Beutenmüller, William, 1864-1934.

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

Article VIII.-ON THE EARLIER STAGES OF SOMESPECIES OF NORTH AMERICAN MOTHS.BY WILLIAM BEUTENMiJLLER.While collecting entomological specimens in the vicinity ofNew York City, for the Museum, during the summers of I889-'9o,I have been enabled to make the following observations on theearlier stages of some moths. I am aware that I have beenanticipated by other entomologists in some of the notes whichfollow, yet the most part, as far as I am aware, have not beenheretofore recorded:Phlegethontius celeus Hub.Some larvae of this species are brownish black, instead of green,which is their usual color, and have the irrorations yellow, asare also the oblique and lateral stripes, the caudal horn beingblack. The face in this variety has the centre always paler thanthe sides. Spiracles velvet black with a lilac ring.Anisota stigma A. & S.After Second Moult.-Body color brownish black. Head brightorange red. At the base of all the, spines and over the bodyirregularly are numerous white irrorations. There are no othermarkings. The spines on the segmental processes are also white.Length, 25 mm.After Third Moult.-There is little change, except that thecolor is now brownish black and the spines have the same whiteirrorations. Length, 35 mm.Full-grown Larva.-Body color reddish brown. Head testa-ceous or chestnut. Each segment with six rather long blackspines, and the whole of the segments covered with white wartyirrorations, almost tubercular, those on the dorsum being the[JUly, 1892.] [65] 566 Bulletin American AMuseum of Natural History. [Vol. IV,largest. Spiracles jet black with whitish ring and a whitishstreak in the centre. Anal extremities witlh testaceous tinge.Feet and legs reddish testaceous. Length, 6o mm.Food-p-ants.-Oak, Chestnut, Hazel.Pupa.-Very rough and deeply punctured. The segments aresurrounded by large series of spines, those in front of the segmentsthe largest. On the posterior edge a row of small spines.Cremaster long, bifurcate at tip. Length, about 30 mm.Anisota senatoria A. &e SEgg. The eggs, deposited on the underside of a leaf, areovate, flattened and attached by the widest space. They are dullwhite, changing to slate and afterwards to almost black. Afterexclusion of larva, the eggs are brightly opalescent. Width,i mm.; height,.5 mm.Young Larva.-Head jet black, shining. Body dull creamcolor; the segments having a corrugated appearance. On thethird segment are two very long spinous processes, directed alittle forward, jet black; on the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenthsegments are a few very small black dots, not visible without alens. In the middle of these segments there is also a dark shade.The feet are jet black; abdominal legs concolorous with the body.In the centre of the second segment is a very narrow black line.In feeding, as the body is filled with food, it becomes dusky.Length, 6 mm.After First Moult.-Jet black, with two narrow, waved, yellow-ish lines on the lateral region and a broader waved line above thebase of the legs. Head and anal segment jet black.After Second Afoult.-The body is now slightly olive, with thelines more distinct and brighter in color. The space immediatelybelow the spiracles is orange brown. Length, 22 mm.After Third Moult.-Body now jet black, with the lines verydistinct and the spinose tubercles longer and rougher; those of67No. I.] Beutenmuller on the Earlier Stages of Moths.the anal segment being now more numerous and spinose.Length, 31 mm.After Fourth Moult.-Body color jet black. Head with deepfovea, triangular over the mouth parts. Cervical shield black.Two dorsal and one subdorsal stripes of dull orange, slightlywaved and broken. One broader lateral stripe and one stripeenclosing the spiracles of the same color, and a ventral stripe alittle paler. Spines and legs all jet black, as is also the anal seg-ment. Length, 38 mm.; length, when fully grown, 55 mm.Food-plants.-Oak, Chestnut.Ichthyura vau Fitch.Before Last Moult.-Head pale chestnut. Body clothed withshort hairs; dorsal region greenish white, transversed by threelines of pale reddish brown; lateral region reddish brown,marbled with white. Spiracles black. On the third and on allthe segments thence to the ninth are two pale yellow tubercularspots, placed at the anterior junction of the segments. These arelost on all the posterior segments, or, at least, but indistinctlyseen.Full-grown Larva.-Entirely greenish white, with all the mark-ings very much fainter than in the previous stage, except theyellow tubercular spots, which are now much more distinct andcontinued in a series of eight around the anterior segments.Length, 27 mm. September 24, on Willow (Salix babylonica).Gluphisia trilineata Pack.Full-grown Larva.-Pale apple green, with a broad subdorsalstripe of lemon yellow. Spiracles indicated by a yellow shade,and above these a very faint yellow line. The head has two veryminute black dots on each side of the mouth parts. Some indi-viduals differ from the one just described by having on the third,fourth, eighth, ninth, tenth and following segments a transversepinkish band in the middle and surrounded by whitish. In allother respects similar to the former.Food-plant.-Willow (Salix), September24.l68 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. IV,Adoneta spinuloides H. S.The larva varies considerably in the dorsal region, passingfrom bright scarlet through pale pink, and in some cases assumingon the dorsum the pale-green ground color.Acontia delecta Walk.Full-grown Larva.-Ground color, dark chocolate brown,almost black. Head pinkish white with black blotches, and on theposterior portion are two orange blotches. Segments two, threeand four have four orange patches on the edges of which are blackpiliferous tubercles. On the other segments the orange patchesare much larger and of various shapes, those of the hinder seg-ments being on the dorsum a double oval. From the fifth segmentalong the lateral region is a row of clear white patches, brokeninto twos and threes, and enclosing also velvet black tubercularspots. The body is slightly swollen anteriorly, narrowing grad-ually to the anal segment. Feet and legs black, spotted at theirbase with orange and white. Length, 35 mm.Food-plant. Marsh-mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos).Panopoda carneicosta Guen.After Fourth Moult.-Body color yellowish green, the segmentscovered with very fine blackish-brown waved lines, giving a ratherdirty appearance to the larva. These lines are composed ofirrorations, and leave the dorsum with a single line and a doublesubdorsal. Head paler than the body, with a yellow line at theback on the posterior portion. Mouth parts, feet and legsorange, as are also the anal casps, which are long and very widelyspread.Full-grown Larva. -The body color is now a little darker. Theband across the head is now united to the subdorsal line andforms a continuous line. There also eight oblique yellowish-white lines on the lateral region. Length, 40 mm.Food-plants.-Oabk, Hickory, Willow.No. I.] Beutenmuller on the Earlier Stages of Moths.Panopoda rufimargo Guen.Full-grown Larva.-Paler green than Panopoda carneicosta.Head with waved brownish irrorations, but no lines as in P. car-neicosta. There is a white subdorsal line, and the feet and legsare whitish, as is also the underside of the body. Length, 45 mm.Food-plant.-Oak.Adipsophanes miscellus Gr.The caterpillar transforms above the surface of the ground andspins an oval cocoon, mixed with grains of sand. The pupa islong and narrow in form and pale pitchy, almost chestnut brownand very shining. The abdominal segments are rugosely punctateon the anterior half. Spiracles daik pitchy. Cremasters com-posed of two spines, short but sharp. Length, 23 mm.; width,6 mm. at the middle segments; anal segments, 4 mm.Perigea xanthioides Guen.After Second Moult.-Dull flesh color, with a blackish tint anda very faint white dorsal line, which is joined to a triangular stripeon the head. There are also faint traces of subdorsal wavedlines. Length, IO mm.After Third Moult.-The fourth and fifth segments are nowswollen into a hump. Head small, black, with narrow whitestripes in front, meeting on. the crown of the head and then join-ing a dorsal white stripe, which is lost at the fourth segment,reappearing on the tenth and continued to the anal segment.The fourth and fifth segments are blackish in front, triangularlyflesh colored behind, and there is a flesh-colored shade along thesides. The spiracles on the fourth and fifth segments are dullyellow and there are faint waved flesh-colored lines along thelateral region. Length, 22 mm.After Fourth Mout.-Body now much lighter in color, havinga flesh-colored tint, particularly at the posterior edge of the seg-ments. The white dorsal shade line now continuou's. The dark6970 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. IV.]shade on the anterior segments is produced triangularly behind.The tenth segment also raised into a hump. Length, 30 mm.After Fifth Moult.-Now still paler, the pale stripes beingpinkish, and the body covered with brown or blackish irrorations.Dorsal stripe clear white. Length, 42 mm.Food-plailts.-Iron-weed (Vernonia noveboracensis), Trumpet-weed (Eupatorium purpureum).

Earlier stages of moths

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American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications