Rovartani Közlemények (Folia Entomologica Hungarica 3/3-4. Budapest, 1950)

The larva of hungariea lives in the root of its feeding plant, that is, as I observed it, rather in the crown of the root. According to Tomala the larva sinks shafts into the upper layers of the soil, and if the surface parches, it tries to get to wetter parts through these. I have not observed and never found such earthen shafts. True, in the woods of Érd the feeding plant of hungariea grows in such watery places that they are never dry no matter what season. On the contrary, I have found that the larva leaves the roots not down, but upwards, and feeding in the inner pulpy parts of the stem, makes its shaft here, hiding against extreme moisture. In the stem also pupation occurs, the larva first making an oblique gangway to the outer thin shell. Before hatching, the pupa bores through this shell, protrudes in half its length, bursts open, and the adult insect climbs out. So the pupa and the imago also appear about five or more inches above the surface of the earth. The biology of hungariea consents in everything with Ch. palustris. The case is not the same with empiformis; its caterpillar does not leave the root of the feeding plant, and pupates in the root-crown just under the surface of the earth. The thin stem of E. esula or cyparissias cannot even make possible the intrusion of the usually thicker larva. The pupa and imago of empiformis come to daylight therefore from the earth at its junction with the root-crown. In the ease of animals leading an endophag way of life variations in size is not an uncommon occurrence. This is very frequent in empiformis and small and big specimens with all transitory forms occur together at the same place. This fluctuât ion in size occurs only exceptionally at hungariea, I have scarcely observed it yet. This must be obviously in connection with the strong thick roots of E. lucida and palustris, while in 'esula and cyparissias similar big roots are very rare and only in the case of very old plants. The larvae of hungariea can always find food to reach total maturity, therefore the adults are of a more uniform size than empiformis, and only gigantic specimens of the latter may approach the average size of hungariea. The imago of hungariea is in its aspect sturdier and more corpulent than empiformis. This holds also good for the wings which are larger and more narrow than those of empiformis. The costa of the forewings of hungariea is straight, in empiformis arched. The coloration of hungariea is essentially darker, and especially in fresh specimens, conspiciously greenish-metallic iridescent. Empiformis is rather more bluish. Tomala described the pattern of hungariea in all its particulars; I have nothing more to add. He also very aptly discerned that the long hyaline cell under the wedge-shaped hyaline cell on the forewings reaches the median band. According to my observations this is the point where hungariea