Article beginning on page 427.
Psyche 9:427, 1900.

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December, KKIZJ PSYCHE. 427
perceptible reticulation. Cate~jillar at birth: Bristles of body not spiculif-
erons, apically enlarged or flaring.
Mature caterpiHar: Body naked except
for scanty and excessively short almost
nlicroscopic hairs, occasionally provided with fleshy filaments. Chrysalis : With
a pair of frontal projections, hanging
freely by tail and mid-girth only.
Family HESPERIDAE.
Tribe HESPERINI.
Butterfly: Tail of antennal club
nearly or quite as long as club proper;
abdomen generally shorter than hind
wings. Males with a costal fold on
fore wings concealing special scales, and with a corneous sheath protecting the
extended alimentary canal. Egg: Sub-
spherical, vertically ribbed and cross
lined. C(r/e?ĺ´pilla at bif-th : Bristles of last segment only a little longer than the others, not recurved. Mature cater-
fiJ?aj- : Body relatively stout and
plump; highest points of the two sides
of the head more distant from each
other than the length of the base of the frontal triangle. Chrysahs : Tongue
case not protruding beyond the tip of
the wing cases.
Tribe PAMPHTLINI.
Butterfly: Tail of antennal club
shorter than the club proper, occasion-
ally wanting; abdomen as long as or
surpassing the hind wings. Males often
,
with a velvety oblique streak on the
disk of the fore wings, the alimentary
canal not prolonged. Egg: Usually
subhemispherica1, with smooth or ob-
scurely reticulate surface. Cateffil-
la.r at birth; Some of the bristles of
last segment exceptionally long and
recurved. Mature cateqiZlar : Body
very elongate ; highest points of the two sides of the head no farther apart than
the length of the base of the frontal
triangle. Chrysalis : Tongue case free
at tip, protruding beyond the wings.
A SIMPLIFIED SPREADING BOARD.
Some entomological friends who have vis- ited my laboratory recently have been unex- pec~edly interested in a means of setting and spreading the wings of insects that I have employed for a good while, and have asked thai I should describe it. I am constrained to do so, not because the old form of grooved board with cork backing is unsatisfactory, but because my board is simpler, cheaper and can be made in a moment by anv one. It is better, too, in some respects and for some kinds of inscclfi, and I now use it almost altogether.
It consists of a thin piece of smooth board of soft wood with rows of awl holes punched Lhro~~gl~ it, fastened flatwise upon another thin board of the same size. That is all there is to it. The piece with the holes in it should be of a thickness equal to one fourth the length of the pin.
To use, the pin is thrust through the insect ncarly to the head, inverted, and pushed head downward to the bottom of one of the holes, and the wings are expanded and pinned down under strips of paper in the usual way, but ill the inverted position.
Its advantages over the old, grooved board are : -




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428 PSYCHE. [December, 2902
I. Its cheapness and compactness.
2. It can he readily made of any size or shape.
3. Tt will hold twice as many insects for a given area.
4. It automatically places the specimen at the proper height on the pin.
5. Less time is required to set an insect, because the body does not have to stsind in a definite relation to a groove.
6. Legs, antennae, abdominal stylets, etc., tend
to lie out flat on the board, and do not hang down in the way of pin labels: the legs are readily arranged with great advantage for seeing tibini spurs, etc.
It has its limitations in the setting of insects with dorsal crests, or with dorsal tufts of hairs, which are not to be flattened out. The simple expedient of turning the insect over for setting obviates the necessity for the groove: and after spreading on an undi-
vided surface for a while, one comes to regard the groove a nuisance.
James G. Needham.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN CEOMKTR11)AE.-XXXVUI. BY HARRISON G. DYAR, WASHINGTON, D. C.
Palew-Uu vernata Peck. This well known
larva, first described by Peck in 1796 and referred to in all works on econoini~ cuto- mology, occurred in the Platte Canyon,
Colorado, numerously on a bush of wild
che~i-?, which was defoliated, The larvae were not seen elsewhere and were massed on one tree, not scuttci-ed as was Aho-pJula fx/maLuria, which occurred in the same can- yon.
Egg-.-Elliptical, evenly rounded, one di- ameter considerably less but not flattened; one end sligl~tly depressed, the other rattier distinctly truncate; reticulations broad, rounded, rather ill-defined, the cell areas however forming- distinct smcer shaped pits in longitudinal rows; truncate end nearly ; sordid yellow, subtranslucent, ap-
pearing soft-shelled, sometinies irregularly shaped, somewhat iridescent; size -8 X .6 X ,j mm. Laid in a mass probably in a crack in the bark or similar situation.
Singe L- Head rather small, rounded,
flattish before, not higher than joint 2 ; dull dark brown, epistoma arid setae pale ; width about .3 imn. Body normal, rather robust, not elongated ; a broad dark bro1~-n subdorsal hand and narrow dorsal line, the whitish space between irregular and cut by the annu- let incisul-es ; subvcntr.al fold broadly pale; venter shaded in brown but leaving the tuber- cles pale. Feet shaded in luteons bruvi-n. norind ; selae short, white, rather stiff. Siq8 IT.- Head hilohed, erect, flat betore, dull black, whitish across the clypeus, in a streak each side and on epistoma ; width .q mm. Body normal, rather short and thick, a little flattened. Black, not shining, sub- annulate. A geminate, white, dorsal line, slightly dotted and broken, irregular; a fine white lateral line, near to, and partly joined by obscure streaks to a broad white line on subventral fold, streaked on the annulets ; spiracles in white patches; a few white dots subventrally. Feet dark, the abdominal
ones white streaked outwardly, the thoracic ones pale in the joints. Joint 12 slightly angularly enlarged dors;illy. Setae short, black, rather stiff.
Stwe 111.-I.Iead bilobed, erect, flat be- fore; luteous brown to black, with two trans- verse, dotted; white streaks, one at the apex of cljpeus, the other between the eyes;
epistoma pale; width .6 nim. Body moder-



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