The text below is grayed out because it is not intended to be read. It is a necessarily imperfect OCR of the original and is only used by a search engine.
1953 The Lepidopterists' News 55
THE FALL WEB WORM (HYPHANTRIA CUNEA) IN EUROPE
Hyphantria cunea from southern Slovakia. Above, spring generation $; below, summer generation?. (Photo D. Weiss.)
About ten years ago a species of Lepidoptera new in the European fauna—Hyphantria cunea Drury (Arctiidae)—was discovered in the immediate vicinity of Budapest. Having no enemies in the new environment the Fall Webworm soon became a feared pest threatening especially fruit-growing and sericulture. It is spreading rapidly throughout the whole of Central Europe; it has been found not only in Hungary but also in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Yugoslavia, Rumania, and is penetrating with considerable rapidity farther to the southeast and southwest. In a northern direction it has reached the frontiers of Poland. Recently this species was introduced also into Japan. In recent years several dozens of studies and reports have been published in the European literature on this new species in Central Europe.
JOSEF MOUCHA, Institute of Zoology, Charles IV. University, Praha, CZECHOSLOVAKIA
PREDATORS OF VANESSA CARDUl
Vanessa cardui wings: Painted Lady Butterfly wings frequently are broken off and left when small birds and lizards eat the bodies of this common migratory insect. Such wings frequently were found in summer and fall in Beet Leafhopper, Circulifer tenellus (Baker), breeding areas in Tooele and less frequently in Box Elder County, Utah, between 1928 and 1936. On several occasions the writer jotted down notes on the frequency with which he encountered sets of wings only of Vanessa cardui L. Such snipped-off wings were found most commonly near Dolomite and Timpie, in upper Skull Valley, and from Timpie west to Low, in Tooele County. On one occasion south of Timpie a Sagebrush Swift (lizard), Sceloporus graciosus graciosus (B.-G.), was observed to capture a winged Painted Lady Butterfly. The lizard beat its prey briskly against the ground, breaking off the wings, after which the body of the butterfly was swallowed. In this case the wings were conspicuously damaged. On another occasion a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia L.) was observed to capture a V. cardui and eat the body, after neatly breaking off its wings near their bases. These wings remained in rather good condition. Many wings found were lying on or near rocks, or were on other roosts. Usually these wings were much less damaged than the ones broken off by the feeding lizard. Most of the wings thus found were believed to have been left by feeding birds.
G. F. KNOWLTON, State Agricultural College, Logan, Utah, U. S. A.