise immaculate. It has a single black ocellus about the middle of each side of the head. The larvae of this genus are completely
apodal, and in the youngest larvae that I have seen the larval trophi were fully de- veloped ; that is, they were equivalent to the second form of trophi of larvae of Litho- colletis, Phyllocnistis, &c. ; and I think the larvae leave the egg in this stage of development, without passing through what I have elsewhere mentioned as the first
form of trophi of the genera above named. I have never found more than two exu-
viae in an Antispila mine, and am not
certain as to the number of moults before passing into the pupa state ; it is probably not more than two.
The larva of A. viticordifoliella in its last stage is, like that of nyssaefoliella, immaculate ; but it is yellowish white, and not snowy white like the latter. These
larvae crawl but little if at all, after cutting out their discs. Indeed, from their struc- ture, locomotion would seem to be impossi- ble, or nearly so.
Ps\&e 3 063-68 (pre. 1903). hfp //psyche aitclub org/YM)063 htd



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64 PS YCHE.
Aspidim luct'ft adla Clem.
disc'i are flattened, is too strong ; at most I have succeeded ia raising this species they can only be said to be a little de- from the larva, and find, as elsewhere ~ug- pressed, and are much less so than are the gested, that. the captured specimens de- larvae of Antispila. His statement, " these scribed by me as A. ella belong to this
are not supplied with hooks," is rather in- species.
definite, but if intended to apply to the The larvae of Aspidism, aa stated by
anal prolegs of mature larvae is certainly Dr. Ctemens, are apodal, having the tho- incorrect, though entirely correct when
rack feet represented by sucker-like discs. applied to the ventral prolegs, or rather I have not been able as yet to determine to their sucker-like substitutes.
whether these discs realty operate as suck- Aeam ( ClmjsopeUia) purpuriellu.
era, or whether there is a secretion exuded Among leaves of the black locust (KO-
front them which enables the larvae to
hinia pseud~cc&cia.), gathered because they adhere to the surface.
The anal prolegs
contained mines of Lithocolkti~ ~obindh, are represented by small lobes, each of in July, several were observed in which which has a recurved hook, by means of there appeared to be either small white which the larva anchors itself inside of its mines, or thin white silken webs at the case, which, notwithstanding the absence junction of some of the veins with the of legs, and depending only on the " suck- midrib, each of which contained a small era," it drags through grass, wad over larva. But neither the mines nor larvae fences, sometimes for more than a hundred received anything more than a passing no- metres, Wore " tying up " for pupation. tice, as my attention was directed to watch- ~hese anal hooks are much more distinctly ing the development. of the larva of L. ro- developed in A. splendo~iferella and A. binidlo,. But from the collection I bred a
luc;.å´fi-itellft than in A. aalwiella. spechuen of A. pwpm-iella, the larva uf I have never been able to detect any which has been heretofore unknown. I trace of the exuvik in the mines of any can scarcely doubt that, it came from one of the species, and am induced to believe of the larvae in the small mines, as I got that the larva moults only once - that is, nothing else from those leaves but A. p ~ - when it passes into the pupa state.
In the Mll<t and L. robi~tiella; and the psi- youngest larvae that I have seen, the trophi tion of the mine (or web?) is exactly that are of the character above referred to under of the mine of Aema ostryaee!la in Ostif/a Antispila as the second or perfect form. leaves (see frontispiece to Tineina of
I have elsewhere followed a suggestion North America ") , though it is much of Mr. Stainton in referring both Antispfia smaller than the latter. At the same time, ma.&. Aspidisc& to the Qlypfdptwygides, but it should be stated, the web of the very the larvae differ very decidedly from those young larva of OeIe~Aia~sevdacaciellu is of Glyphipt~yw, and those of Aspidisca only distinguishable, on a hasty glance, are very different in form and st.ructure from the supposed mines of Aeueupurpu- from those of Antispila.
Dr. Clemens' rieUu, by the fact that a very slender branch statement that the mature larvae of Aspi- extends from the main web for some dis-



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tance along the midrib, in the case of fl- that it eate the larva of L. robawHa, though pseudacac&hx, which also feeds on locust from the frequency of the occurrence of ff. leaves. At any rate, the specimen of A. pse^axa&lZa in mines ofL 70 bmiella from pu~~u&ih wag certainly bred from locust which the latter larva wag absent, I suspect leaves, whatever be its mode of feeding
that it does. Possibly the struggles of the thereon.
L. robiniella larva might drive that of Q. Coleophara .
psevidacacielh away ; but I know that the A species of this genus which 1 have not pupa is eaten, having seen it.
succeeded in rear@, mines the leaves of
1 have never found the larva of (?.pseud- elm ( UJmus americana) , sometimes in acaciella except on locust trees ; but Prof. large numbers.
AH of the larval cases Eiley once showed me two specimens of that I observed had been cut out from the a. Oelechia moth which I was miable to edge of the leaf, showing the serrations distinguish from Q. pseudctcacieUa, and along the dorsal ~urface of the case ; yet which Mr. Rilev said he had bred from it was frequently found in these cases feed- larvae found on wild cherry (Pmnus sera- ing generally over the under surface of the tinu}. It is cot likely that the larva feeds leaves.
It must therefore retire to the on two plants so remote from each other aa edge of the leaf to feed shortly before locust and wild cherry ; but a larva which changing its case.
varies its diet of locuat leaves by an occa- Gelechia pse-udaca&lla.
sional repast on the living pupa of a Lifho- In the note on Aeuea pwrvuriella above, COWS, need not be supposed to be excea- I have referred to the web of the very aively fastidious. young larva of this species as being very The only difference that I have observed similar to the web (or mine?) of A. pur- between the very young and the mature purW?la; being placed like it at the June- larvae of G. ~evdocaewt,ta is that the tion of a vein with the midrib, but differing marking8 are more prominent in the latter. from it by having a narrow strip of web There is a larva of an unknown species extending along the midrib.
But Q. PseUd- and genus which burrows in June and July acaciellci, does not continue long to feed kt in the pith of the preceding year's ahoota this way. It may afterwards be found - of Robinia pgeudwacia. The markinga sometimes when nearly grown -fex&g
and form of the ventral segments are not, between two of the leaflets sewed together ; very different from those of 0. pseudor- but much more frequently it may be found caciella but the head and thoracic segments in the mines of Iiithocdetis fobiniella, and are enlarged and are of a black or piceoua more rarely in those of Lithocdetis oma- hue, and the mouth parts are large and teUa. I have sometimes seen it deliberate- atrong, aa becomes a burrotriitg larva. It ly cut its way into the mines of L. robin& has sixteen well developed legs and prole@. ?a; and when there it does not conhe itself It probably will form the type of a new
to a vegetable diet, for I have opened the genus. It can hardly be the unkttown
mines and /ow& the larva in the act of eat- larva of Xylesthia clemensella, for that ing the pupa of its host. I do not know larva feeds in the solid wood of locust



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PSYCHE.
posts and trees, and therefore probably the mine, and this larva, like most larvae does not feed on the pith of living branches. of this genus, undergoes no moult until &milaria nqundetia,. pupation. I believe, however, one or two This apecies has heretofore been recorded instances have been recorded of moults of only from Denver, Colorado ; but I have larvae of this genus in Europe. But mu- also found the leaves of the box alder its ally the entire larval life does not exceed food plant, in Kentucky, rolled into cases thirty-six hours. precisely similar to those made by this qm There is a larva of this genus which ia ciee in Colorado, and containing a Oracib not uncommon in hickory leaves ( Caqa ria larva, of which, however, I did not sue- &a), in which it makes a large blotch ceed in rearing the imago. I have, how- mine. The larva itself is rather large for
ever, no doubt that it ia the same species. the genus, but I have not succeeded in hmma gleditschiaedla. rearing the imago. Another hickory Sky' The egg of this species (which I have twula which I have not succeeded in rear- found only by dissection of the female) if; ing, makes a linear mine about 2.5 em. a very pretty microscopic object.
It is long, in the first and last fourths of which opaque ; the centre of the larger end pro- the frass is deposited in a central line, jecta a short distance, and ridges extend while in the middle portion it is deposited on every side from the projection to the in transverse rows of small specirs, some- margin, with concave valleys between what as in the mine of the European N. them, and these ridges scad valleys are viscere,Ua. continued along the surface towards the Nepticula quercicastuneUa Cham., here- smaller end of the egg, but grow gradually tofore bred from leaves of the chestnut oak more indistinct ; they are not straight, but (Qwercus castanen), 1 have also bred from have a, wavy outline.
The egg is drpre~ned leaves of the white oak ( Q. &a). and narrows gradnally towards the smaller N. cmtwteae folieUa Chain., heretofore end, which is aomewhat sharply and sad- bred from chestnut leaves (Castanea), I denly rounded : color, white. have also bred from the leaves of white The eggs of Aqyreathw wndviatella oak.
Chain., which I have obtained in the same Dr. Clemena ( Tin. X. Amer., p. 172-1, way, resemble microscopic hen's-eggs, ex- mentions several other Nepticula larvae cept that they are a little more globular, which have not as yet been bred, and Nepticte7.a ityssuefoZieLla a. sp. begides these there is a species which makes Only the larva is known, as I have not a long crooked linear mine in leaves of the yet mcceeded in getting the imago. The sugar maple (Acer sacchminwm) ; another larva ia greenish white with deep green
in leaves of sumac (Bhw') ; another in
contents ; head pale fernginow with the elm leaves (Ulmw), and many others ; in mouth-parts of a deeper green ; the mine is fact we know comparatively little yet of the linear, ending in a brownish yellow blotch, Nqticwia of this country. There is also
and the trass is attached to the loosened a species mining leaves of hackberry (Gel- upper cuticle. No exuviae were found in tis),



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Pis YCHE.
Ornix prunivorella Cham.
This species, and probably most or all
other species of the genus, like those of Gracilaria, to which it is so closely allied, assume what I have called the second form of larval trophi at the second moult.
Phyllocnistis.
In a paper in PSYCHE on Litliocolletis,
I incidentally mentioned the presence in Phyllocnistis of certain projections from the sides of certain segments of the larva, which, though not occupying the places
usually occupied by legs, and perhaps not homologous therewith, yet served, to some extent at least, the same purpose, and so I questioned the propriety of describing Phyllocnistis larvae as apodal. I was
therefore greatly surprised, on the next occasion when I observed larvae of this
genus, that I could find no trace whatever of these pseudopodia ; then again in others I would find them - sometimes the full
complement, at others only a part, and
sometimes in the same specimen I would
find them and then fail again. The fact is that they are retractile.
I formerly thought (PSYCHE, loc. cit.),
from analogy with Lithocolletis larvae that there were seven stages of larval life in Phyllocnistis, but I have not been able to verify this belief. On the contrary, I find only two stages. The mines are long wind- ing linear tracts, ending in a small blotch, which, however, remains a blotch only a
very short time ; only, indeed, while the larva is spinning its cocoon, which draws the blotch into a small knot, or pucker. The linear part of the mine is occupied by the larva in its first stage ; at least I have not been able to find any evidence of a
moult while the mine remains linear.
The
form of the trophi is then very similar to that of the earlier stages of Lithocolletis larvae
(see PSYCHE, v. 2, p. 83, fig. 2).
Having nearly finished feeding, the larva eats out the parenchyma next to the upper cuticle, making a small blotch. Although the rudimentary spinneret is visible, the silk is not yet secreted, and the larva cannot spin ; but resting quietly in the little blotch for a few hours, it then casts off the old skin and appears no longer a flattened larva with the first form of trophi, but is simply depressed, nearly cylindrical, and with the trophi as in the accompanying figure.
These trophi are evidently not intended for use in eating, and in fact the larva does not eat any more ; it becomes rapidly cyl- indrical (or rather oblong conic, for it ta- .
pers rapidly posteriorly). The pseudo-
podia are still visible, and the larva when removed from its cocoon " bumps around " on these stubs of legs, in a rather ridiculous manner. The spinneret and silk glands
are now fully developed ; the larva quickly spins its cocoon, and in little more than a day after this moult it passes its second moult, and becomes a pupa.
I find no material difference in the course of development in any of the species arn- pelopsiella, vitigenella, vitifoliella and magnoliaeella. The latter species is
known only in the larval and pupal states,



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68 PLYKxE.
and is probably identical with liriadendron- plate), is very much like the larva of our ella.
T. malifolielldi, but the head of murginea, Xischeria.
aa -figured, is darker than that of malifo- In all of the species of this genus of Iwlla, and the last three segments, espe- which I have traced the life hiatory (T. cially the last one, in the figure, are too mci.iifolielZa, T. qwwcivorda and T. per- short and narrow. The wings of the im-
cite&), there are the same number of ago of marginea, as figured, are paler than moulta aa in the greater number of lepi- those of malifdiella. The larva of m&-
doptera, viz., four (or five, if we include folwlla is also slenderer than that of w,w- the moult into the pupal state) ; and there gheu, and more moniliform, while each are no marked differences, either in color segment has on each side three hairs, "which or structure, between the same laryae at are not represented in the figure of war- different stages of growth. The oak-feed- ghw. Margineo, ia perhaps nearer- or ing species are more readily distinguished aa near -our T. aenia I?. & B., which, from each other by the character of the
like ma~giwa, mines bramble leaves. The
mines, than by the appearance of either mine of m@ea is, however, wider and the larva or imago. Mr. stain ton'^ figure more irregular than that of aenia. of T. marginea (Nat, Bst. Tin., v. 3,
TRANSFORMATIONS OF NACERDES MELANURA.
BY HF;MET LOSING MOODY, MALDEN, MASS.
As far as I am aware, nothing is yet was hardly perceptible. At the end of
known of the transformations of this very amen months the largest specimens meas-
m n n hetitle.
At. various times I have
ured barely more than two mm. long ; in
hunted assiduously for the larva, butwith- eleven months four mm., and at the be- out success.
Thinking better luck might ginning of the fifteenth month all were follow from trying to obtain larvae in an- dead. It. would be somewhat remarkable
other way, I captured a lot of the beetles for any larva to sustain life so long wader with the purpose of getting the eggs. conditions altogether unfavorable. I am From the fact that the beetles are abundant confirmed therefore in thinking that pine, about buildings with opeu rafters, I con- or some one of the coniferous woods, in a eluded that dry pine wood was the food of dry state, ia the food of this larva, but the larva, and confined the females in a think I made a mistake in keeping the ves- vessel with a quantity of dry " punky " ami so tightly closed as to exclude the air. pine.
They laid their eggs freely, and in The egga of Nacevdes are cylindrical, a eight days the young appeared ; when traction over 1 mm. long, a little more than first hatched they measured a fraction over three times as long as their greatest breadth, one mm. long.
At intervals of one or two tapering somewhat toward each end, some- weeks I measured specimens, and, ainga- times slightly curved, rounded at the ends. lady enough, though apparently in good Color white, somewhat translucent, with a health, their growth after the first few days portion at each end oerni-transparent.



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