SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Bulletin 190
THE NORTH AMERICAN CLEAR- WING MOTHS OF
THE FAMILY AEGERIIDAE
BY
GEORGE P. ENGELHARDT
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1946
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office
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The present work forms No. 190 of the Bidletin series.
Alexander Wetmore,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
II
FOREWORD
George Paul Engelhardt (1871-1942) devoted most of his life to
nature studies, but his chief entomological interest for over 40 years was
the lepidopterous family Aegeriidae. His approach to the study of this
group was that of the field biologist and began with rearings of local
species in the neighborhood of Brooklyn, N. Y. Thereafter, as he built
his extensive collection, he followed through with biological and ecological
studies and made trips to the several sections of the United States, Alaska,
Europe, Central America, and British Columbia, collecting and rearing
from larvae and observing the behavior and peculiar habits of the species
of these regions. He thereby got an accurate and comprehensive bio-
logical picture of the American aegeriid fauna, discovered many new life
histories, and was able to establish the more intimate relationships of
several supposedly different species through their host-plant associations
and the discovery of intergrading forms. His final objective was a mono-
graph of the American Aegeriidae and a reclassification of that group upon
the basis of structural characters coordinated with biological habits and
host associations. This objective was only partially realized, for he died
before he could prepare more than the preliminary draft of his manuscript.
For many years close collaboration existed between Mr. Engelhardt and
the lepidopterists of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine,
whose headquarters are at the United States National Museum. His collec-
tion and manuscripts were willed to the National Museum, and it was his
hope that that institution would publish his work. During the years 1939,
1940, and 1941, Mr. Engelhardt spent his winters at Washington working
out, in collaboration with August Busck, the generic classification and in-
corporating the genitalic characters of the moths into a revised classifica-
tion. At Mr. Busck's suggestion, drawings of male and female genitalia
were made by Mrs. Mary F. Benson, of the Bureau of Entomology and
Plant Quarantine, for the proposed paper. Mr. Engelhardt had planned
his work on broad lines and had hoped to include larval and pupal charac-
ters in the definitions of categories but as the immature stages of several of
the genera were still unknown this was not feasible ; so at his request I
prepared a short description of the larval and pupal characters of the
family.
When the manuscript was examined after Mr. Engelhardt's death it was
found to be substantially complete for the treatment of the species and
their genera, but, as stated above, it was only a preliminary draft, with no
introduction and no general discussion of the biology or previous sys-
tematic treatments of the group as a whole. The manuscript also required
m
IV BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
considerable work to put it into form suitable for Museum publication,
and this was undertaken by Mr. Busck, who was thoroughly acquainted
with Mr. Engelhardt's intentions, scheme of classification, and method of
description. He completed this task for his friend and colleague shortly
before his own death on March 7, 1944. Since no one but the author
could have supplied the proper introduction, no attempt was made to
prepare one.
Thanks to the generous support of Edith F. B. Engelhardt, wife of
George P. Engelhardt, and of George Bliss Engelhardt, his son, it has
been possible to publish the 16 plates of colored figures which Mr. Engel-
hardt had hoped to have included with his text. Mrs. Engelhardt and her
son have borne the entire cost of engraving and printing these colored
plates. The drawings for them were done for Mr. Engelhardt by Mrs.
William Beutenmiiller and Mrs. Mary F. Benson, Mrs. Beutenmiiller
drawing figures 127, 128, 129, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, 150, 151, 155,
156, 160, 161, 162, 166, 171, 177, 180, and 186 and Mrs. Benson the
remainder.
The publication of the manuscript is timely and appropriate. The family
contains more than a dozen American species of considerable economic
importance, these being known to the orchardist, gardener, and forester
under the names peachtree borer, persimmon borer, strawberry crown
moth, grapevine root borer, maple bark borer, ash tree borer, hornet moth,
squash borer, etc. Their food plants include many kinds of cultivated
fruits, shade and forest trees, as well as wild species, and the widespread
damage inflicted by their larvae has long been the serious concern of eco-
nomic entomologists. As a group these moths have for some time stood in
need of the revision and nomenclatorial clarification that this work sup-
plies. The paper will be equally useful to the student, the collector, the
field naturalist, the economic entomologist, and the systematic lepi-
dopterist.
Carl Heinrich.
CONTENTS
Page
Foreword iii
Definition and classification 1
Key to groups of Aegeriidae based on antennae and male genitalia 5
Kej' to North American genera of Aegeriidae 6
The Synanthedon group 7
Genus Sannina Walker 7
Genus Sanninoidea Beutenmiiller 9
Pensiononia, new genus 14
Ramosia, new genus 22
Genus Carmeiita Hy. Edwards 45
Sylvora, new genus 77
Genus Co-nopia Hiibner 81
Genus Synanthedon Hiibner 87
Genus PalDtta Beutenmiiller 97
Hymenoclca, new genus 9S
Genus Alcathoe Hy. Edwards 100
Color key to North American species, races, and varieties of the
genus Alcathoe 101
Genus Podosesia Moschler 108
Genus Tfiamnosphecia Spuler Ill
Genus Vespamima Beutenmiiller 127
Key to North American species of Vespamima 127
The Signaphora group 131
Signaphora, new genus 131
The Calasesia group 1 33
Genus Calasesia Beutenmiiller 133
The Cissuvora group 134
Cissuvora, new genus 134
The Paranthrene group 136
Genus Paranthrene Hiibner 136
Key to North American species and forms of Paranthrene 137
Vitacea, new genus 151
Key to North American species of Vitacea 152
Genus Ga'ea Beutenmiiller 158
Key to North American species of Gaca 159
Genus Albuna Hy. Edwards 162
Key to North American species of Albuna 162
Genus Eiihageiia Hy. Edwards 169
Key to North American species of Euhagena 170
The Aegeria group 1 73
Genus Aegeria Fabricius 1 73
Key to North American species of Aegeria 173
The Meliitia group 181
Genus Melittia Hiibner 181
Key to North American species of Melittia 182
VI BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Page
The Bembecia group 191
Genus Bembecia Hiibner 191
Key to North American species of Bembecia 192
The Zenodoxus group 194
Genus Zenodoxus Grote and Robinson 194
Explanation of plates 202
Index to genera, species, and lower categories 209
Food-plant index 214
THE NORTH AMERICAN CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF
THE FAMILY AEGERIIDAE
By George P. Engelhardt
DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION
The moths of the family Aegeriidae, the so-called clearwings ("Glass-
fliigler"), are normally easily recognized by their general habitus, the nar-
row, mostly hyaline wings, and the dilated antennae, tufted at tips, although
these antennal characters do not hold for some of the genera {Bembecia,
Zenodoxus). Superficially they can be confused only with the so-called
bee moths of the genus Haemorrhagia and allies of the family Sphingidae
or with the moths of the family Syntomidae, from both of which the
Aegeriidae may at once be recognized by the very different venation and
especially by the locking system between the forewings and hindwings/
described in the following diagnosis and not found outside the family.
Tongue normally well developed, strong, naked, spiraled, but in some
genera aborted and not functional {Euhagena, Penstemonia).
Eyes rather small, smooth, not hairy.
Ocelli present.
Antenna one-half to four-fifths as long as fore wing; in the numerically
largest groups dilated from the middle to the tip, ending in a small hair
tuft, but in Bemhecia and Zenodoxus tapering toward apex and not tufted
at tip ; the male in all groups with bipectination of various length on under-
side and with sensory areas especially on outer half; upperside smoothly
scaled ; the femaJes with simple, smooth antennae.
Face, head, and thorax normally smooth, but rough-haired in a few
genera {Euhagena).
Labial palpus well developed, more or less curved upright or obliquely
porrected; second joint smooth or with a more or less developed brush of
varying length ; terminal joint short, bluntly pointed, upright.
Maxillary palpi rudimentary.
Forewing normally partially hyaline, devoid of scales in certain areas ;
narrow-elongate, normally slightly dilated beyond middle, with bluntly
pointed apex and well-marked anal angle; normally with 12 veins present,
7 and 8 stalked, but in some genera with only 1 1 veins, 7 and 8 coincident
(Calesesia) or 10 and 11 fused; veins 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 usually well sepa-
rated and nearly parallel, but 2 and 3 stalked in Zenodoxus and 4 and 5
connate in Signaphora ; 9 and 10 stalked in Sylvora; Ic absent ; la entirely
1 The one diagnostic character of the family.
2 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
and lb partly absorbed in a narrow longitudinal, elastic, downward fold
along the entire dorsal edge of the wing; this downward fold of the fore-
wing fits into a similar narrow upward fold along the costal edge of the
hindwing, both bearing a series of short, recurved spines, which interlock
and help further to keep the wings together. This structure (fig. la) of
the interlocking forewings and hindwings, first pointed out by Busck
(Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 11, p. 115, 1909), is diagnostic of the
family Aegeriidae and is a most effective method of keeping the wings
together.
In the hindwing, besides the specialized locking structure, the family
has retained the well-developed frenulum, normally a single strong spine
in both sexes, although occasionally females are found with a divided
frenulum. The hindwing is narrow but usually broader than the forewing,
with the costal edge straight, apex bluntly pointed, termen evenly rounded,
and normally with an indentation at vein Ic. The obscuring of veins
7 and 8 by the costal fold, as shown by Busck (loc. cit.), has caused earlier
workers to conclude in error that two veins were absent in the hindwing,
veins 8 and 5 (Meyrick) or veins 8 and 4 (Hampson), but if the wings
are softened and carefully denuded, all eight veins are found to be present.
Vein 2 from well before angle of cell ; 3 and 4 usually connate or stalked,
but 3 separate and before angle of cell in Paranihrene and other genera
and in Melittia nearer to 2 than to 4 ; 5 and 6 widely separated, parallel ;
6 from upper angle of cell ; 7 and 8 from base and partly obscured in the
fold or sometimes 7 out of 6 (Bembecia) ; the three anal veins normally
present and a partial fourth vein, stopping short between la and lb, is
often present. This vein has been given special attention by Spuler (Die
Schmetterlinge Europas, vol. 2, p. 311, 1910), who designated it "Bl"
and considered it of generic value in the genus Chamaesphecia Spuler.
From comparisons with hindwings of many other genera of the family
this vein seems to be merely a remnant of the basal fork of vein lb, which
in some genera is clearly defined and in others shows the gradual sepa-
ration and disintegration of the lower branch of the fork. This, however,
requires more study, especially of the pupal wings. John Henry Comstock
was the first to suggest that there actually may be four anal veins in
some of the groups of Aegeriidae {in Beutenmiiller, Menu Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 221, 1901).
The abdomen in the North American genera of the family is not con-
stricted at the base as it is in some exotic genera, only the genus Podosesia
having it somewhat constricted. The abdomen is smooth and in the male
is provided with a fan-shaped or wedge-shaped anal tuft; in several
genera there are long hair pencils (Sannina) or scaled processes
(Alcathoc) from the eighth segment.
The legs, especially the hind ones, are variously modified, smooth or
hairy (Conopia), and sometimes tufted or spined at the tibial spurs. The
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 3
modifications, especially of the posterior tibial and first tarsal joints, are
useful as generic characters; these joints are very long in Podosesia, and
the first tarsal joint, normally smooth, is thickened with rough scales in
some genera {Alcathoc, Synanthedon).
The male genitalia exhibit many modifications, not always easy of
interpretation. In the genera that are considered the more primitive
{Bemhecia and Aegeria) the uncus is short, divided, and hairy at the tip,
suggesting socii. In the higher forms (Pamnthrene group) the uncus
becomes more elongate, still divided at the tip and with lateral sociuslike
hairy pads at tip. In the genera regarded as most highly developed
{Synanthedon group) the uncus is fused with the tegumen and is de-
veloped at the apex into large backwardly curved flaring pads, thickly
covered with characteristic forked hairs, and very suggestive of socii, so
much so that they have repeatedly been considered as such (Busck, Proc.
Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 31, p. 135, pi. 7, 1929). It is, in fact, still de-
batable whether this structure represents uncus or socii or a combination
of both, but in this treatise it will be designated uncus.
The gnathos is more or less well developed normally, especially in the
higher forms (Synanthedon group) continued in a narrow, wirelike,
undulating \ entral plate supporting the underside of the bulging alimentary
canal.
The anellus is normally a small (in Bemhecia large), triangular or
rectangular plate with two lateral processes, supporting the retractable tube
surrounding the aedeagus.
The aedeagus is normally long, slender, straight or undulating, often
with a bulbous base and with short spines on or near the tip; the apex
sometimes furcate or swollen.
The cornuti are normally present as short, often paired, thorns, but in
some species merely as granulation.
The vinculum is long or short, strongly sclerotized, sometimes broadened
and furcate at tip.
The harpes in the more primitive genera {Aegeria) are short and
stubby, more or less quadrangular, with strong bristles on end near the
edges. In the higher genera {Paranthrene group) the harpes are more
elongate, rounded, with edges long-haired or spined, sometimes with
forked spines on costal edge and on sacculus. These hairs are triforked or
multiforked in contrast to those of the Synanthedon group, which are al-
ways bifurcate. In the highest groups (Synanthedon and allies) the
harpes are elongate-ovate, sometimes with pointed apices, and the costal
and terminal half is thickly covered with characteristic forked spines,
similar to those on the uncus; these spines are shortly bifurcate and .black-
ened in the cleft ; sacculus with a more or less naked basal area, bordered
costally by an oblique ridge (here designated "sacculus ridge") with
prominent scales or thorns of various forms ; the modifications of this
4 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
armature in different, definite arrangements are constant within the species
and furnish excellent diagnostic specific characters and, in our opinion, also
dependable generic characters.
The female genitalia have a simple, more or less cup-shaped ostium;
the ductus is short, sometimes sclerotized on the terminal part ; the bursa
is normally simple, oval, thin-walled, and without signum, but in the
Paranthrene group there are fine transverse wrinkled circles around the
bursa, and in some forms of this group each wrinkle is slightly more
sclerotized in a small dot ; the longitudinal line of these dots constitutes a
faint signum; in Sigtiaphora there is a definite signum consisting of a
single strong, short spine.
The pupa has transverse rows of spines on the dorsum of the abdomen,
double rows on segments 2 to 6, inclusive, of the female and on segments
2 to 7 of the male ; the female has one row on segment 7, and both sexes
have single rows on segments 8, 9, and 10; the spines on abdominal
segment 10 are broad, and the row extends nearly to the ventromeson.
Maxillary palpi present. Wings narrow and pointed. Cremaster absent.
Large spines always present on venter of tenth abdominal segment. Pupa-
tion normally takes place within the larval burrow.
The larvae are ivory white and without body markings except for some
yellow or yellowish-brown shadings on the thoracic shield ; cylindrical and
tapering somewhat abruptly caudally; intersegmental incisions deep;
thoracic segments more or less enlarged. Body and head with primary
setae only. Body setae inconspicuous, pale, short; three setae on
prespiracular shield of prothorax; setae I\^ and V approximate, on a
single pinaculum and situated under the spiracle on proleg-bearing abdomi-
nal segments; setal group VIII bisetose on first abdominal segment,
trisetose and arranged in a transverse line on second abdominal segment
and unisetose on ninth abdominal segment; seta lie of prothorax lying
between lb and Ic and closer to them than to lib; all setae on ninth
abdominal segment arranged in a transverse row, seta V much reduced
and usually approximate to III and remote from IV; seta VI frequently
reduced, sometimes absent, on ninth abdominal segment. Sclerotized areas
about body tubercles very weakly pigmented, inconspicuous. Thoracic
legs short. Prolegs of the normal number, but short ; crochets uniordinal
and arranged in two transverse bands, sometimes {Bemhecia, Melittia)
very small and weak. Spiracle on eighth abdominal segment located very
high (subdorsally or dorsally) on segment, considerably larger than other
abdominal spiracles. Anal fork absent.
Larval head appreciably smaller than prothorax ; epicranium with inci-
sion of dorsal hindmargin deep and with posterior lobes produced and
rounded ; adfrontal sutures reaching to or very nearly to incision of dorsal
hind margin; longitudinal ridge short. Ocelli 1, 2, 3, and 4 grouped
together, trapezoidally arranged and remote from ocelli 5 and 6. Head
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE
seta Ao much closer to Ai than to A3 ; posterior seta Pi on or very near
the level of Adfo; setae of anterior, ocellar, subocellar, and lateral groups
crowded well forward on head.
The aegeriid larvae are all borers in the trunks, bark, stems, or roots of
trees, shrubs, or vines, or in the stems or roots of herbaceous plants. A few
are inquiline borers in galls on trees or shrubs. None is known to attack
any of the grasses. They are easily distinguished by the peculiar arrange-
ments of their ocelli and crochets from other lepidopterous borers having
three setae on prespiracular shield of prothorax and setae IV and V
approximate to each other on the first eight abdominal segments. A similar
arrangement of crochets occurs in some Cossidae (notably Cossula), but
there the ocellar grouping is different.
Based on the aforementioned adult characters and especially those of the
antennae, venation, and genitalia, the family Aegeriidae falls first into two
main divisions, which might well be considered of subfamily rank. The
one to which the great majority of genera belong has a club-shaped
antenna with the apex ending in a minute hair tuft, whereas in the other
the antenna tapers toward the apex and does not end in a tuft. The former
division falls, both on venation and genitalia, into the following groups,
beginning with what we consider the highest forms : The Synanthedon
group, consisting of 14 genera, and the Paranthrene group, consisting of
5 genera, both groups derivable from forms similar to Aegeria. Besides
these large groups there are found single genera with possibly the same
origin but highly developed along separate, diverging lines ; such are
Cissiivora, Signaphora, and Calasesia. Finally there is Melittia, an early
separation from the Aegeria group. In the other main division fall
Bembecia and Zenodoxus, which otherwise are not closely correlated.
These nine concepts may be separated by the following synoptic table
based on the genitalia and antennae :
KEY TO GROUPS OF AEGERIIDAE BASED ON ANTENNAE AND MALE GENITALIA
1. Antenna dilated toward apex, ending in minute tuft 2
Antenna tapering toward apex, tip without tuft 8
2. Uncus large, flaring, soft lobes with bifurcate hairs Synanthedon group
Uncus without bifurcate hairs 3
3. Harpe long, elongate-ovate 4
Harpe short, angular 5
4 Harpe with apex produced or angular Melittia group
Harpe with apex rounded Paranthrene group
5. Harpe with triforked or multiforked hairs Cissuvora group
Harpe with undivided hairs or spines 6
6. Uncus and gnathos divided at apex Aegeria group
Uncus and gnathos not divided at apex 7
7. Gnathos inverted-spoon-shaped, harpes with heavy armature Calasesia group
Gnathos pointed harpe without heavy spining Signaphora group
8. Uncus divided into 2 short hairy papillae Bembecia group
Uncus not divided Zenodoxus group
b BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN GENERA OF AEGERIIDAE
1. Antenna dilated toward tip, ending in minute tuft 2
Antenna tapering toward tip ; tip not tufted 25
2. Hindwing with vein 3 nearer to 2 than to 4 Melittia Hiibner
Hindwing with vein 3 nearer to 4 than to 2 3
3. Forewing with vein 7 stalked to termen 4
Forewing with vein 7 stalked to costa or apex 5
4. Forewing with vein 9 out of stalk of 7 and 8 Cissuvora, new genus
Forewing with vein 9 separate Aegeria Fabricius
5. Forewing with veins 7 and 8 coincident Calasesia Beutenmiiller
Forewing with veins 7 and 8 stalked 6
6. Forewing with veins 4 and 5 connate Signaphora, nevv^ genus
Forewing with veins 4 and 5 well separated, parallel 7
7. Hindwing with veins 3 and 4 well separated 8
Hindwing with veins 3 and 4 closely approximate, connate or stalked 9
8. Hindwing with vein Ic broadly and heavily scaled Vitacea, new genus
Hindwing with vein Ic normally scaled Paranthrene Hiibner
9. Hindwing with veins 3 and 4 closely approximate, but separate.
Albuna Hy. Edwards
Hindwing with veins 3 and 4 connate or stalked 10
10. Tongue rudimentary 11
Tongue well developed, spiraled 13
\l: Face, head, and thorax long-haired Euhagena Hy. Edwards
Face, head, and thorax normally scaled 12
12. Forewing with veins 10 and 11 separate Gaea Beutenmiiller
Forewing with veins 10 and 11 confluent at tip Penstemonia, new genus
13. Posterior tibia and first tarsal joint very long Podosesia Moschler
Posterior tibia and first tarsal joint of normal length 14
14. Forewing with veins 10 and 11 coincident throughout 15
Forewing with veins 10 and 11 separate, stalked or confluent at tip 17
15. Posterior first tarsal joint heavily thickened above with rough scales.
Alcathoe Hy. Edwards
Posterior first tarsal joint not thickened 16
16. Posterior tibia rough scaled Hymenoclea, new genus
Posterior tibia smooth with stiff hairs at spurs.
Carmenta Hy. Edwards (in part)
17. Forewing with veins 10 and 11 well separated, parallel 16
Forewing with veins 10 and 11 closely approximate, stalked or confluent at tip 23
18. Posterior first tarsal joint thickened with rougli scales above 19
Posterior first tarsal joint not thickened, smooth 20
19. Abdomen with long hair pencils, 5 in male, 2 in female Sannina Walker
Abdomen without such hair pencils Synanthedon Hiibner
20. Posterior tibia smooth or nearly so with stiff scales at spurs.
Thamnosphecia Spuler
Posterior tibia rough scaled above 21
21. Posterior tibia rough scaled throughout 22
Posterior tibia rough scaled only on upper half Sanninoidea Beutenmiiller
22. Labial palpus with second joint nearly smooth Conopia Hiibner
Labial palpus with well-developed rough brush Vespamima Beutenmiiller
23. Forewing with veins 10 and 1 1 stalked at base Sylvora, new genus
Forewing with veins 10 and 1 1 confluent at tip , 24
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 7
24. Labial palpus with a short, nearly smooth brush.
Carmenta H}'. Edwards (in part)
Labial palpus with a strong, uneven brush Ramosia, new genus
25. Forewing with veins 7 and 8 stalked, 1 dorsal vein absent Bembecia Hubner
Forewing with veins 7 and 8 separate ; all veins present.
Zenodoxus Grote and Robinson
THE SYNANTHEDON GROUP
Male and female genitalia. — Uncus, large flaring lobes more or less
turned backward over the termen, thickly clothed with characteristically
long, thick spines with shortly bifurcated tips and blackened in the cleft.
Gnathos broadly emitted from tegumen, weakly sclerotized, cup-shaped;
from it a long, thin, wirelike, undulating, ventral plate, supporting the
underside of the bulgy alimentary canal. Anellus a small triangular or
quadrangular plate with two lateral processes, supporting the retractable
tube surrounding the aedeagus. Aedeagus long, slender, often with bulbous
base and with short spines on or near the tip, which in some forms is
furcate. Cornuti normally short, often paired thorns, but in some genera
merely represented as fine granulation. Vinculum long or short, strongly
sclerotized, sometimes broadened or slightly furcate at tip. Harpe elongate
ovate, apex sometimes bluntly pointed ; costal and terminal half thickly
covered with characteristic biforked spines, similar to those on uncus ;
sacculus with a more or less naked basal area, bordered costally by a ridge,
the "sacculus ridge" with prominent scales or spines of diverse form ; the
modifications of this armature constant within the species and, therefore,
furnishing excellent specific characters. Female genitalia with simple,
cup-shaped ostium, ductus short, in some genera sclerotized on terminal
part ; bursa simple, oval, thin-walled, without signum.
Genus SANNINA Walker
Sannina Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of
the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 63, 1856. — Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 242, 1901. (Genotype, Sannina iiroceriformis Walker.)
Saunina Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des lepidopteres
heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 465, 1874. (Misspelling.)
Sospita Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 56, 1882. (Genotype, Aegeria quinquecau-
dala Ridings.)
Phemonoe Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 97, 1882. (New name for Sospita Hy.
Edwards, preoccupied.)
Tongue well developed, spiraled. Antenna a little more than half the
length of the forewing, slender, moderately dilated toward the tip, tufted
at tip ; in male shortly and finely bipectinate ; in female simple. Labial
palpus upwardly curved, reaching the top of the head ; second joint thick-
ened with appressed, nearly smooth scaling; third joint shorter than
second, bluntly pointed. Hindtibia and first tarsal joint thickened with
rough scales above. Anal tuft of the male consisting of five long hair
8 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
pencils on segment 8, two lateral pairs and one anal; female with two
shorter lateral hair pencils and anal tuft short, rounded. Forewing with
12 veins ; 7 and 8 stalked ; 7 to costa just above apex ; 10 and 1 1 approxi-
mate but separate and parallel ; lb faint. Hindwing with 8 veins ; 8 weak
and obscured in the costal fold ; 7 strong but also involved in the fold ; 5
and 6 parallel ; 6 to costal edge ; 3 and 4 short-stalked. Male genitalia of
the Synanthedon type; aedeagus long, straight, slightly bulbous at base,
widened at outer third and there roughened and armed on one side with
six to eight short stout spines ; tip thinly sclerotized ; cornuti, numerous
minute spines ; harpes pointed ; sacculus sharply protruded at tip ; sacculus
ridge short, horizontal, sharply bent downward, with strong, flattened,
forked spines, nearly reaching dorsal edge. Female genitalia with wide
vase-shaped ostium ; ductus strongly sclerotized and slightly curved on its
terminal half ; bursa small, oval, thin-walled, without signum.
The genus contains only the following species :
SANNINA UROCERIFORMIS Walker
Plates 1, 4, 13, Figures 1, 28, 28a, 58
Sannina uroceriformis Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in
the collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 64, 1856. — Beutenmuller, Mem.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 242, 1901.— Dyar, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull.
52, p. 365, No. 4172, 1902.— Holland, The moth book, p. 382, 1903.— Herrick,
Can. Ent., vol. 39, p. 265, pi. 8, 1907.— McDunnough, Check list of the Lepi-
doptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8765, 1939.
Aegeriaf quinque-caudata Ridings, Proc. Ent. Soc. Philadelphia, vol. 1, p. 277, 1862.
Saunina uroceripennis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 465, 1874.
Sospita quinqiiecaudata Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 56, 1882.
Phemonoe quinqiiecaudata Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 97, 1882.
Male. — Head and antennae blue-black. Labial palpus black, intermixed
with orange at base of second joint. Collar orange. Thorax blue-black,,
patagia orange; underside and legs wholly blue-black. Abdomen blue-
black, with segment 4 and sometimes segment 5 orange above ; anal tuft
and appendages black. Forewings opaque throughout, blue-black. Hind-
wings opaque, blue-black with small transparent areas between the veins
basally. Underside of wings same as above.
Female. — Similar to the male, but with only two short anal hair pencils
laterally above the short, rounded anal tuft.
Alar expanse : Male and female 28 to 32 mm.
Distribution. — Atlantic Coast and Gulf States from New Jersey to
Texas, westward to Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas.
Food plant. — Diospyros virginiana.
Type. — Female, collected in the United States, without definite locality.
In the British Museum.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE y
Remarks. — This is the persimmon borer. In general, the insect follows
the distribution of its food plant, the wild persimmon (Diospyros inr-
giniatia). It is found sparingly in New Jersey and Pennsylvania (Haim-
bach) and in Delaware (Frank M. Jones) and becomes increasingly
numerous southward from Virginia. The moths are active fliers in sun-
shine but are not particularly attracted to flowers, although they hover
about them in search of mates. Judged by their scanty representation in
most collections they are captured only occasionally. In life and action
the moths are perfect mimics of the black, red-banded wasp. Lophopom-
pilus atrox (Dahlbom) ; also they bear a striking resemblance to the
female of the peach borer, Sanninoidea exltiosa.
The life cycle covers 2 years, sometimes 3. In the South the time of
emergence is April and May ; in more temperate regions, June and July.
The eggs are laid or dropped at the base of the trees, preferably young
growth and saplings. Hedgerows and cutover woodlands are favorite
places. The larvae are voracious feeders, tunneling downward into tap
roots, 16 to 18 inches below the ground (Riley). On young shoots and
saplings the injury causes wilting or breaking. Attacks on old trees are
less serious.
The larvae, preceding pupation, prepare irregularly shaped cases of
frass and chips extending outward and upward an inch or more, leaving
access to their tunnels in the wood or root. On saplings the cases fre-
quently are well above ground. This provides free movement for the
pupa, which drops quickly down when disturbed and moves up into the
case when safe. Heavy infestations have been encountered in Florida and
Alabama. In Missouri, E. A. Brower obtained long series by breeding
from pupae. He found it necessary to acquire wood sections containing
galleries and pupal cases intact, as pupae, when extracted, rarely transform.
The injury caused to our own native persimmon, while serious, may
not be considered as of prime economic importance. However, the insect
may prove a serious menace to the growing development of the introduced
Japanese persimmon, which is cultivated by grafting on native stock.
Control measures as practiced against the peachtree borer, Sanninoidea
exitiosa, should apply.
Genus SANNINOIDEA Beutenmullcr
Samiinoidca Beutenmuixer, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 126, 1896 ; Mem.
-Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 265, 1901. (Genotype, Aegeria exitiosa
Say.)
Tongue long, spiraled. Antenna ihree-fourths of length of forewing,
moderately dilated to the tufted apex ; in male with fine ciliation ; in female
simple. Labial palpus upturned to top of the face ; second joint thickened
with a short, nearly smooth brush ; third joint short, blunt. Posterior tibia
rough-scaled on upper half and tufted at spurs.
10 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Venation : Forewing with veins 7 and 8 stalked ; 7 to apex ; 10 and 1 1
separate. Hindwing with veins 3 and 4 short-stalked. Abdomen slender ;
anal tuft of male long, wedge-shaped, of female short, blunt.
Male genitalia of the Synanthedon type ; anellus with long, thin, lateral
processes, aedeagus forked at tip ; cornuti numerous ; sacculus ridge with a
slightly curved row of flat, forked scales. Female genitalia with ductus
thickened for a short space beyond ostium ; no signum.
Critical examination, based on ample material, shows no structural dif-
ferences to justify specific separation of the forms and races of Sannmoidea
exitiosa on the North American Continent. Structures, including venation
and genitalia, conform, and dififerences in pattern and coloration indicate
only races and variations of one species. There is so much overlapping
that clean-cut divisions cannot be drawn.
SANNINOIDEA EXITIOSA EXITIOSA (Say)
Plate 1, Figure 2 ; Plate 4, Figures 29, 29a ; Plate 13, Figure 59
Aegeria exitiosa Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 3, p. 216, 1823. —
Butler, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 4, vol. 14, p. 408, 1874.
Apis persica Thomas, Amer. Farmer, vol. 6, No. 5, p. 37, 1824.
Paranthrene pepsidiformis Hubner, Zutrage zur Sammlung exotischer Schmetter-
linge, vol. 3. p. 32, pi. 92, figs. 533, 534 1825.
Aegeria persicae Harris, New England Farmer, vol. 5, p. 33, 1826.
Trochiliiim exitiosum Fitch, Third report on the noxious insects of the State of
New York, 1856, p. 356, 1857.
Sesia xiphiaeformis Boisduval. Histoire nadirelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 409, 1874.
Aegeria xiphiaeformis Hy. Edwards, Ent. Amer., vol. 3, p. 224, 1888.
Sanninoidea exitiosa Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 126,
1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 266, 1901.— McDunnough,
Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2,
No. 8691, 1939.— Snapp and Thompson, U. S. Dept. Agr. Techn. Bull. 854, 1943.
Male. — Antennae black or blue-black, finely ciliate on inner sides. Palpi
yellow beneath, black above. Head black, interspersed with yellow scales
between the antennae and posterior parts. Collar yellow. Thorax black,
with two longitudinal yellow stripes at wing base. Wings hyaline,
nervures and margins blue-black; forewing with transverse mark and
margins narrow. Legs black, with or without bluish reflections ; posterior
tibia narrowly banded yellow at the joints. Abdomen black, usually with
steel blue or coppery reflections, with narrow, yellow bands on all seg-
ments or banded only in part, the markings on basal and fourth segments
being most dependable ; anal tuft hastated or wedge-shaped, edged with
white at the sides.
Female. — Antennae, palpi, head, thorax, and legs black, violaceous.
Abdomen metallic black with the fourth segment orange above and
beneath. Forewing entirely opalescent, black, violaceoiLS. Hindwing
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE H
transparent, heavily scaled at costal margin ; outer margin and fringes
black, violaceous.
Expanse : Male, 18 to 30 mm. ; female, 23 to 32 mm.
Distribution.- — Canada, United States east of Rocky Mountains.
Type. — Lost.
Remarks. — Regarded as of principal economic importaiice among the
species of the Aegeriidae, the peachtree borer has been the subject of so
many investigations that it would call for many pages merely to cite the
published titles, but this is beyond the scope of the present revision of the
family. Sanninoidea exitiosa is a North American insect, occurring in a
number of varieties and geographical races. Its economic importance is
based on the habits of the larvae, which are borers ; originally the species
developed in wild species of the Prunus family, such as the cherry and
plum, but subsequently and since the introduction of peach and other
stone fruits, perhaps 200 years ago, it has transferred its attacks very
largely to trees under cultivation, causing enormous injury. Attacks are
confined to the base of the tree and to the roots at or below the surface.
The time of emergence of the imagoes varies in different parts of the
continent. Along the coast of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey
it is from early in June through Juh^ ; inland and northward progressively
later, from July to September. Southward to Florida and the Gulf States,
earlier emergences might be expected, but contrary results have been
recorded. Inspection of orchard trees in Florida in April and May re-
vealed mostly immature larvae, half grown or smaller. From Fort Valley,
Ga., O. F. Snapp reports 75 percent of the moths as emerging in Sep-
tember, some during August, others in October, and one record as late as
November 8. The life cycle is 1 year in length, occasionally perhaps over-
lapping into a second year. Wintering always occurs in the larval state
in the burrow. The moths are da}' fliers, often attracted to flowers.
Sexually the moths are remarkably fine examples of dimorphism and of
mimicry.
From the Mississippi Valley westward the males exhibit a gradual
broadening of the outer margins on the primaries, and the abdominal seg-
ments always are all narrowly banded with pale yellow ; they finally merge
with the race harnesii of Colorado. The females run true to type.
6'. exitiosa apparently has followed the extension of peach cultivation
westward to the Rocky Mountains. Minor variations indicate response
to climatic changes and probably interbreeding with western races.
SANNINOIDEA EXITIOSA form FITCHII (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria exitiosa var. fitchii Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2. p. 55, 1882.
Sanninoidea exitiosa var. fitchii Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8,
p. 126, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 269, 1901.— McDxjn-
NOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of
America, pt. 2, No. 8691, 1939.
12 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Feinale. — Like the typical exitiosa but with the hindwing heavily scaled
between the space of the two inner veins, dividing the clear area into two
parts. This variation occurs more or less throughout the range of the
species.
Type. — Female. In the American Museum of Natural History.
SANNINOIDEA EXITIOSA form EDWARDSII BeutenmuUer
Sanninoidea exitiosa var. edzvardsii Beutenmuixer, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 12, p. 160, 1899; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 269, 1901.—
McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States
of America, pt. 2, No. 8691, 1939.
Female. — Like the type form with abdominal segments 4 and 5 orange
and the space between the two inner veins of the hindwing more or less
covered with scales.
Type. — Female. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — This variation replaces or nearly replaces the normal form
of the species northward, in western New York and Canada. Otherwise,
the variation is found occasionally only.
SANNINOIDEA EXITIOSA form LUMINOSA (Nenmoegen)
SanniiM exitiosa var. luntinosa Neumoegen, Ent. News, vol. 5, p. 331, 1894.
Sanninoidea exitiosa var. luminosa Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 8, p. 126, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 269, 1901.—
McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of
America, pt. 2, No. 8691, 1939.
Male. — In the original description, based on exceptionally fine, lustrous,
newly reared examples, the author enthusiastically describes the golden
metallic sheen of his specimens. These beautiful reflections, alas, have
greatly dulled with time. The types retain the narrow golden-yellow bands
on all the abdominal segments but otherwise agree with typical male
examples of exitiosa.
Type. — Male, collected at Long Island, N. Y. In the United States
National Museum.
SANNINOIDEA EXITIOSA race BARNESII BentenmiUler
Sanninoidea graefi var. barnesii Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 272, 1901.— McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of
Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8693, 1939.
Male. — Like typical exitiosa but with the transverse mark and the outer
wing margins much broadened, black, more or less intermixed with golden
scales on transverse mark and on costa, above and beneath. The abdominal
segments are all narrowly banded yellow. LTnbanded examples have
proved to be old and too greasy for redemption.
Feinale. — Like typical exitiosa with abdominal segment 4 orange, a
character the forms fitchii and edwardsii lack, The primary wings appear
»
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEfiERIIDAE 13
to be slightly more rounded at the apices. Their opacity is less dense,
with indications of a broad transverse mark in a more or less suffused
area. In size this race averages smaller and slenderer than exitiosa.
Expanse : 22 to 28 mm.
Distribution.— Rocky Mountains, Colo., 6,000 to 10,000 feet.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — S. e. harnesii, described by BeuteimiuUer as a variety of
Sanninoidea graefi (Hy. Edwards), is here treated as a geographical race
based on personal field investigations, supported by ample material in the
collection of the United States National Museum. It is a race indigenous
to Rocky Mountain regions at altitudes above peach-orchard cultivation.
The males found associated with this race erroneously have been designated
by Beutenmiiller as the males of Sanninoidea graefi (Hy. Edwards).
SANNINOIDEA EXITIOSA race GRAEFI (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 17, Figure 88
SciapUvcn graefi Hv. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 183, 1881.
Acc/eria of^alcscens Hv. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 199, 1881.
Sanintia pacifica Riley, Insect Life, vol. 3, p. 393, 1891.
Parharmuiiia graefi BeuteiVMULLer. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 89, 1894.
Sannina opalcscen.<; Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 366, 1894.
Sanninoidea opalesceiis Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 126,
1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 271, 1901.— McDunnough,
Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2,
No. 8693, 1939.
Male. — Anteimae black, finely ciliate, palpi, head thorax, and abdomen
wholly black with metallic reflections, blue or green. Anal tuft wedge-
shaped, sometimes narrowly bordered with white at the sides. Wings
hyaline, forewing heavily scaled on costa ; transverse mark and outer
margins broad, black with metallic sheen. Legs black, tibiae with whitish
tufts at the spurs.
Female.- — Antennae black, simple. Palpi, head, thorax, abdomen, and
legs wholly metallic black. Anal tuft short, blunt. Primary wings heavily
scaled, nearly or quite obscuring the broad transverse mark.
Expanse : Male 25 to 30 mm. ; female 26 to 32 mm.
Distribution. — Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Hy. Edwards's original description of graefi, short but
adequate, is confined to the female, without mention of the sex. He had
three specimens, one male and two females, all bearing identical labels,
*'Nev." (Morrison), which had been submitted by E. L. Graef. One
female, labeled type, is in the United States National Museum ; another,
likewise labeled type, is in the American Museum of Natural History. A
male type, so labeled, has not been found. Flowever, the E. L. Graef
collection, now in the United States National Museum, contains two addi-
14 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
tional males from the same lot ("Nev." [Morrison] ). One of these bears
Hy. Edwards's label "Aegeria opalesccns, Type." Hence, there is no ques-
tion about tlie examples that served him for description. The type of
Sannina pacifica Riley, a female (Santa Clara County, Calif., June), is in
the United States National Museum. In addition, good series covering
the range of graefii are at hand. Compared with examples from Wash-
ington and Oregon, the primar}- wings become increasingly more opaque
southward into California and Nevada. Northward from Oregon and
Washington, females occasionally show indications of yellow bands on the
fourth abdominal segment. On examples from Montana the bands have
developed to about the full width of segment 4 and are dull yellow, not
orange.
PENSTEMONIA, new genus
Genotype, Aegeria edwardsii Beutenmiiller.
Tongue rudimentary. Labial palpus with a short, rough brush. Fore-
wing with veins 10 and 11 confluent at tip, 7 stalked to apex; hindwing
with veins 3 and 4 stalked. Posterior tibiae smooth, with tufts of stiff
scales at spurs ; posterior tarsi not thickened. Anal tuft of male fan-
shaped; some specimens with a hair pencil on each side, longer than the
tuft. Male genitalia having sacculus ridge with flat, forked scales ter-
minating on edge ; cornuti paired, strong, short spines. Female genitalia
with ductus strongly sclerotized posteriorly ; no signum.
The genus is close to Carmenta and Ramosia, differing mainly in the
rudimentary tongue. All the species are root or stem borers in species
of Pensteinon.
PENSTEMONIA EDWARDSII (Beutenmuller)
Plate 1, Figure 3; Plate 4, Figures 30, 30a; Plate 13, Figure 60;
Plate 17, Figures 89, 90
Aegeria edwardsii Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 92, 1894.
Sesia edzvardsii Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 142, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 313, pi. 32, fig. 16, 1901.
Sesia titahensis Beutenmijller, Ent. News, vol. 20, p. 83, 1909 (female).
Synanthedon edzvardsi McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8761, 1939.
Sexes dissimilar.
Male. — Antennae violaceous-black, strong, rather prominently dilating
to the tips, pectinations well developed. Palpus white, third joint mixed
with black, densest at tip and behind. Head black, orbits white. Collar
whitish yellow. Thorax metallic black, patagia with a narrow pale-yellow
stripe, metathorax tufted with long sordid-white hair at the sides ; beneath
with sordid-white patches before and at the wing base. Abdomen metallic
black, with fourth and last segment broadly banded with sordid white
above and beneath and segments 2, 5, and 6 narrowly banded with sordid
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGEKIIDAE 15
white beneath ; anal tuft fan-shaped, usually folded, not spread, black
aboA'e, beneath claspers and outer edge white. Coxae and femora of front
legs white, of middle legs and hindlegs black ; tibiae of hindlegs more white
than black on anterior half, on posterior half black between the spurs,
which are sordid white ; tarsi black, sparsely mixed with white on first
tarsal joint. Forewing opaque, dull black, heavily scaled on margins and
veins, less so between the veins, a narrow pale-yellow patch before the
obscured discal mark and a few yellow scales between the veins near
apex and before the wing base ; on the underside the yellow scaling
heavier and the discal mark more distinct. Hindwing heavily shaded and
very broadly margined with blackish scales, only the inner half remaining
transparent; underside well shaded with yellow. Out of a long series of
rearings onlj'^ one dwarfed specimen has the hindwings nearly wholly
transparent.
Female. — Antennae black. Palpus yellow, mixed with black scales on
terminal joint. Head black mixed with tawny scales, face and collar
yellow. Thorax purplish black, patagia edged with yellow on inner side
and metathorax with yellow tufts and scales ; underside yellow before and
at the wing base. Abdomen black ; segments 2, 4, and 6 broadly banded
with bright yellow above and beneath and segment 5 yellow only beneath.
Some examples also with a sprinkling of yellow scales on segments 1, 3,
and 5. The anal tuft short, rounded, yellow and black in alternating
stripes, the yellow predominating. Legs like those of the male but marked
with bright yellow instead of sordid wliite. Wings wholly opaque in a
streaked mixture of black and dull orange, the orange shadings mostly
between the veins and most pronounced on the upper half of the forewing
and before the wing base of the hindwing. On the underside the orange
shading much heavier than on the upper side.
Throughout the range of the species the color is subject to much varia-
tion, particularly in the females. Examples from Arizona average darker,
more black than orange, while others from Utah are more dull orange
than black. This latter variation Beutenmuller described as a distinct
species, Sesia utahensis, based on a single female. Long series, including
numerous intergradations now available, prove Sesia utahensis to be a
synonym of the present species.
Expanse : Male 18 to 20 mm., female 20 to 25 mm. A series of reared
specimens from Arizona contains several males and females measuring
only 13 to 15 mm. ; they are dwarfs, not normal.
Distribution. — Arid canyon and mesa regions of southwestern Colorado
and Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Type. — Female. In American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — The t}'pe from Colorado is imperfect, and Beutenmiiller's
description and illustration are inaccurate in details. Not attracted to
flowers because of an abortive tongue, the species has been collected rarely
16 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
until the recent discovery of the food plant, subsequent to which long series
have been obtained by rearing, showing that it is common, at least locally.
It is a root borer in various species of Penstemon but only in perennials of
strong growth and rootstock. At maturity the larva tunnels up into the
stalk a short distance above ground and pupates within the gallery with-
out constructing a cocoon, thus permitting the pupa to move up or down
at will. The larva prepares a circular exit, thinly covered by the outer
plant epidermis. In hot, desert regions at low elevations the moths begin
to emerge during May ; at higher elevations in cooler climate, in June,
July, and August. A hundred or more specimens of both sexes in about
equal numbers were reared from Penstemon centranthif alius, Oak Creek
Canyon (near Flagstaff ), Ariz., June- July 1936, and from P. parryi, Box
Canyon, Santa Rita, and Pima Mountains, Ariz., May to July 1936. Large
roots may harbor six or more individuals. Lack of breeding facilities alone
limited the number of specimens obtained. In addition, the larval work
was observed at Mesa Verde, Colo., on Penstemon strictus and P.
imilateralis ; at Desert Arboretum, Superior, Ariz., on P. eatonii; and in
Provo Canyon, Utah, on P. unilateralis. Records of captured specimens
in the United States National Museum are one female, Prescott, Ariz.,
July 1-7, 1917 (Dyar) ; one female (Sesia utahensis, type), Bellevue,
Washington County, Utah, June 1904 (Engelhardt) ; and one female (S.
utahensis), Hualpai Mountains, Mohave, Ariz., May 24, 1931 (Barnes
collection).
The discovery of the food plant and habits of edwardsii in 1936 led to
more extensive field investigations in California and other Pacific coast
regions, which so far have resulted in the discovery of four additional
species not heretofore recognized, all closely related in structures, as well
as in habits. This line of investigation has by no mea.ns been completed.
Vast regions in the Pacific Northwest, in the Rocky Mountains, and in
northern Mexico remain untouched. Undoubtedly several new species
belonging in Penstemonia await discovery.
PENSTEMONIA HENNEI. new species
Plate 17, Figures 91, 92
Sexes dissimilar.
Male. — Antennae black, pectinations fine. Labial palpus white, black
at tip. Head black, orbit white. Collar sordid white, mixed with yellow.
Thorax violaceous-black ; patagia with a pale-yellow stripe, broadening at
metathorax, which is tufted with long, fine, whitish hairs on the sides ;
prothorax with a small patch of flat yellow scales at the sides. Abdomen
black with bluish reflections, segments 4 and 8 broadly banded with sordid
white above, segments 1, 2, 4, and 5 edged with sordid white at the sides
and beneath and segment 7 sordid white only at the sides ; anal tuft fan-
shaped, black above, beneath white at the sides; claspers dull yellow.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AE(.;ERIIDAE 17
Femora of forelegs shiny white on outer side and black on inner side, of
middle legs and hindlegs mixed black and white ; tibiae of hindlegs bluish
black, broadly banded sordid white before and behind the anterior spurs ;
first tarsal joint black, slightly mixed with white, posterior joints black.
Forewing with narrow ochreous areas before and behind the large square,
black discal mark ; costa and broad outer margins black and a mixture of
black-and-white scales between the veins; beneath shaded heavier with
whitish scales than above. Hindwing transparent, veins and narrow mar-
gins black, fringes dull black.
Female- — -Antennae black, annulated with yellow scales on undersides
toward the base. Labial palpi bright yellow. Head above heavily scaled
with black, mixed with yellow in front and at the sides ; face smooth,
lustrous yellow. Collar stiff -haired, bright yellow. Thorax violaceous-
black ; patagia prominently striped and metathorax transversely fringed
with bright yellow ; prothorax with a bright-yellow patch before and be-
neath the wing base. Abdomen violaceous-black, segments 2, 3, 5, and 6
broadly banded with bright yellow above and all segments beneath and at
the sides banded with pale yellow ; anal tuft narrow, rounded at tip, black
and yellow. Femora of forelegs pale yellow ; femora of hindlegs blackish,
slightly sprinkled yellow ; tibiae bright yellow, black before and at the
lower spurs ; first tarsal joint yellow, posterior joints black, slightly dusted
with yellow. Forewing nearly opaque; before and behind the large,
square, black, discal mark, narrow areas thinly dusted with yellow scales
and a heavier yellow dusting between the veins at the broad, black, outer
margins ; only a very thin streak between the veins before the lower wing
base remaining transparent ; beneath yellow, except for the discal mark,
costa, and outer margin. Hindwing transparent, outer margins black,
broader than in the male, fringes dull black.
Expanse : Male 18 mm., female 18 to 20 mm.
Type. — U.S.N.M. No. 56822. Holotype male, allotype female, two
male and three female paratypes. Collected in San Bernardino County,
Calif.
Remarks. — To C. Henne, of Pasadena, Calif., is due the credit for first
recording the food plant and for rearing moths of this Penstemon borer.
It is a satisfaction to perpetuate his discovery by naming the species for
him. The host plant, Penstemon spectahiUs, as indicated in the name, is
one of the showiest of the many beautiful species included in the genus.
Where well colonized the plants set ablaze with rose, purple, and lilac the
steep slopes on hills and in canyons of the Sierras in California. This
borer is found in the crown roots and lower stems of the plants. The
larvae, although nearly full grown early in summer, do not transform to
pupae until late in July and in August. Hence, to assure successful breed-
ing, plant cuttings should not be collected until about that time. From large
roots several adults may emerge. The change to pupa takes place within
18 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
the larval gallery without the construction of a cocoon, permitting move-
ment clown to the root or up into the stem to a prepared exit hole, thinly
covered by the outer plant skin. Liberal accumulations of small, pale
pellets around the bases of plants serve to indicate the presence of feeding
larvae. In breeding cages, most likely because of disturbances, the larva
is apt to construct a soft tube of silk and sand grains extruding an inch,
more or less, above the exit hole ; this apparently does not occur under
normal conditions out of doors. The species is annual.
The holotype and allotype specimens are labeled Mill Creek, San Bernar-
dino County, Calif., August 28 and September 2, 1938 (C. Henne). Since
the food plant and the habits are known, a larger representation of the
species can be expected before long.
PENSTEMONIA CLARKEI, new species
Plate 17, Figures 93, 94
Sexes similar.
Male. — Antennae black. Labial palpus yellow, on upper half of second
and third joint sparsely mixed with black. Head black, face glossy
yellow. Collar bright yellow, slightly mixed with black at the sides.
Thorax violaceous-black, patagia narrowly edged with yellow on the inner
sides and a yellow mark in front and beneath the base of forewing. Abdo-
men violaceous-black, segment 1 narrowly and segment 2 broadly edged
with yellow, segments 4, 6, and 7 wholly yellow ; underside of all seg-
ments yellow, except 3, which is black ; anal tuft narrowly fan-shaped,
black with yellow center, beneath yellow, thinly streaked with black.
Femora of forelegs bright yellow ; femora of hindlegs lustrous black ;
tibiae yellow, black between the spurs ; tarsi yellow, slightly mixed with
black on posterior joints. Forewing with costa, outer margin, veins, and
large, square discal mark black ; between the veins heavily washed with
dull-yellow scales, leaving only small, more or less suffused, transparent
areas before and behind the discal mark. Hindwing transparent, narrowly
margined with black, fringes dull black ; beneath the yellow suffusions
heavier than above.
Female. — Like the male but body stouter. Abdomen broadly banded
with bright yellow on segments 1, 2, 4, and 6 above and beneath on all
segments, except segment 3, which is marked with yellow at the sides only.
The short, blunt anal tuft black, with two yellow streaks in the middle.
Expanse : Male 20 to 22 mm., female 22 mm.
Distribution.— FsLcific Coast States, intermountain regions, California,
Oregon, Washington.
Type.— U.S.N. M. No. 56823. Collected at The Dalles, Oreg. Holotype
male, allotype female, and 1 2 paratypes.
Remarks. — Named for J. F. Gates Clarke, well-known lepidopterist of
the United States Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, who
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 19
recorded the first specimen reared from the roots of Penstemon richard-
sonii, collected at The Dalles, Columbia River, Oreg., August 1937. With
this information it proved easy to obtain additional breeding material on
a subsequent visit to The Dalles in 1938 (Engelhardt).
The food plant, ablaze with dark pink and red flowers, is conspicuous
along the highway. Wherever the plant was well established the borers
were found. They do not confine themselves to this particular plant, but
also attack other perennial species of Penstemon, provided the rootstock
is sufficiently strong to harbor the larvae.
To breeding records, as yet limited to Columbia River and Blue Moun-
tain regions in Oregon, have been added the records of individual ex-
amples found, wrongly placed among other species, in the United States
National Museum collection. These are one dwarfed male, Beaver Creek,
Mont., 6,300 feet, August 1913 (S. J. Hunter) ; one male, Boulder Creek,
Calif., July 18, 1932; one male, San Diego County, Calif., August 7, 1935
(R. H. Beamer) ; and one female, Sonoma County, Calif. (Barnes col-
lection). The larvae, before pupating, construct a firm, silk-lined, oval
cocoon of frass and chips. The moths emerge from late in July to early
in September.
PENSTEMONIA DAMMERSI. new species
Plate 18, Figures 95, 96
Sexes similar.
Male. — ^Antennae black. Labial palpus yellow, mixed with black at the
tip. Head violaceous-black, face glossly blue-black. Collar yellow.
Thorax violaceous-black, patagia striped and metathorax edged with
yellow ; a small yellow patch before and a large one beneath the wing base.
Abdomen conspicuously banded with metallic black and bright yellow ;
segment 1 narrowly edged and segments 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 broadly banded
with yellow ; segment 3 with a small 3^ellow mark at the side ; on the
underside all segments except 3 dull yellow, with thin black transverse
lines between some of the segments ; segment 3 black ; anal tuft short,
black and yellow mixed, bearing two slender hair pencils, black above and
yellow at the base beneath, which extend well beyond the tip of the abdo-
men. Forelegs with femora pale yellow, those of hindlegs bright yellow;
and tibiae banded with black before posterior spurs ; tarsi shaded coppery
brown. Forewing heavily scaled, lustrous dark brown, slightly tinged
Vy-ith red on inner veins and margins and between the veins toward apex ;
a broad transparent area before and a narrow transparent area behind
the large discal mark. Hindwing transparent with narrow coppery
margins. Underside of forewings heavily tinged with yellow on basal half.
Female. — Similar to the male. Forewing a lighter shade of brown and
beneath more dull yellow ; transparent areas before and behind discal
marks reduced. The black-and-yellow banding on abdominal segments
more evenly divided ; the short anal tuft yellow with a black streak at the
20 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
base and two slender, black hair pencils, one one each side, not extending
beyond the tip of the abdomen.
Expanse : Male 20 to 24 mm., female 24 to 27 mm.
Distribution. — Southern California, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Ber-
nardino, and Orange Counties in foothills and mountains.
Type.— JJ. S.N. M. No. 56824. Holotype male, allotype female, and 20
paratypes. Collected on Mount Wilson, Calif.
Remarks. — The first two female examples of this species, submitted by
C. M. Dammers, of Riverside, Calif., in whose honor it is named, were
collected in Commander Dammers's garden on Penstemon plants of heavy
growth, July 12, 1935. During the season of 1936 (Engelhardt), good
series of both sexes were obtained by rearing from the roots and lower
stems of Penstemon cordifolins, which grows luxuriantly along the old
toll road just below the observatory on the top of Mount Wilson. The
plant, really a deciduous vine, climbs to considerable height over shrubs
and on precipitous, rocky embankments. In midsummer the brilliant-red,
trumpet-shaped flowers are a beautiful sight. Most of the plants showed
evidence of borer work, recent or past. During July larvae were found
in various stages of development. A 2-year life cycle is probable. This
is not a rare species and is best obtained by rearing from root cuttings and
stem section of the food plant, which usually is anchored in rocky crevices
on steep embankments. Immature larvae, less than 25 mm. in length,
failed to transform in the breeding cages. Fully grown larvae began to
pupate from late in July to the middle of August. Emergence dates for
specimens from Mount Wilson range from August 27 to September 13,
1936. Another smaller series reared by T. W. Hower in Orange County
from the same species of Penstemon emerged August 27-29, 1939. The
earlier record from Riverside, July 12, 1935, is explained by the lower
altitude, 1,000 feet against 6,000 feet on Mount Wilson.
The larval tunnels extend several inches from the roots up into the
stems. Before pupation a circular, thinly covered exit hole is prepared at
the upper end of the tunnel, allowing up-and-down movement to the pupa.
With Commander Dammers as companion and guide, I worked out a
number of life histories of aegeriid species in the environment of Riverside
and more distant regions in California. Aegeriid larvae have been found
in the yellow-flowering Penstemon antirrhinoides and the monkeyflower,
Diplacus aurantiacns. Their identity is still a matter of speculation. A
single worn specimen, labeled San Diego. Calif. (Riley), in the H}'. Ed-
wards collection, American Museum of Natural History, was determined
easily as a male of danimersi from the genitalia.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 21
PENSTEMONIA BREVIFOLIA, new species
Plate 18, Figures 97, 98
Sexes similar.
Male. — Antennae black. Labial palpi dull yellow. Head above deep
black, face lustrous brownish black. Collar dull yellow. Thorax black.
Patagia striped dull yellow ; a patch of the same color before the wing base
at the side and another near the wing base beneath. Abdomen metallic
brown-black, segment 1 narrowly edged and segments 2 and 4 broadly
banded with dull yellow ; underside of all segments brown, narrowly edged
with dull yellow, except segment 3, Which is wholly brown ; anal tuft short,
yellow and brown, with two black hair pencils, one on each side, edged
laterally with yellow and extending slightly beyond the abdominal tip.
Legs dull yellow shaded with brown ; posterior tibiae banded with brown
before the second spurs ; tarsi metallic dark brown. Forewing nearly
opaque, lustrous light brown ; a small, roundish, nearly suffused clear area
before and a short, narrow nearly clear area behind the discal mark. Hind-
wing transparent, narrowly margined and fringed with dark brown. Be-
neath the wings are shaded slightly lighter than above.
Female. — Similar to the male. Forewing quite opaque, paler brown
than in the male and with a small dull-yellow spot before the discal mark.
Abdomen mostly dull yellow, only segments 1 and 3 metallic black above
and at the sides ; the other segments divided by thin black edges ; beneath
all segments dull yellow ; anal tuft very short, yellow and with two short,
blackish hair pencils, one on each side, not extending as far as the ab-
dominal tip.
Expanse: Male 20 to 22 mm., female 21 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Mountains of central and northern California, 2,000 to
5,000 feet.
Type. — U.S.N.M. No. 56825. Holotype male and allotype female ; one
male and one female paratypes. Collected in the Green Horn Mountains,
Calif.
Remarks. — While closely related to P. dafnmersi, this species is easily
recognized by the nearly opaque, brownish forewings of the male and the
wholly opaque forewings of the female. Penstemon hrevijlorus and its
near relatives, all hardy woody shrubs, have been known for some years as
the food plants of this species, but rearing attempts were unsuccessful be-
cause root cuttings were collected too early in the season (Placerville, El-
dorado County, 3,000 feet, May 1936, Keifer and Engelhardt). C. Henne
had better results. He obtained his cuttings in midsummer in the Green
Horn Mountains, Kern County, Calif., and the moths emerged August 12
to Septen;ber 9, 1939. As far as known, no imagoes have ever been cap-
tured at large. It is a hazardous and strenuous job to cut out the tough,
woody roots without injury to the borers.
22 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
RAMOSIA, new genus
Genotype, Sesia bibionipennis Boisduval.
Male antennae short!}' ciliated; female antennae simple. Tongue pres-
ent, spiraled. Laljial palpus with a rather strong, uneven brush on second
joint, third joint upright, smooth, hardly reaching vertex. Head and
thorax smooth. Forevving with 12 veins; 7 and 8 stalked, 7 to apex or
above, 10 and 11 confluent near the edge of the wing. Hindwing with 8
veins ; 3 and 4 short-stalked, 7 and 8 concealed in costal fold. Posterior
tibiae nearly smooth, with small tufts of stiff scales at spurs; first tarsal
joint smooth, not thickened. Anal tuft fan-shaped. Male genitalia of the
Synanthedon type ; uncus large, covered with bifurcate hairs ; tegumen
curved ; aedeagus long, slender, slightly bulbous at base ; harpes elongate-
ovate, costal and terminal half thickly clothed with bifurcate hairs, sacculus
ridge with blunt, flat scales; vinculum rather short, bluntly pointed. Fe-
male genitalia with terminal part of ductus more or less sclerotized, bursa
without signum.
The species in this group are outstandingly beautiful, lustrous black,
yellow, and red, and they are remarkable for color variations. Early au-
thors erected on too scant material species which prolonged field investiga-
tions and long series of reared examples prove to be only color varieties.
The group ranges from north Mexico to Alaska. Much more care-
fully labeled informative material is needed to conclude to what extent
species, races, and variations are involved.
RAMOSIA POLYGON! (Hy. Edwards)
Pyrrhotaenia polygoni Hy. Edwards, Papllio, vol. 1, p. 202, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892; vol. 6, p. 95, 1894; vol. 8, p. 144,
1896.
Pyrrhotaenia achillae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 203, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892; vol. 8, p. 144, 1896.
Pyrrhotaenia creinocarpi Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. !■, p. 203, 1881. — Beuten-
muller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892.
Sesia polygoni Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 308,
pi. 32^ figs. 8, 9, 1901.
Synanthedon polygoni McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8749, 1939.
Sexes dissimilar.
Male. — Antennae metallic black. Labial palpus red, black at the sides
and on third joint. Head black. Collar black, mixed with red. Thorax
lustrous green-black, patagia striped with red and a red mark at the sides,
behind the collar. Abdomen lustrous green-black, segments 4, 6, and 7
red above and all segments red laterally ; anal tuft fan-shaped, red in the
center, black at the sides. Legs predominantly black, posterior tibiae red
before and between the spurs, tarsi black.
CLEAK-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERllDAE 23
Forewing opaque, lustrous green-black, streaked bright red on inner
margin basally, fringes brownish, beneath dull red at the wing base.
Hindwing transparent, veins and narrow margin black, fringes brownish.
This description is based on a well-marked, bred specimen. The species
is variable, particularly in the red bands on abdominal segments, which
intergrade from broad to narrow bands or are absent. The posterior
tibiae vary from broadly banded with red to wholly black.
Female. — Head, thorax, abdomen, legs, and forewings like those of the
male ; hindwings opaque, red, broadly flushed with black from the mar-
gins inward, beneath red, margins black, narrower.
RAMOSIA POLYGONI variety ANIMOSA (Hy. Edwards)
Pyrrhotacnia anhnosa Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 3, p. 156, 1883 ; Ent. Amer., vol. 3,
p. 224, 1888.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892;
vol. 8, p. 146. 1896.
Scsia animosa Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 310,
pi. 31, fig. 29 (male), fig. 30 (female), 1901.
Synanihedon animosa McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8754, 1939.
Male. — Like the male of polygoni, except that the legs are wholly black
and the abdomen is red above only on the last two or three segments and
at the sides cephalad to seginents 4 or 3, subject to individual variation.
Female. — Differs from the female of achillae by the wholly black legs
and the wholly black hindwings. The abdomen is all black or shaded with
red on only the last segment and at the sides.
Expanse: Male 15 to 20 mm., female 18 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Few of the biological groups in the Aegeriidae are subject
to as much color variation as the one here designated as the buckwheat
root borer. With insufficient and often imperfect examples at their dis-
posal, it is not surprising that early authors failed to distinguish between
species and color varieties. However, in external structures and in struc-
tures of the genitalia these borers are so alike they must be considered
conspecific.
The uniting with polygoni of achillae, animosa, and helianthi as color
varieties or geographical races is based on extensive biological field work.
R. praestans on the same grounds is continued as a separate species. The
status of jragariae and its several varieties and races, on the other hand,
still remains a problem. Only a few examples have been reared, and, in
view of its wide distribution from along the Pacific coast to Alaska and
inland to and throughout the Rocky Mountain system, much remains to
be done to clear the confusion.
The early stages, habits, and food plant of polygoni were first described
and illustrated by F. X. Williams (Ent. News, vol. 20, p. 59, pi. 5, 1909).
24 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
It is an excellent account and a credit to the author's keen observations.
The food plant cited is Polygonum paronychia, a prostrate perennial at
Lake Merced in the San Francisco suburbs. When I visited this locality
in recent years, I found it had undergone drastic changes by incorpora-
tion into the city parks, and so Williams's experiences could not be re-
peated. Examples of the Lake Merced series bred by Williams and
submitted by the California Academy of Sciences are typical polygoni.
We do not know^ whether this holds true for the w^hole series. The
Academy Museum has a large accumulation of buckwheat root borers
from various Pacific coast regions, rich in forms and varieties, but lacking
in data on food plants and habits. On Twin Peaks in San Francisco
proper the work of a borer in the roots of a low-growing species of
Eriogonum was observed, duplicating exactly the description by Williams
of the root borer in Polygonum at Lake Merced. Imagoes were not
obtained, however.
My food-plant records are confined entirely to species of Eriogonum,
all plants of shrubby growth and with hard, woody rootstocks. These
plants are prominent in the floral display of central and southern Cali-
fornia, covering sandy flats and steep hillsides with a pinkish hue during
the summer flowering season. This abundance of food plants, however,
does not indicate an abundance of the insect. The borer appears to exist
in colonies, rather scattered, often widely apart. Where present the
larvae throw out small, reddish pellets, easily seen as they accumulate
around the top of the roots. The larval galleries extend 3 or more
inches down into the root and sometimes upward for a short distance in
a stem of the plant above ground ; they are largely filled with pellets of
frass, with about 1 inch left clear for pupation, this portion being silk-
lined and having a thinly covered exit at the upper end. The moths
appear from late in March to July or even later at high elevations. They
are strong fliers, and away from their breeding places stray examples
may be encountered anywhere from sea level to above timberline. They
frequently visit flowers. This habit led authors to name them for plants
on which they were captured, a procedure not to be recommended, except
when the plant has been proved actually to be the host. Thus, the name
polygoni applies very well, while such names as achillae, eremocarpi,
orthocarpi, and helianthi are misleading.
The conclusions given here regarding polygoni, the typical form and
its color variations, are based on long series of reared examples, aug-
mented by large numbers of specimens captured throughout the range of
the species. Additional breeding experiments by T. W. Hower, of
Orange, Calif., and by C. Henne, of South Pasadena, Calif., have given
identical results. All told, several hundred specimens have been ex-
amined. A number of species of the plant genus Eriogonum serve as food
plants. In California E. jasciculatum and in Arizona E. zvrightii are found
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 25
most suitable for breeding purposes. Between typical polygoni and the
extreme color variety animosa there are so many intergradations it is
difficult to draw dividing lines. The forewings of both sexes always are
opaque. The hindwings of the males are transparent, those of the females
opaque, red, broadly margined with black, to wholly black. Tlie abdomen
and posterior tibiae range from black and red to all black.
Breeding records of series with mixed variations are from Laguna
Beach, Orange County, Calif., April-May 1936 (Hower) ; Mint Canyon,
Los Angeles County, Calif., 3,000 feet, June 26, 1936 (Henne) ; Santa
Rita Mountains, Pima County, Ariz., 2,000 feet, March-June 1935
(Engelhardt) ; Sierra Ancha Mountains, Gila County, Ariz., 4,000 feet,
June 1928.
Records of captured specimens cover California from San Diego to San
Francisco and from sea level to elevations of 8,000 feet. Many of the old
records are labeled only California or Arizona.
RAMOSIA POLYGONI race HELIANTHI (Hy. Edwards)
Pyrrhotaenia helianthi Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 203, 1881. — Beutenmullek,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 95, 1894; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 307, 1901.
Pyrrhotaenia behrensii Hy. Edw.a.rds, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 123, 1882. — Beutenmullek,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892; vol. 5, p. 26, 1893; vol. 8, p. 143,
1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 307, figs. 1, 2, 1901.
Pyrrhotaenia elda Hy. Edwards, Ent. Amer., vol. 1, p. 49, 1885. — Beutenmulles,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892.
Synanthedon helianthi McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8747, 1939.
Male. — Compared with the male of polygoni the most obvious differ-
ences are the red abdominal segments 4, 5, 6, and 7 ; segment 5 is broadly
banded with black in typical polygoni. The posterior tibiae are red, barely
touched with black at the upper and lower joints.
Female. — Hindwings opaque, red with narrow, even, black margins,
not broad and suffused as in typical polygoni. The abdominal segments 4,
5, 6, and 7 are wholly red or slightly shaded with black in the center above
and beneath; segments 1, 2, and 3 are black above and beneath and red at
the sides. The posterior tibiae are red, black at the upper joints.
Expanse : Male 20 to 22 mm., female 20 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Central and northern California, Oregon.
Type. — In American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — This race differs from typical polygoni in the banding of the
abdominal segments 4, 5, 6, and 7, which are red or only slightly touched
with black posteriorly. The hindwings of the females are red, bordered
narrowly and evenly with black. A smaJl series of captured specimens,
three males and three females, in the United States National Museum,
26 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
comes from Sonoma and Shasta Counties, Calif., which are north of the
range recorded for polygoni. Provisionally and until proved or corrected
by breeding, helianthi is considered a geographical race of polygoni.
RAMOSIA FRAGARIAE (Hy. Edwards)
Fyyrhotaenia fragariae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 202, 1881. — Beutenmui.ler,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892; vol. 5, p. 26, 1893; vol. 6, p. 95,
1894; vol. 8, p. 143, 1896.
Pyrrhotacnia mcadii Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 204, 1881. — BEUTKNMuiXEii,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892.
Pyrrhotacnia orthocarpi Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. !■, p. 204, 1881. — BeutenmOlxer,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 307, 1901.
Sesia fragariae Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 307,
1901.
Sesia fragariae semipraestans Cockerell, Can. Ent., vol. 40, p. 329, 1908.
Synanthedon fragariae McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8746, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black. Palpi red, edged with black on outer side.
Head lustrous steel blue. Collar red, mixed with black. Thorax steel
blue, patagia with a red stripe, broadening on lower part ; a red patch be-
fore and at the wing base beneath. Abdomen shiny steel blue, segments
1, 2, and 3 black above and in the center beneath, broadly red at the sides ;
segments 4, 6, and 7 red above, at the sides and beneath to the center,
which is black; anal tuft fan-shaped, red, black at the sides. Forewing
with a broad margin and a large, square, discal mark, metallic green-black;
transparent areas reduced ; inner margin red to about the middle of the
wing. Underside as above, costa and inner margin red basally. Hind-
wing transparent, margined with bronzy black outwardly and reddish on
basal half.
Female. — Head, thorax, and abdomen like the male ; forewing heavily
scaled, nearly opaque, greenish black and red on inner margin basally ; a
transparent spot before and a thin, short, transparent streak behind the
discal mark; beneath shaded with red on basal half. Hindwing broadly
and irregularly margined, black outwardly, orange-red inwardly and be-
tween the veins to wing base ; underside sufifused with orange-red to the
narrow, black outer margins. Specimens from Colorado and Utah have
the hindwing nearly or quite opaque, orange-red. Anal tuft wholly red
or marked with black at the base and sides.
Expanse : Male 18 to 20 mm., female 20 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Northern California to Alaska, Rocky Mountain system,
Utah to British Columbia.
Type. — In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — The maintenance of jragariae as a distinct species is ques-
tionable. There are no structural differences to warrant separation from
polygoni. However, while equally subject to variation, especially in the
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 27
females, the color patterns of jmgariae are distinctive. The forewings of
the males always show transparent areas before and behind the discal
mark. Such areas also are always present on the forewings of the females,
though often much reduced and suffused. The hindwings of the females
are broadly margined and shaded inwardly with scales between the veins,
sometimes so much so as to render the wings opaque. The heaviest shad-
ing has been noted on females from Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and
Nevada. Such examples are not easily distinguished from females of the
race helianthi from California.
The habitat of jragariae appears to be confined to regions of high eleva-
tion, 4,000 to 10,000 feet, from the Pacific coast eastward to the Rocky
Mountains and northward through British Columbia to Alaska. It is a
root borer in Eriogonum. Only two authentic rearing records have been
submitted so far, a male from Pack Lake, Grant County, Wash., on Eriog-
omim compositum, May 31, 1935, and another on Eriogonum sp. from
Wawawai, Wash., June 7, 1935 (J. F. Gates Clarke). Evidence of the
borer's work in the roots of various herbaceous species of Eriogonum has
been found on several occasions, although not at a time that would permit
breeding. The imagoes are encountered most frequently and sometimes
in numbers on flowers, not especially on Eriogonum but on many different
kinds. A thorough study of the group of buckwheat root borers, their
early stages, habits, species, and variations is needed. This is beyond the
scope of the traveling investigator. It is a task for an entomologist with
ready and continued access to the habitat of the species. Problems in tax-
onomy, biology, and genetics are involved.
Many of the old records are lacking in exact locality, date of collection,
and elevation. A large number of specimens are labeled Plumas County,
Siskiyou County, and Tuolumne County, Calif. Other material available
includes a female, Warner Mountains, Modoc County, Calif., 5,500 feet,
July 15, 1922 (A. W. Lindsey) ; one female, Wenatchee, Wash., "on
yarrow," July 2, 1914 (E. J. Newcomer) ; a series, males and females,
from Bitterroot Mountains, July 1902 (C. V. Piper) ; a series, males and
females, from Eureka and Stockton, Utah, May-July 1910 (T. Spauld-
ing) ; three females. Fort Wingate, N. Mex., June 8, 1915 (J. Wood-
gate) ; a male, San Juan Mountains, Colo. (Oslar) ; two females, Floris-
sant and Boulder, Colo., June 27, 1922 (Cockerell) ; males and females,
labeled only "Colo.," and a small series, males and females, labeled Lazy
Bay, Alaska.
The name jragariae does not fit the species for, although the imagoes
undoubtedly visit the blossoms of strawberries as well as many other
flowers, strawberry is not a food plant of the larva.
28 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
RAMOSIA PRAESTANS (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria praestans Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 98, 1882 ; Ent. Amer., vol. 3,
p. 224, 1888.
Pyrrhotaenia praestans Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 144,
1896; vol. 9, p. 216, 1897.
Sesia praestans Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 306,
pi. 32, fig. 27 (male), 1901.
Synanthedon praestans McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8745, 1939.
Male. — Antennae blue-black. Palpi, head, and collar orange, eyes black.
Thorax blue-black, patagia broadly striped with orange and thorax be-
neath well marked with orange. Abdomen with segments 1, 2, and 3
blue-black above and at the sides ; segment 4 wholly red above and at the
sides, segment 5 wholly black above and segment 6 black, edged with red
posteriorly, segment 7 black and red mixed and segment 8 red ; beneath
all segments red, each touched with black centrally, forming, a broken
black-and-red chain ; the anal tuft fan-shaped, red in the middle and black
at the sides. Posterior tibiae bronzy red, tipped with blue-black at the
lower spurs ; tarsi black touched with bronze. Forewing with costa, outer
margins, and discal mark black, broadly edged with coppery red inwardly
and between the veins ; lower margin bright coppery red ; transparent
areas more or less diffused with reddish scales. Hindwing transparent
with a narrow border, black touched with red at outer margin, increasingly
red at lower margin and quite red toward and at wing base; veins also
touched with red. Beneath the wings are shaded heavily, orange rather
than red.
Female. — Similar to the male, but with transparent areas on forewings
nearly filled with red and margins of hindwings broadly suffused with red
inwardly and at the base. The posterior tibiae are wholly coppery red.
Expanse : Male 20 to 24 mm., feinale 20 to 26 mm.
Distribution. — Washington, Oregon, inner mountain regions.
Type. — Male collected in 1882 in Washington Territory. In the United
States National Museum.
Remarks. — The male type, described by Hy. Edwards in 1882, re-
mained the sole known specimen until the species was rediscovered by
W. W. Baker and J. Wilcox in 1932. It is a root borer in Eriogonum
compositufn, a plant robust in growth and with a tough, fibered root. The
larvae live in tortuous channels in the crown roots, ascending into the
stalks to pupate late in May or in June without constructing a cocoon.
The final exit usually is capped by a silk-lined, short tube made of chips.
The moths emerge from the middle of June into July. They are active
fliers, not easily netted. A fairly large series of specimens shows little
variation, either in color or size. In appearance praestans suggests a
larger edition of fragariae. The genitalia are alike. Breeding records are
limited so far to Titus and Kima Counties in Washington. This is in-
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 29
sufficient to decide on the specific status. Both praestans and fragariae
are in need of much more extended field investigations, particularly in the
Pacific Northwest.
KAMOSIA CHRYSIDIPENNIS (Boisduval)
Sesta chrysidipennis Boisduval, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belgique, vol. 12, p. 64, 1869.
Sesia tacoma Beutenmuller, Journ. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 6, p. 240, 1898 ; Mem.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 304, pi. 32, figs. 28, 29, 1901.
Synanthedon bibionipennis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8697, 1939.
Male. — ^Antennae black. Palpi yellow, fringed with long black hair at
the sides. Head black. Collar sordid yellow. Thorax black, hairy,
sparsely mixed with yellow, a yellow patch beneath at the sides, and meta-
thorax tufted with sordid yellow. Abdomen black, segments 2, 4, and
6 banded with yellow on posterior half, segment 7 touched with yellow,
and all segments beneath edged with yellow. Anal tuft fan-shaped, black,
slightly edged with yellow at the sides. Femora black; tibiae heavily
scaled, yellow, broadly banded with blue-black at posterior spurs ; tarsi
yellow, Forewing transparent, outer costa and margins black, inwardly
edged with red, broadly so on lower margin basally ; the veins and areas
between the veins at apex heavily scaled with red ; the discal mark black,
edged with red. Hindwing with veins mostly red, margins brown-black,
tinged with red inwardly and red at base. Beneath, wings shaded promi-
nently with red and orange, the margins dull black.
Female. — Much redder than the male. Palpi wholly yellow. Abdomi-
nal segments 2, 4, and 6 broadly banded with yellow above, segments 4,
5, and 6 yellow beneath ; anal tuft a short, roundish brush, black inter-
mixed with yellow. Transparent areas on forewing much reduced and
sufifused with red, the narrow, black center of discal mark broadly mar-
gined with red, underside bright orange, margins dull black.
Expanse: Male 20 to 22 mm., female 20 to 23 mm.
Distribution. — Pacific coast mountains at or above timberline, northern
California to British Columbia.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Exposure to frigid climates naturally calls for warm cover-
ing. R. chrysidipennis, in its habitat at timberline, has adjusted itself to
such an environment. It is clothed with hair much denser and longer
than that of its near relatives at lower elevations.
My first encounter with the species was at Crater Lake, Oreg., 8,000
feet, during July 1921. The moths were swarming on open meadows
between snowdrifts. Low-growing, large-leaved plants, subsequently de-
termined as Polygonum davisiae, were the attraction. A hundred or more
specimens were easily netted, and a number of the plants were uprooted
in a search for larvae and pupae. Only one larva and two pupae, the
30 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
latter in pupal cases in the crown of the roots, could be found. The roots
were enormous, 1 to several inches thick, deeply anchored and scarred in
many places. In view of the abundance of the moths, it was surprising
that the work of the borers was so little in evidence. No other plant in
the neighborhood seemed suitable. Possibly the mature larvae leave the
roots for pupation in the soil. The types of the species were collected in
Paradise Park, Mount Rainier, formerly known as Mount Tacoma. The
species is common on all the high mountains in Washington, Oregon, and
northern California, provided the food plant is present. It has been
recorded from Mount Adams, Mount Baker, the Cascades, and Mount
St. Helens in Washington, and from Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson
in Oregon. Examples from these peaks, all dated during July, show very
little color variation. A fine series from Mount Lassen, Calif., July 14,
1934, displays considerably more bright red, in the females particularly.
A few specimens from the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho are in too poor
condition for comparison, but there is a long series from the Elkhorn
Mountains of eastern Oregon, 5,000 feet, July 31, 1938, which averages
smaller in size and much darker, almost black in color. The food plant
here, while also a Polygonum, is a different, small-leaved species with
much smaller roots. A few larvae, but no pupae, were found. The differ-
ence in size, color, and in the food plant of this series warrants recognition,
and I have named it ivallozva, a geographical race of chrysidipennis (Bois-
duval).
J. F. Gates Clarke, on a visit to Sheep Lake, Yakima County, Mount
Rainier, Wash., early in August 1930, found the moths of chrysidipennis
swarming on open alpine meadows, elevation a1x)ut 6,000 feet. He also
reports an abvmdance of the larvae and pupae in the roots of Polygonum
davisiar. The larvae, before pupating, frequently had constructed silk-
lined tubes protruding 1 to several inches be3^ond the exit of their burrows.
RAMOSIA CHRYSIDIPENNIS WALLOWA, new race
Plate 18, Figures 99, 100
Male. — Palpus with a strong uneven brush, mixed black and yellow in
color. Head black. Collar sordid yellow. Thorax black, hairy, some-
times with traces of yellow on patagia. Abdomen black, with segments 2,
4, and 6 narrowly banded with pale yellow above ; beneath and at the
sides with traces of yellow in irregular arrangement ; fan-shaped anal tuft
wholly black. Posterior tibiae black, tarsi black, touched with yellow.
Forewing transparent, costa, outer margins, and discal mark black with
only a sprinkling of orange scales on and between the veins on inner mar-
gins and on the veins before the wing base. Hindwing transparent, bor-
ders dull black, costa and wing base touched with orange. Beneath, wings
shaded a deeper orange.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 31
Female. — Differs from the male by }'ellow palpi, a large yellow patch
at the sides and beneath thorax, abdominal segments 2, 4, and 6 banded
with bright yellow, posterior tibiae with a mixture of black and yellow on
upper half and blue-black on lower half, wings more prominently dusted
with deep orange or red on and between the veins, on inner margins, and
at apex and costa.
Expanse: Male 16 to 18 mm., female 18 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern Oregon, Wallowa and Blue Mountains at
timberline.
Type. — U.S.N.M. No. 56826. Holotype male, allotype female, six male
and four female paratypes. Collected in the "Elk Mountains, Oregon. "-
RAMOSIA MARIONA (Beutenmuller)
Plate 18, Figures 101, 102
Sesia mariona Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 308,
pi. i2, fig. 21, 1901.
Synanthedon maricma McDunnouch, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8748, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black. Palpi sordid white, blackish at tips. Head
with vertex roughly scaled, rusty yellow, face lead color. Collar flat
scaled, blue-black. Thorax violaceous-black, shoulders and upper part of
patagia orange, beneath black and coppery. Abdomen blue-black, with
prismatic reflections ; anal tuft fan-shaped, lustrous black and coppery.
Legs with coxae sordid white, femora and upper part of posterior tibiae
blue-black, lower part of tibiae and tarsi pale yellow. Forewing opaque,
lustrous blue and violet-black, heavily scaled on costa, margins, and veins,
less so between the veins, but lacking transparent areas. Hindwing trans-
parent, margins and fringes brownish black. Beneath, wings flushed with
white and pale yellow.
Female. — Forewing opaque, dull black, broadly edged on lower margin
with dull orange from wing base to below apex. Hindwing opaque, dull
black, except for a narrow clear area between veins 1 and 2. Beneath,
wings slightly dusted with pale whitish or yellowish scales. Legs wholly
metallic black. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse : Male and female, 16 to 18 mm.
Distribution. — New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado.
Cotypes. — Two females, United States National Museum; one female,
American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — The female types and additional examples of the same sex
in the United States National Museum collection do not show two trans-
parent areas on the hindwing as illustrated in Beutenmiiller's "Monograph
of the Sesiidae of America, North of Mexico," pi. 33, fig. 21. Only one
clear space between veins 1 and 2 is present.
» Specimens so labeled. Presumably a local name for Wallowa Mountains — C. H.
32 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
R. mariona closely resembles polygoni var. animosa in coloration and
size, but differs in the large orange thoracic shoulder patch of both sexes
and in the aforementioned clear space on the hindwing of the female.
Structures of the genitalia differ but slightly in the two species. R. mari-
ona is a root borer in perennial plants of the family Boraginaceae, so far
bred only once from a species of Amsbickia in Oak Creek Canyon, Coco-
nino County, Ariz., June-July 1936 (Engelhardt). Larval borings noted
in roots of Ainsinckia in Mesa Verde Park, Colo., and along the Columbia
River Highway, Oreg., indicate a wider distribution of the species than is
known at present. The type specimens were collected at Trimble and
Pagosa Springs and Durango, Colo., July 6-30, 1899. A number of speci-
mens, in poor condition, were submitted by John Woodgate from Jemez
Springs, N. Mex.
RAMOSIA RUBRICINCTA (Beutenmiiller)
Plate 19, Figure 103
Sesia ruhricincta Beutenmuli.er, Ent. News, vol. 20, p. 84, 1909.
SynanihedoH riibricincta McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8717, 1939.
Female. — Antennae blue-black. Palpi orange, black at tips. Head
blue-black. Collar lustrous bronzy, edged with orange anteriorly. Thorax
metallic green and blue-black, patagia tinged with orange and an orange
patch beneath at the wing base. Abdomen lustrous black along the back
and orange at the sides ; underside of the first, second, and last segments
black, all other segments orange, the last segment orange above and the
anal tuft greenish black, orange in the middle. Legs steel blue, touched
with orange on the inner side and at the joints. Forewing broadly mar-
gined with lustrous blue-black outwardly and heavily scaled with red
between the veins inv/ardly ; outer transparent area barely apparent, basal
area very narrow ; discal mark blue-black around a rather large bright red
center ; a bright red mark also at the wing base. Hindwing transparent,
narrowly bordered with lustrous black, fringes brownish. Beneath, wings
slightly tinged with orange and the discal mark lacking the red center.
Expanse: Female, 17 mm.
Distribution. — Huachuca Mountains, 7,000 feet, Cochise County, Ariz.
Type. — Female. Collected by Charles Schaeffer on the Brooklyn Mu-
seum Expedition to Arizona in 1905. In the United States National
Museum.
Remarks. — The female type still remains the sole representative of the
species. The specimen was obtained by sweeping on meadows in the Hua-
chuca Mountains at an elevation of about 7,000 feet. The range of the
species most probably extends across the Arizona border into Mexico.
The type specimen is in poor condition, and inclusion of the species in the
genus Raniosia is provisional.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 33
RAMOSIA BIBIONIPENNIS (Boisdnval)
Plate 1, Figure 4; Plate 5, Figures 31, 31a ; Plate 13, Figure 61 ;
Plate 19, Figure 104
Sesia bibionipennis Boisduval, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belgique, vol. 12, p. 64, 1869.
Alhuna rutilans Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 186, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.
Aegeria aureola Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 194, 1881.
Aegeria neglecta Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 197, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173, 1892.
Aegeria hemisoniae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 198, 1881. — Rivers, Papilio,
vol. 3, p. 26, 1883.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174,
1892.
Aegeria lupini Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 192, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173, 1892; vol. 5, p. 24, 1893; vol. 6, p. 91, 1894.
Aegeria perplexa Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 192, 1881.
Aegeria impropria Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 193, 1881. — Riley, Proc. Ent.
Soc. Washington, vol. 1, p. 85, 1888.— Rivers, Ent. Amer., vol. 4, p. 99, 1888.—
Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173, 1892.
Aegeria zvashingto-nia Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 197, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173, 1892.
Aegeria madariae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 201, 1881. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892.
Aegeria rutilans Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 94, 1894.
Sesia rutilans Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 130, 1896;
vol. 9, p. 219, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 281, pi. 32,
figs. 22, 23, 1901.
Sesia neglecta Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 132, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 283, pi. 33, fig. 16, 1901.
Sesia madariae Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 132, 1896.
Synanthcdon bibionipennis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8697, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black. Labial palpi deep yellow, the sides covered
with dense black hair, tips black. Head black, roughly scaled on top.
Collar deep yellow. Thorax purplish black above, patagia broadly edged
with yellow, yellow beneath at the sides. Abdomen black, segments 2 and
4 broadly banded with yellow above, segment 6 sometimes also with a
narrow yellow band ; anal tuft fan-shaped, black above, deep yellow at the
sides and in the middle beneath. Legs yellow, shaded with black and a
blue-black band between the spurs of posterior tibiae, tarsi yellow, dusted
black. Forewing broadly bordered with dull black with coppery rays be-
tween the veins at outer margin ; discal mark large, square, black ; inner
transparent area narrowly triangular ; outer area small, roundish. Hind-
wing transparent, borders brown-black, tinged with yellow near base.
Underside of wings heavily shaded lustrous yellow between the veins,
hindwing with a well-defined narrow line along inner margin.
Fefnale. — Differs from the male. Palpi wholly yellow. Metathorax
well banded with yellow above. Abdomen with segments 2, 4, and 6
broadly banded with yellow and segments 3 and 5 usually, but not always,
34 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
sparsely banded or mixed with yellow. Posterior tibiae blue-black be-
tween the spurs, otherwise more yellow than those of the male. Forewing
heavily shaded with orange, especially between the black veins, nearly
obscuring the transparent areas before and behind the discal mark, which
remains black ; a thin, well-defined orange line running between the black
border and the fringes on both the f orewings and hindwings ; beneath,
wings heavily shaded with golden yellow.
Expanse: Male and female, 15 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Throughout Rocky Mountains and westward to the
Pacific coast from California to British Columbia. Not east of Rocky
Mountains.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum. Types and
cotypes of the synonyms are distributed as follows : In the United States
National Museum: One male, Aegeria madariae Hy. Edwards, Sausalito,
Calif.; one female, Aegeria aureola Hy. Edwards, Nevada; one male,
Aegeria impropria Hy. Edwards, Washington Territory ; one male,
Aegeria perplexa Hy. Edwards (Texas, J. Bol?) ; one female, Aegeri-a
hemisoniae Hy. Edwards, Nevada.
In the American Museum of Natural History: One female, Albuna
rutilans Hy. Edwards, Virginia City, Nev. ; three females, Aegeria hemi-
zoniae Hy. Edwards, Nevada; three males and three females, Aegeria lu-
pini Hy. Edwards, Marin and Mendocino Counties, Calif. ; one male,
Aegeria impropria Hy. Edwards, Marin County, Calif. ; one male, Aegeria
washingtonia Hy. Edwards, Washington Territory ; one male, one female,
Aegeria madariae Hy. Edwards, Sausalito, Calif.
Remarks. — The strawberry crown moth, best known in the past as Sesia
rutilans Hy. Edwards, has been the subject of numerous publications on
the part of professional entomologists dealing with the insect as an eco-
nomic species injurious to strawberries and other related plants under
cultivation, but neglecting its original status as an indigenous North Amer-
ican species with wild food plants from which its attacks spread to plants
under cultivation. The problem, after prolonged investigation, has been
solved only in part.
The moths are strong, swift fliers, most frequently encountered and
captured on flowers, perhaps flowering dogbane (Apocynaceae), but visit-
ing many other plants also. Flowers do not serve as a dependable guide to
the food plant, as evidently assumed by earlier authors, who gave botanical
names to species now listed as synonyms under bibionipennis.
Long series of specimens at the United States National Museum ade-
quately cover the wide range of the species along the Pacific coast from
California to British Columbia and inland to, but not east of, the Rocky
Mountains. More eastern records are based on misidentifications. At-
tacks on cultivated strawberries are more severe on the Pacific coast than
elsewhere. Wild strawberries do not appear to be affected, and injury to
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 35
raspberries and blackberries is of minor importance. Adaptability to new
food plants is shown by the rearing of examples from the roots of roses,
submitted by a Palo Alto, Calif., nursery. Actual breeding records from
wild food plants as yet are limited and confined to the plant genus Poten-
tilla. From the strong rootsiocks of a species of this genus, growing on
hillsides adjacent to agricultural fields at Pullman, Wash., 2,500 feet, 1933
( Engelhardt and Clarke ) , a number of specimens were reared, the moths
emerging in May and June 1934, one or rarely two from each root. The
experiment was repeated by R. D. Shenefelt, of Washington State College,
in 1930. His breeding material included the root of wild Geranium, col-
lected in association with the Potentilla roots ; it also produced a specimen
of bibionipennis. This host association is probably accidental. Heavier
infestations were noted in open woodlands, Modoc County, Calif., 5,000
feet, July 1928. Here, from patches of the massive, interlocking roots of
a low-growing species of Potentilla the moths had emerged in large num-
bers, and several were captured at this source. The season had advanced
too far for breeding. A similar observation has been reported by Crumlj
and Wilcox, of Puyallup, Wash.
The great numbers of specimens received from inland States, Nevada,
Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, record
elevations up to 8,000 feet and dates of capture from June to August but
lack records on food plants. All specimens agree perfectly on structures,
both external and genitalic. Color variations in the males are slight, but
in the females they are considerable and present an array of confusing in-
tergradations which defy naming. Figure 104 (pi. 19) illustrates the
extreme color variation of a female selected from a series of otherwise
normal examples reared at Pullman, Wash. The specific name bibioni-
pennis Boisduval, 1869, has not been used in earlier check lists because of
insufftcient description and tlie supposed loss of the type. This type, how-
ever, has been found in a part of the Oberthiir collection, acquired by
William Barnes, and is now at the United States National Museum. It
bears the label in Boisduval's handwriting, "taken in flight in woods,
Calif.," without exact locality or date. The specimen is a male in a condi-
tion leaving no doubt as to its identity and hence must head the list of
names applied to the strawberry crown moth.
RAMOSIA RESPLENDENS (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 19, Figures 105, 106
Alhima resplendens Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1. p. 186, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.
Sesia mellinipennis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 279,
1901.
Synanthedon mellinipennis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8694. 1939.
36 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Male. — Antennae blue-black, pectinations fine, ferruginous. Labial
palpi smooth, lemon yellow, black at tips. Head black-violaceous. Collar
lemon yellow. Thorax black-violaceous ; patagia and posterior base well
marked with lemon yellow. Abdomen blue-black, segments 2, 4, and 6
broadly banded with yellow, segments 3 and 5 sometimes slightly dusted
or narrowly banded with yellow, beneath segments 2 and 3 blue-black,
4 to 6 yellow; anal tuft broad, fan-shaped, black, yellow in center, at the
sides and beneath. Legs yellow, femora shaded with dark purplish and
posterior tibiae purplish above and between the spurs ; tarsi purplish,
banded with yellow at the joints. Forewing transparent, costa and outer
margin moderately broad, violaceous-black, intermixed heavily with yellow
between the veins ; discal mark prominent, oblong, lustrous purple ; fringes
dull black ; underside with costa and inner veins yellow. Hindwing trans-
parent, narrowly bordered with black and yellow, fringes sordid black;
discal mark small, black.
Female. — Larger than the male ; forewing with broader violaceous mar-
gins and a heavier shading of bright yellow on and between the veins.
Hindwing brightly bordered in thin lines purple and yellow, fringes dull
black. Abdomen with segments 1 and 3 blue-black, all other segments
bright yellow above and beneath; anal tuft a short blunt yellow brush,
touched with black in center and at the sides.
Expanse : Male 20 to 22 mm., female 22 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Southern to central California, New Mexico.
Type. — Female. Collected in Siskiyou County, Calif. In the United
States National Museum.
Remarks. — This is a bark borer on sycamore and to a lesser extent on
live oak. The presence of the insect is revealed by numerous brown or
red pellets in crevices of the bark or in accumulations at the base of the
tree trunks. The tortuous galleries of the voracious larvae are within
the bark, rarely through the cambium layer into the solid wood. The
trunks of large, old trees are attacked in preference to young trees. My
personal records limit the range of this species to the California coastal
regions from San Diego to Santa Barbara. It has not been reported or
observed in northern California. Infestations, particularly heavy on
sycamore, were noted at Laguna Beach and in Arroyo Seco at Los
Angeles, extending to shade trees on adjacent streets and in gardens.
Attacks on live oak in the same region were less serious. The insect is
single-brooded, the larva wintering and pupating in spring in a.n oblong
cocoon of chips at the exit to the burrow. From bark sections obtained
early in the season the moths can be reared easily ; they emerge from May
to July. Examples reared from both sycamore and live oak in low
coastal regions unquestionably are one species. Sycamores at 2,000 feet
and over appear to be free from attack. Live oaks, on the other hand,
were found heavily infested at Buckman Springs, San Diego County,
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 37
4,000 feet, by an aegeriid bark borer with identical larval habits, but late
in July I was unable to secure material for breeding or to capture moths.
From the Jacinto Mountains, San Bernardino County, Calif., 4,000 to
6,000 feet, I have a small series of specimens collected, not reared, by
Timberlake, Beamer, Oman, and Anderson, in June and July. These
average smaller in size and are slightly more suffused on the forewings
of both sexes. Structures of the male genitalia assign them very close
to the sycamore borer, and they have been placed tentatively in this
species pending further investigations.
A single New Mexico specimen, a male, is labeled Santa Fe (Jackson).
RAMOSIA MELLINIPENNIS (Boisdural)
Sesia mellinipennis Boisduval, Histoire natiirelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1 (plates), pi. 14, fig. 12, 1836; vol. 1, p. 402,
1874.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 96. 1894; vol. 8,
p. 129, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 279, pi. 31, figs. 2
(male), 26 and 27 (females), pi. 33, fig. 22 (female), 1901.— Williams, Ent.
News, vol. 20, p. 58, 1909.— McDunnough, Check list of Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8694, 1939.
Albuna artemisiae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 187, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.
Aegeria senecioides Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 198, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892.
We regard as typical of the species described and figured by Boisduval
a series consisting of specimens reared and collected by F. X. Williams
and deposited in the California Academy of Sciences. Examples from
this series have been placed in the United States National Museum. The
original types, two males, were destroyed in an explosion at the Luxem-
burg Museum.
Male. — Antennae blue-black, pectinations and underside ferruginous.
Labial palpi smooth, yellow. Head black; collar yellow. Thorax blue-
black; patagia, a posterior transverse stripe, and the underside yellow.
Abdomen metallic black, violaceous; segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 broadly
banded, segments 3 and 5 slightly touched with yellow ; beneath same as
above; anal tuft long, narrow, black at sides, yellow in center and be-
neath. Legs yellow, posterior tibiae well marked with blue-black at the
lower spurs. Forewing transparent, borders and veins dull black or
brown, broad apical margin coppery red between the veins, discal mark
conspicuous, red, margined with black inwardly; basal transparent area
elongate triangular, outer area reduced and rounded ; beneath more
brightly colored, yellow or orange. Hindwing transparent, narrowly
bordered with bronzy black, fringes dull black, beneath as above, but with
the costa yellow.
Female. — Differs from the male by the more suffused forewing, coppery
red or golden yellow, including discal mark, which is entirely red on red
38 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
examples and black and yellow on pale specimens. The marginal border
of the hindwing narrowly lined, red and black or yellow and black ; the
fringes sordid black. Abdominal segments 2, 4, 5, and 6 broadly banded,
1 and 3 narrowly orange or yellow ; the short, blunt, anal tuft yellow with
a black central mark on top.
Expanse : Male and female, 22 to 26 mm.
Distribution. — Coastal and movmtain regions, California.
Cotypes. — R. mellinipennis, two males, lost but figured by Boisduval.
Types of Albuna artemisiae, male, and Aegeria senecioides, male, in the
American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — With only the types and few old specimens available for ex-
amination, I am doubtful about Beutenmiiller's conclusions in placing
arteinisiae and senecioides as synonyms of mellinipennis but have not ven-
tured to change them. Structurally these forms certainly are congeneric.
Additional material and information will be necessary before it can be
determined if they are entitled to specific or subspecific rank.
Hy. Edwards's t3'pe of Albuna resplendens is a female, not a male, fig-
ured by Beutenmiiller as a color form of inellinipennis (Monograph of the
Sesiidae of America north of Mexico, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol.
1, pt. 6, pi. 31, fig. 27, 1901). The specimen is contrastingly lemon yellow
on the forewings instead of bright orange, expressing perhaps a color
phase in the northern range of the species at Soda Springs, Siskiyou
Countv, Calif. Hy. Edwards also included two females from Sierra Ne-
vada, Calif. (S. Brannon). in his type series of Albmna resplendens,
American Museum of Natural History. The two examples are females
of bibionipennis.
The names senecioides and artemisiae do not imply actual food plants,
merely plants on which specimens were collected, as do so many of the
names used by Hy. Edwards. The latter differs from mellinipennis in the
main by the broader and greenish-black costa and the darker scaling be-
tween the veins on the outer margin. The only available male example of
senecioides, from Durango, Colo., is labeled "compared with type, Wm.
Barnes." It lacks antennae ; otherwise it agrees better with arisonensis
Beutenmiiller, which has red-brown antennae, black at the tips. The
antennae of mellinipennis are black throughout.
The food plant and larval habits of mellinipennis are recorded by F. X.
Williams (Ent. News, vol. 20, p. 58, 1909). He found the larvae boring
in the solid wood and pupae in silk-lined cocoons under bark on the large,
decumbent trunk of Ceanofhus thyrsiflorus in a canyon south of Carmel,
Monterey County, Calif. From a sawed-oiif section of the tree three moths
emerged during August 1909. To this record I can add the occurrence of
the insect under similar conditions attacking old, decadent trees of Ceano-
thus thyrsiflorus in suburban regions of San Francisco. The lack of
proper cutting implements prevented securing tree sections suitable for
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 39
rearing. Other species of Ceanothns growing as many-branched, hard-
wooded shrubs in hilly sections throughout California showed no evidence
of the borer's attacks. Williams considers mellinipcunis a common species.
I do not. It is poorly represented in collections. Examples in the United
States National Museum are as follows : One male, one female, Castella,
Shasta County, Calif., August 19, 1907 (Williams) ; one male, Santa
Cruz, Santa Cruz County, Calif., July 1904 (Williams) ; one male,
Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, Calif. (R. H. Beamerj ; one female, Cali-
fornia (Barnes collection) ; one male, artemisiae, Los Angeles County,
Calif. (Coquillett).
RAMOSIA ARIZONENSIS (Beutenmuller)
Plate 19, Figure 107
Caea arizmiensis Beutenmuller, Can. Ent., vol. 48, p. 372, 1916.— McDunnough,
Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2,
No. 8773, 1939.
Male. — Antennae strongly clavate, posterior three-fourths orange-red,
terminal quarter blue-black, pectinations pale brown. Labial palpi orange,
black at the sides and tips. Head black, stiff-haired on top, black and
orange mixed. Collar yellow. Thorax black, patagia narrowly striped
with yellow and a posterior transverse band yellow, beneath a large yellow
patch in front of the wing base. Abdoinen shiny black, all segments, ex-
cept the third, ringed with yellow, most broadly so on the last three seg-
ments ; anal tuft flat, moderately fan-shaped, yellow, intermixed with black
in center on top. Legs with femora blue-black, posterior tibiae yellow,
black on inner side and broadly ringed at the lower spurs, tarsi orange.
Forewing opaque, except for small areas before and behind the large,
square discal mark, which is black edged with red outwardly; costa and
veins blue-black with scattered red scales ; a heavy shading of red between
the veins of the outer and inner margins extending to the wing base;
fringes sordid black ; beneath preeminently orange-red. Hindwing trans-
parent, veins black; discal mark, wing base and narrow margins red.
fringes sordid black.
Female. — Much like the male. Labial palpi wholly yellow; forewing
with discal mark wholly red or only slightly touched with black, the trans-
parent areas heavily suffused with red and a heavy red line along the inner
margin to the wing base. The short, blunt anal tuft wholly yellow.
Expanse : Male 24 to 26 mm., female 26 to 30 mm.
Distribution. — Arizona; Durango, Colo.
Type. — Female, in the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — The available series of 16 examples, all captured and more
or less imperfect, suggests a close relationship to mellinipennis. Obvious
diiiferences, confined to coloration, are the more opaque forewings and the
orange-red antennae, except for three specimens from Durango, Colo.,
40 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
which have the antennae nearly black on the upper surface. Thirteen
specimens from Arizona are exactly alike.
In addition to the type, a female from Pinal Mountains, Gila County,
Ariz., there is a male from the same region, dated June 10, 1936 (F. H.
Parker). Other Arizona records are Fort Valley, Flagstaff, two males,
one female, June 10, 1924 (S. A. Rohwer) ; Palmerlee, one male; Chiri-
cahua Mountains, Cochise County, one male, six females, June 8-15.
RAMOSIA ARIZONAE (Beutenmuller)
Sesia arirjonae Beutenmuller, Journ. Ent. Soc. New York, vol. 6, p. 240, 1898;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 288, pi. 32, fig. 31 (female), 1901.
Synanthedon arizonae McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8709, 1939.
Female. — Antennae black. Labial palpi yellow. Head black. Collar
yellow. Thorax black ; patagia with a yellow stripe ; a yellow lateral mark
at the posterior end and a yellow patch beneath on each side. Abdomen
black, segments 2, 4, and 6 broadly banded, 3 and 5 narrowly edged with
yellow; anal tuft yellow, black at the sides above and beneath. Legs
yellow, tibiae black at the spurs. Forewing with costa, veins, outer mar-
gins, and fringes black; outer and inner parts between the veins heavily
suffused with bright orange; discal mark bright orange, narrowly edged
with black inwardly; basal transparent area elongate, outer one small,
suffused ; underside orange, except for black outer veins and yellow costa.
Hindwing transparent, veins black, discal mark black, edged outwardly
with yellow, narrow outer margin black sparsely mixed with coppery
scales, fringes dull black, yellow at wing base ; underside with costa, veins,
and margins tinted with orange.
Expanse : 23 mm.
Distribution. — Arizona and (doubtfully) Texas.
Type. — Female in the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Two females, both imperfect, served Beutenmiiller for the
description of this species. The type in the American Museum of Natural
History is labeled "Summit Rock, 9.000 ft., Mt. Union, Yavapai Co.,
Ariz., July 3, 1884" ; the second specimen, in the United States National
Museum, also labeled type by Beutenmiiller, is marked "Tex." without
further locality or date. If from Texas, which seems somewhat doubtful,
the most likely locality would be Davis Mountains in the southwestern
part of the State. No additional examples of either sex satisfactorily
matching the types have been discovered since description of the species
in 1898. A near relationship to arizonensis is suggested, but until sub-
stantiated by more material and information on food plants and habits
conclusions must be reserved. Dimorphism of the sexes in this group
often has led to confusion.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 41
RAMOSIA TIPULIFORMIS (Clerck)
Sphinx tipuliformis Clerck, Icones insectorum rariorum cum nominibus eorum trivi-
alibus, pi. 4, fig. 1, 1759. — Linnaeus, Fauna Suecica, ed. 2, p. 289, 1761 ; Systema
naturae, ed. 12, vol. 1, p. 804, 1766.
Sesia tipuliformis Fabricius, Systema entomologiae, p. 549, 1775.
Trochilium tipuliformis Leach, Edinburgh encyclopedia, vol. 9, p. 131, 1815.
Bembecia tipuliformis Hubner, Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, p. 129, 1819.
Aegeria tipuliformis Stephens, Illustrations of British entomology : Haustellata,
vol. 1, p. 142, 1828.— Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 56, 1882; Ent. Amer.,
vol. 3, p. 224, 1888.
Setia tipuliformis Meigen, Systematische Beschreibung der europaischen Schmetter-
linge, vol. 2, p. 119, pi. 42, figs. 2, b, 1830.
Trochilium tipuliform^ Fitch, Third report on the noxious and other insects of the
State of New York, 1856, p. 423, 1857.— Packard, Amer. Nat., vol. 2, p. 219,
1869. — Spuler, Die Schmetterlinge Europas, vol. 2, p. 310, 1910; vol. 3, pi. 20,
fig. 19, pi. 79, fig. 6, 1910.
Sesia tipuliformis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 285,
pi. 31, fig. 19, 1901.
Synanthedon tipuliformis Bartel, in Seitz, The Macrolepidoptera of the World.
Palearctic Aegeriidae, vol. 2, p. 384, pi. 51d, 1912. — McDunnough, Check list
of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8708,
1939.
Male. — Antennae black, rufous beneath. Labial palpi yellow, black
above and at the sides. Head lustrous black, orbits white. Collar
yellow. Thorax black-violaceous, patagia narrowly edged with yellow
inwardly; metathorax without a transverse yellow mark; a large yellow
patch on each side beneath. Abdomen lustrous black; segments 2, 4, 6,
and 7 narrowly banded with yellow above and at the sides, very faintly
beneath ; anal tuft fan-shaped, lustrous black above, sparsely mixed with
yellow beneath. Legs purplish black, posterior tibia yellow beneath and
on inner side and with a yellow tuft at the lower spurs; tarsi purplish
black above, yellow beneath. Forewing transparent, costa, veins, and
large discal mark black- violaceous ; the broad, marginal border in a
straight proximal edge heavily shaded with golden yellow or coppery
between the veins; fringes pale, sordid black; beneath as above, the
costa more yellowish. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined with
shiny black, above and beneath.
Female. — Similar to the male in color but with abdominal segments
2, 4, and 6 more narrowly banded with yellow; anal tuft short, blunt,
depressed in the middle, blue-black.
Expanse : Male and female, 16 to 20 mm.
Distribution. — Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, New Zealand.
Remarks. — Since its introduction into North America this insect
has become established through the continent wherever currants and, to
a lesser extent, gooseberries and raspberries are cultivated. Wild species
of the plant genus Ribes do not appear to be affected. The moths vary
very little in size and coloration. The eggs are laid in crevices of the
42 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
bark, and the larvae, feeding largely on the inner pith, excavate long
tunnels in the canes and branches. The moths emerge late in May and
in June. In the New England and Atlantic Coast States and in Wash-
ington, Oregon, and northern California all plantings of currants are
subject to attack. Specimens from scattered points over the Rocky
Mountain region and the Midwestern States are included in the United
States National Museum collection.
RAMOSIA RHODODENDRI (Beutenmiiller)
Plate 19, Figure 108
Sesia rhododendri Beutenmuller, Ent. News, vol. 20, p. 82, 1909.
Synanthcdon rhododendri McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8730, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black-violaceous. Labial palpi black above, yellow
beneath. Head black, frons lustrous green, face well marked with white.
Collar black on top, white at the sides and beneath. Thorax black with
steel-blue reflections and a broad patch of shiny white or pale yellow on
each side beneath. Abdomen lustrous steel blue or coppery black ; seg-
ments 2, 4, and 5 narrowly edged with yellow, at each side a narrow
yellow stripe from the base to the band on segment 2 ; on the underside
segments 3, 4, 5, and 6 whitish yellow; anal tuft broadly fan-shaped,
lustrous black, touched with yellow at the sides and yellow in the middle
beneath. Legs with anterior coxae shiny white or pale yellow, femora
steel blue or purple-blue, posterior tibiae pale yellow at the spurs,
violaceous-black between the spurs ; tarsi pale yellow, shaded with black
above. Forewing transparent, costa, narrow margin, discal mark and
inner veins violaceous-black; outer margin between the veins golden
yellow, fringes rusty black ; beneath costa heavily scaled with yellow,
otherwise as above. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined with
shiny black, fringes paler, a mixture of black and yellow.
Female. — Like the male, but with abdominal segments 2, 4, and
5 more broadly banded with yellow and the short, rounded anal tuft
heavily mixed with pale yellow inwardly from the sides.
Expanse : Both sexes, 10 to 15 mm.
Distribution. — Atlantic Coast States, Pennsylvania to Rhode Island.
Type. — In the American Museum of Natural History. From Chelten-
ham, Pa.
Remarks. — The rhododendron borer, one of the smallest of North
American Aegeriidae, is capable of inflicting serious injury to Rhodo-
dendron and occasionally also to mountain-laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
when the latter grows in association with Rhododendron. The species
was not recognized as of economic importance until after its description
in 1909 based on examples received from Cheltenham, Pa. While pre-
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 43
sumably also at home along the Appalachian regions where Rhododendron
grows so profusely, no records from south of Pennsylvania are available.
Twigs and small branches are preferably attacked, the larvae sub-
sisting chiefly on the soft pith, digging long tunnels, which are filled
with small, reddish pellets and serve for wintering and for pupation
in spring. On larger and older parts of the shrubs the larvae bore under
the bark, which peels off, exposing shallow grooves on the hard wood.
A heavy infestation observed in the Botanic Garden of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
in 1918, killed many shrubs in new plantings and furnished ample
material for rearing. Moths, exceeded in numbers by ichneumonoid
parasites, emerged late in May and during June. Woodpeckers, drilling
for the insects, added to the injury, although with ultimately beneficial
results. The borer is far less common at present. Complaints of abun-
dance in parks and nurseries in and about New York City ceased some
time ago. The northernmost record for the species is Kingston, R. I.
RAMOSIA RILEYANA (Hy. Edwards)
Albuna rilcyana Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 187, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.
Aegeria hyperici Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 195, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173, 1892.
Aegeria brunneipemiis Hv. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 191, 1881.
Sesia rileyana Beutenmuxler, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 129, 1896;
Mem. Amer. AIus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 280, pi. 31, fig. 9 (male), pi. 32,
fig. 25 (female), 1901.
Sesia brunneipemiis Beutenmijller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 129, 1896.
Synanthedon rileyana McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8696, 1939.
Male. — Antennae robust, only slightly dilated toward tips, black,
fuscous beneath, pectinations strong and even. Labial palpus with a
rough brush, bright yellow, black at the sides. Head black, face pale
yellow. Collar yellow. Thorax black, patagia with long yellow tufts
posteriorly and metathorax edged transversely with golden yellow; a
yellow mark at base of forewing and a yellow patch beneath at the
sides. Abdomen shiny black, with the six posterior segments evenly
banded with lemon yellow, the bands encircling the body ; anal tuft
yellow and black mixed, with spatulate tufts laterally. Legs yellow,
rough ; posterior tibiae with black patches at the sides at posterior spurs ;
tarsi with first joint slightly thickened, yellow touched with purple, and
remaining joints shaded darker than the first. Forewing transparent,
with narrow brownish borders, very slightly edged inwardly with vio-
laceous scales between the veins; costa and veins violaceous-black; dor-
sum reddish brown to wing base ; discal inark moderately large, oblong,
bright red, narrowly edged with black inwardly ; beneath, a heavy, yellow
shading on costa and dorsum. Hindwings transparent, margins very
44 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
narrow, violaceous-black, discal mark small, orange, fringes sordid black,
above and beneath.
Female. — Differs from the male by the broader costa and wider margin
of the forewings. Only five yellow bands encircle the abdomen. The anal
tuft is narrower, black, slightly intermixed with yellow and the posterior
tibiae are broadly marked with black at the lower spurs.
Expanse : Male 18 to 24 mm., female 20 to 30 mm.
Distribution. — General from the Mississippi Valley regions to New
England and the Midwestern States.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — A very common species usually found in association with
its food plant, horsenettle (Solanum carolinense L.), in sandy regions and
neglected farmlands. Large numbers of the moths were collected by A. E.
Brower in such a combination at Willard, Mo., in 1919, and on his sugges-
tion a thorough search for the early stages of the insect was made at Tot-
tenville, Staten Island, N. Y., during August 1920 (G. P. Engelhardt
and W. T. Davis). The moths at that time were abundant, mostly freshly
emerged. A number of pupal exuviae were exposed on the surface near
the bases of Solanum plants, connected with flimsy silk-lined tubes 3 to
10 inches deep in the soil. Living pupae in some of the tubes quickly
descended to the very bottom when disturbed. Stems, annual sprouting
from deeply embedded main roots, showed no evidence of the borer's work.
Only the main roots from a foot or two under ground appeared to be
attacked ; this explains the construction of the long tubes to facilitate
emergence of the moths. The eggs, normally roundish and brown, are laid
in small clusters of three or more, on leaves and stems or dropped on the
ground. Underground main roots contained larvae in various stages of
growth during August. The principal season of emergence is August to
September, with occasional records as late as October. No spring or
early-summer records are at hand.
United States National Museum records: Cadet, Mo., female type,
August 25, 1877? (Riley) ; Willard, Mo., long series, August 4-20, 1920
(A. E. Brower) ; Manhattan, Kans., one male, October 19, 1924; McKin-
ney, Collin County, Tex., one female, October 16, 1908 (E. S. Tucker) ;
Jackson, Miss., one male, September (E. S. Tucker) ; Red Level, Coving-
ton County, Ala., one male, August 12, 1923; Mobile (Chickasaw), Ala.,
one female, October 12, 1930 (Van ?) ; Rabun, Ga., one male (dwarfed),
July 1910 (W. T. Davis) ; Southern Pines, N. C, two males, one female,
August 8-15; Clarksville, Tenn., two males, August 21 (G. E. Painter) ;
Norfolk, Va., male and female, September 6, 1901 (C. H. Popenoe) ; Nel-
son County, Va., male and female, August 10 (W. Robinson) ; Plummers
Island, Potomac River, Md., male and female, August 10, 1907 (W. L.
McAtee) ; Tottenville, Staten Island, N. Y., long series, August 11-14^
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 45
1926 (Engelhardt) ; Decatur, 111., long series, August 8-23 (Barnes col-
lection).
In addition a few odd specimens from Texas and New Mexico sug-
gest subspecies or geographical races, which is to be expected considering
the abundant representation of Solanum throughout the Western States,
Field investigations of this kind are laborious, and, not being of economic
importance, they have been neglected.
Genus CARMENTA Hy. Edwards
Carmenta Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 184, 1881. (Genotype, Aegeria pyralidi-
formis Walker.)
Male antennae with short cilia ; female antennae simple. Tongue long,
spiraled. Labial palpus with a short, nearly smooth brush on second joint ;
terminal joint smooth, somewhat porrect. Head and thorax smooth.
Forewing with 12 veins (11 veins in a few species as the result of coales-
cence of veins 10 and 11) ; 7 and 8 stalked, 7 to costa; 10 and 11 confluent
before the edge of the wing or united throughout their length. Hindwing
with 8 veins ; 3 and 4 stalked ; 7 and 8 concealed in costal fold. Posterior
tibiae nearly smooth, sometimes slightly roughened with stiff hairs at
spurs ; first tarsal joint not thickened, smooth. Anal tuft of the male rather
small, halberd- or fan-shaped. Male genitalia of the Synanthedon type;
vinculum long; sacculus ridge with a curved row of flat, forked, black
scales, terminating in characteristic and diagnostic, sharply curved row of
yellow scales to the edge. Aedeagus long, straight, bulbous at base.
Female genitalia with terminal part of ductus sclerotized ; bursa oval, with
signum.
CARMENTA PYRALIDIFORMIS (Walker)
Plate 1, Figure 5 ; Plate 5, Figures 32, 32a ; Plate 13, Figure 62
Aegeria pyralidlformis Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects In the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 44, 1856. — Hy. Edwards, Papilio,
vol. 1, p. 207, 1881.
Trochilium pyralidiformis Morris, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North
America, pt. 1, p. 333, 1862.
Scsia pyralidiformis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insects: Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 439, 1874. — Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer.
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 310, pi. 32, fig. 18, 1901.
Carmenta pyralidiformis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 184, 1881. — Kellicott^
Can. Ent., vol. 24, p. 46, 1892. — Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 8, p. 147, 1896.
Sesia nigella Hulst, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 3, p. 75, 1881.
Carmenta nigella Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892.
Synanthedon pyralidiformis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8755, 1939.
Male. — Antennae stout, purplish black. Labial palpus with a rough,
even brush, golden yellow, tip black. Head purplish black. Collar golden
46 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
yellow. Thorax black, with purple or blue luster ; patagia with a narrow
yellow stripe and a yellow patch beneath at wing base. Abdomen lustrous
violaceous or bronzy black ; segment 4 broadly banded and segment 7 nar-
rowly banded with yellow above only ; anal tuft short, halberd- or wedge-
shaped, entirely black. Posterior tibiae rough throughout, black, mixed
with yellow at and between the spurs; tarsi with first joints slightly thick-
ened, black; posterior joints sordid yellow. Forewing usually opaque,
lustrous violaceous-black, sometimes with a very small vitreous or suffused
yellowish area between the veins before, and a very narrow area behind,
the discal mark. Fringes broad, sordid black. Hindwing transparent,
narrowly margined and broadly fringed with brownish black; vein Ic
heavily scaled and thickened toward apex. Beneath, forewing heavily
shaded with yellow inwardly and less so outwardly from the discal mark.
Female. — Very similar to the male but averaging larger in size and with
a heavier body. Only the fourth abdominal segment is broadly banded
with yellow above, and the black anal tuft is rounded with a short brush
projecting on each side.
Expanse : Male 12 to 18 mm. ; female 13 to 23 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern and Midwestern States, eastern Canada,
Southern States, and Gulf of Mexico coastal regions.
Remarks. — C. pyralidifonnis is a root borer in Eupatorium, con-
fining its attacks, however, to species of the so-called bonesets and
thoroughworts — E. pcrfoUatum, sessilifoliuiii, and album. It has not
been found in the common joe-pye-weed, E. piirpureum. The larvae
tunnel in the upper rootstock and before pupating in July or later work
up into the bases of the stems to prepare the pupal chambers and the
usual circular apertures for exit.
Hulst's nigella represents dwarfed forms of this species, which have
been traced to impoverished food plants growing in sterile, sandy soil
on hillsides. A majority of the several hundred specimens contained in
the United States National Museum collection are from Long Island,
the vicinity of New York City, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in long,
reared series. Inland, inclusive of the Allegheny Mountains, the species
runs true in Virginia, the Carolinas, Ohio, Tennessee, to eastern central
Texas. At Myrtle Beach, Horry County, S. C, both typical pyralidi-
formis and the color form aurantis were collected September 20, 1937
(Engelhardt), indicating a transition zone. In addition to numerous
records from Mobile, Ala., September-October (Van AUer and Engel-
hardt), the form aurantis has been collected at Merrill, George County,
Miss., October 2, 1930 (Henry Dietrich), and there are several very
old examples in the United States National Museum labeled merely
"Texas."
Type. — Female in the British Museum.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 47
CARMENTA PYRALIDIFORMIS AURANTIS, new variety
Plate 19, Figure 109
This is a color form with abdominal bands and markings deep orange
(^r red in place of the lemon yellow characteristic of typical pyralidifonnis.
It represents the southern extension of pymlidiformis, beginning in South
Carolina and northern Florida and becoming fixed in the coastal regions
of the Gulf of Mexico into Texas.
This form, which occurs in a warm, more humid climate, has the
same food plants and habits as the typical pyralidifonnis, but its period
of emergence is September and October instead of August and September
as in the northern range of the species.
Type— U.S. NM. No. 56827, male. Also female allotype, 32 male
and 28 female paratypes. Collected at Mobile, Ala. In the United States
National Museum.
CARMENTA ANTHRACIPENNIS (Boisduval)
Plate 19, Figure 110
Sesia anthracipennis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 392, 1874.
Synanthedcm anthracipennis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8707, 1939.
Male. — Antennae stout, finely ciliate, .black. Labial palpus rough,
deep tawny-yellow, third joint black above, tawny beneath. Head black.
Collar deep tawny-yellow. Thorax violaceous-black, yellow-striped lat-
erally; beneath shiny metallic black with a few scattered yellow scales.
Abdomen deep black, shiny ; segments 2, 4, and 6 well marked with
narrow yellow bands above ; segments 3, 5, and 7 sometimes, but not
always, slightly edged with yellow. Anal tuft broadly wedge-shaped,
black. Coxae of front legs lustrous deep yellow ; posterior tibiae rough,
black, deep yellow between the spurs. First tarsal joint slightly thickened,
black; posterior joints dark tawny. Forewing nearly opaque, lustrous
bronze a.nd violaceous-black; usually a well-marked vitreous area before
and a very narrow vitreous dash behind the discal mark ; these vitreous
areas sometimes greatly reduced or nearly absent; beneath forewing
heavily shaded deep yellow along the costa and on the basal half. Hind-
wing transparent, margin narrow, even, deep black, fringes broad, dull
black ; vein Ic broadening to apex.
Female. — Differs from male by its entirely opaque, lustrous-black
forewings with very occasionally a tawny dot before the discal mark.
Hindwing transparent, widely and irregularly margined with black, with
suffusions between the veins about half the distance to the cell. Ab-
dominal segments 2 and 4 conspicuously banded with deep yellow ; seg-
ments 5 and 6 thinly banded or barely touched with yellow. Posterior
48 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
tibiae mostly black, a few tawny-yellow scales at and between the spurs.
Otherwise like the male.
Expanse : Male 17 to 20 mm., female 18 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Savannah, Ga. ; Georgiana, Palm Beach County, Fla. ;
Mobile, Ala.
Type. — One female in the Oberthiir collection, acquired by William
Barnes and now in the United States National Museum, labeled "Sesia
anthracipennis Bdv., type, a/c Hofer." Also attached are labels: "ex
Musaeo Boisduval, Oberthur collection," and a handwritten label : "Re-
ceived Sept. 1882 from Mr. Edwards, Ch. Ob." The example conforms to
Boisduval's description.
Remarks. — This insect is recorded first by a hand-painted water-
color figure in John Abbot's "Insects of Georgia," published in 17
volumes beginning in 1792 and preserved in the library of the British
Museum of Natural History. Fourteen species of Aegeriidae arc
illustrated in this work, 13 in volume 7, and 1 in volume 17. All can
be easily determined. The text supplies dates and place of capture but
does not name the species. A good figure is given of a male anthraci-
pennis named and described by Boisduval, 1875, in volume 7, page 34.
The text states that it "lives on a species of Salix." This signifies merely
a capture, not the food plant, which is not willow. Abbot collected at
or near Savannah.
A second female from the Oberthiir collection is labeled "Georgiana."
This should be in Palm Beach County, Fla., where W. Witfeld, the
collector, resided about 1880. No additional specimens are recorded
until September and October 1927, when the species was collected in
numbers near Mobile, Ala., by Thos. S. Van Aller. Other collections
have been recorded subsequently. The obvious resemblance and kin-
ship of anthracipennis to sanhorni and morula was confirmed by finding
that it shares the same food plants and habits as a root borer in species
of Lacinaria (blazing-star) growing in dry, sandy soil, not in swampy
places. The moths frequent flowers, showing preference for late-blooming
Compositae. The principal time of emergence in the South is September
and October. C. a. sanhorni in temperate and northern zones emerges
in July and August.
Rules of priority in nomenclature dictate the rank of a species for antJira-
cipennis, a form restricted to a narrow coastal belt in the South, while
.<!anborni, widely distributed over temperate and boreal zones, must be rele-
gated to the rank of race.
CARMENTA ANTHRACIPENNIS race SANHORNI Hy. Edwards
Plate 19, Figure 111
Carmenta sanhorni Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 185, 1881. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, vol. 4, p. 175, 1892; vol. 8, p. 147, 1896; Afem. Amer.
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 311, pi. 32, fig. 17, 1901.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 49
Aegeria morula Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 196, 1881.
Sesia morula Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 142, 1896 ; Mem.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 288, pi. 31, fig. 18, 1901.
Synanthedon morula McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8712, 1939.
Synanthedon sanborni McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8756, 1939.
Male. — Antennae violaceous-black above, tawny beneath. Labial palpus
sordid white, third joint black. Head black. Collar dull yellow. Thorax
lustrous bronze-black; patagia laterally striped with pale yellow; meta-
thorax with long, sordid-white lateral tufts ; beneath, small clusters of shiny
silvery scales. Abdomen lustrous coppery black; segments 2, 4, and 7
narrowly banded with pale yellow or sordid white above, not beneath, anal
tuft short, broadly wedge-shaped, black, slightly edged with white. Pos-
terior tibiae very rough throughout, lustrous bronzy and tawny on inner
side, spurs sordid white, tarsi with first joint thickened, blackish ; posterior
joints pale tawny, Forewing with costa and margins broad, black ; vitreous
spaces much reduced and more or less flushed sordid white ; fringes broad,
brown black ; beneath heavily flushed with tawny-yellow, except for veins,
discal mark, and outer margin, which are black. Hindwing transparent,
with margin bronzy black, clearly defined ; nearly as broad as cilia, which
are brown-black.
Female. — Forewing opaque, lustrous black, except a small nearly cir-
cular area before the discal mark, which is sordid white or tawny-yellow.
The abdominal segments 2 and 4 and sometimes 6 narrowly banded with
pale yellow above, not beneath ; anal tuft short, rounded, black. Posterior
tibiae rough, metallic black throughout. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse : Male 17 to 20 mm., female 18 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern and Midwestern States, Texas, Colorado ; Sas-
katchewan, Manitoba.
Types. — Female. In the Boston Society of Natural History.
Remarks. — The original description of sanborni, said to be based on two
females and one male, applies to the female alone. It is doubtful whether
Hy. Edwards had male examples of the species, as sexual dissimilarities
would have made their recognition unavoidable. The types are two fe-
males. The specimens were collected by F. G. Sanborn, at Andover,
Mass., on September 7, 1867, on flowers of Lacinaria scarlosa, which since
has been proved to be the food plant. Examples of both sexes have been
reared from the bulbous roots. Hy. Edwards described Aegeria morula
from a single male, labeled "Texas, J. Ball," in the Neumoegen collection
now in the United States National Museum. The antennae must have
been missing, as female antennae have been substituted. J. Ball, the col-
lector, lived at Dallas, Tex., the probable type locality.
Beutenmiiller's illustration of morula is not of a female, as stated, but
of a male and probably based on the type, as it is shown with male an-
tennae of the subspecies sanborni. The males of anthracipennis differ
50 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
from sanbonii m the more opaque forewings and the very narrow bands on
the abdominal segments 3 and 5, which are not present in sanbonii. The
females differ in the broader margin of the hindwing with irregular exten-
sion inwardly about halfway to the cell.
Records of sanborni in the United States National Museum : Two males
and one female, dunes at Waukegan, 111., August 27, 1933, bred from roots
of Lacinaria scariosa (A. K. Wyatt and Engelhardt) ; one male, East Chi-
cago, Ind., September 6, 1920 (W. J. Gerhard) ; one female. Beach Sta-
tion, Lake County, 111., August 15, 1930 (B. Benish) ; male and female,
Aweme, Manitoba, male, August 20, 1910, female, July 20, 1910 (N. Crid-
dle) ; one male, Colorado Springs, Colo., bred from roots of Lacinaria punc-
tata (Engelhardt) ; one female, Dickinson County, Iowa, August 1915
(H. M. Clark) ; one female. Lake Okoboji, Dickinson County, Iowa, June
23,1922 (R. A. Leusler).
CARMENTA HELENIS. new species
Plate 20, Figure 112
Alale. — Antennae ferruginous-black. Labial palpi pale yellow, black
on the sides and at tips. Head metallic black. Collar black above, whitish
beneath. Thorax black with bluish luster, metathorax transversely edged
with pale yellow, a small pale-yellow patch beneath wing base. Abdomen
shiny black, segment 4 narrowly banded with pale yellow or whitish,
segments 2, 6, and 7 with bands faintly indicated ; abdomen beneath pale
yellow on posterior half; anal tuft broad at base, bluntly pointed at tip,
black above, pale yellow in center beneath. Legs pale yellow or white,
posterior tibiae violaceous on upper and outer surfaces, black and white
mixed inwardly and beneath ; tarsi glossy whitish. Forewing transparent,
costa and veins purplish black, outer margin broadened by golden-yellow
rays between the veins ; discal mark prominent, square, black intermixed
with yellow, fringes brownish black. Hindwing transparent, margins
narrow, black-violaceous ; beneath a heavy yellow shading on costa and
margins, discal mark black and orange.
Female. — Similar to male. Antennae rusty black, touched with white
on apical half. Abdominal segments 2, 4, and 6 with narrow white bands,
only band 4 encircling the body. Outer and inner transparent areas on
forewing smaller than in male.
Expanse: Male and female, 16 to 18 mm.
Distribution. — Prairies of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and British
Columbia.
Type. —IJ.S.N.M. No. 56828, male. Collected at Earl Grey, Sas-
katchewan. Also allotype female, one male paratype, and one female para-
type. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — This species, most confusing in its resemblance to Carmenta
ithacae, is represented by insufficient examples but must be recognized as
CLEAR-VVING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERllDAE 51
distinct on structural differences in the male genitalia. Veins 10 and 11
of the forewings are coincident, as in ithacae. The male genitalia differ
by the shorter vinculum and by the arrangement of narrower scales on
the sacculus ridge, terminating at a shallow pocket without scales before the
margin of harpe. The female genitalia are much like those of C. ithacae.
The species presumably is a root borer in Compositae in midwestern
and Canadian prairie regions.
Records in United States National Museum : Two males, Earl Grey,
Saskatchewan, July 4, 1906? (J. D. Ritchie) ; one female, Glen Souris,
Manitoba, July 8, 1925 (N. Griddle) ; one female, Ferme, British Colum-
bia, June 3. 1934 (H. B. Leach).
CARMENTA PHORADENDRI, new species
Plate 20, Figure 113
Sexes similar.
Male. — Antennae black with steel-blue and coppery reflections. Labial
palpi white beneath, black above. Head black, frons blue-black. Collar
pale yellow on top, white at the sides and beneath. Thorax black, lustrous
steel blue or coppery ; patagia striped narrowly with pale yellow ; pale-
yellow patches below the wing base at the sides ; abdomen black vvith
metallic reflections, segments 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 narrowly banded with pale
yellow, segment 4 with the broadest band; segments 4, 5, and 6 more
broadly banded beneath than above. Anal tuft well developed, broad,
fan-shaped, black, thinly edged with white at the sides. Legs black,
posterior tibiae tufted with white at the spurs, tarsi white at the joints
above and mixed white and black beneath. Forewing transparent, costa,
veins, and narrow vertical discal mark black-violaceous, outer margin
black, with dull-yellow suffusions between the veins extending to near the
discal mark along costa ; beneath, costa and discal mark edged with yellow.
Hindwing transparent, veins and narrow margin black, fringes sordid
black.
Female. — Similar to the male. Forewing shaded bright yellow between
the veins at outer margin ; the discal mark yellow, slightly mixed with
black; a thin yellow streak between the veins dorsally extending from
the discal mark to the wing base. Abdominal segments 2, 4, and 6 nar-
rowly banded with yellow, the broadest band on segment 4 and this alone
encircling the body ; segment 5 with a broad yellow patch beneath ; anal
tuft short, rounded and black, sordid white on the upturned edges at the
sides.
Expanse: Male and female, 18 to 20 mm.
Distribution. — Bexar and Victoria Counties, Tex.
Type.— U.S.K.M. No. 56829, male. Collected at San Antonio, Tex.
Female allotype, five male and six female paratypes also in the United
States National Museum.
52 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Remarks. — While in outward appearance closely approaching the tree
borers Thamnosphecia scitula and T. pyi'i, structures of the genitalia indi-
cate a nearer relationship with Carmenta querci, a western species feeding
on spongy galls on oak. The sacculus ridge of phoradendri bears flat,
brown scales ending in a pocket of yellow scales at the margin. This
structure prevails in the majority of species boring in herbaceous plants.
C. phoradendri confines its attacks to the mistletoe, Phoradendron flaves-
cens, growing in strong clusters on trees of mesquite, Prosopis glandtdosa,
in Texas. Rearing records thus far are limited to Bexar and Victoria
Counties. The larvae tunnel in the heavy, lower parts of the stems and the
basal swellings on the branches. From stem cuttings secured in March,
moths emerged in April, May, and June. A long series of examples
received from H. B, Parks were collected on flowering Baccharis at the
Apicultural Station near San Antonio during September 1931. This may
signify a double-brooded species; however, no material for rearing could
be obtained at that time. Infestations are easily detected by the wilted,
discolored appearance of the plants. The larvae winter in long galleries,
pupating in firmly attached, smoothly silk-lined cocoons at the burrow's
exit in the spring. The pupae are normal, light brown.
Sacculus ridge of male genitalia flat-scaled in a thin, curved line, hooked
at the margin. Vinculum long and slender.
CARMENTA TECTA (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria tecta Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 56, 1882.
Sesia tecta Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 142, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 302, pi. 31, fig. 7 (male), pi. Z2,,
fig. 2 (male), fig. 3 (female), 1901.
Synanthedon tecta McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8738, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, strongly dilated and ferruginous. Labial palpi
pale yellow or sordid white beneath, black above. Head black. Collar pale
yellow above, white at the sides and beneath. Thorax violaceous-black,
patagia with a pale-yellow stripe and metathorax tufted with sordid white
at the sides ; a posterior, transverse, pale-yellow mark ; anterior wing base
and the sides beneath with patches of pale yellow or sordid white. Ab-
domen black with steel-blue or violaceous reflections and with five narrow
yellow bands on segments 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7, the band on segment 4 broadest
and encircling the body ; some of the bands not always discernible on
abraded examples ; segments 5, 6, and 7 each with a pale-yellow patch be-
neath ; anal tuft black, narrowly fan-shaped, faintly fringed with white at
the sides and pale yellow in the middle beneath. Legs blue-black, anterior
coxae pale yellow, posterior tibiae tufted with sordid white at the spurs,
and tarsi banded with white at the joints. Forewing transparent, veins,
costa, and narrow margin black, discal mark narrow, straight, and marked
with orange outwardly ; beneath dusted with golden yellow on costa, discal
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 53
mark, and, very slightly, between the veins at outer margin. Hindwing
transparent, margined with a thin black line ; fringes short, grayish black.
Female. — Larger and with a heavier body than the male. Margin of the
forewing considerably broadened by a mixture of violaceous and golden-
yellow scales on and between the veins ; discal mark also broader, heavily
edged with golden yellow outwardly ; beneath, costa and veins yellow from
wing base to beyond discal mark and violaceous-black at outer margin;
fringes broad, dull black. Hindwing transparent, with margins violaceous-
black and fringes broad, dull black. Abdomen clearly banded on segments
2, 4, and 6 with pale yellow or sordid white and in some examples also
with indications of a band on segment 1 ; the band on segment 4 encircling
the body ; worn examples showing a scattering of pale scales on abdomen
beneath, insufficient to define the band ; the short, blunt anal tuft in some
examples yellow, slightly mixed with black in the middle and more heavily
at the sides, and in other examples mostly black mixed with sordid white.
Expanse : Male 18 mm., female 20 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Mountains of Arizona.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — C. tecta is a mistletoe stem borer ; it attacks Phoradendron
orhicidatiun, occurring on live oak, in Arizona. In appearance, structure,
and habits it is associated closely with C. phoradendri, the mistletoe borer
in Texas. Its favorite habitat is groves of old live oaks supporting well-
established colonies of the mistletoe, usually at considerable elevations in
mountainous regions. In such situations the mistletoe attains a large size,
growing in dense clusters with thick, brittle stems, firmly anchored on
branches, usually too high to reach. Aside from the aegeriid borer, many
other kinds of insects are attracted to the plants. Old stems are riddled
with the larval galleries of cerambycid and rhynchophorous beetles, sub-
sequently serving wasps and bees for rearing their broods and various
other insects which prey upon the inhabitants or utilize the galleries as
places of refuge.
The collecting of material for rearing proved arduous. Clusters of
mistletoe on high branches were brought down by shots from a rifle. From
cuttings containing larvae and pupae of the aegeriid borer, one to three in
a stem, taken in the Santa Rita Mountains, March and April 1937, no
moths emerged. On a previous visit to the same region, July 26. 1925, a
freshly emerged female, still near its exit on a stem was captured. Mistle-
toe on Celtis in the Santa Rita Mountains also contained larvae of an
aegeriid borer, which has not yet been reared to the adult stage.
To the 2 male types of C. tecta from Prescott, Ariz., collected in 1882,
13 more examples have been added in the course of years, all captured, not
reared, specimens from widely separated regions. The collection records
probably indicate a much prolonged season rather than a 2-brooded species.
The data for these specimens are as follows : One male, Jerome, Yavapai
54 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
County, May 12, 1902 (Oslar) ; two males, Oak Creek Canyon, Coconino
County, 6,000 feet (F. H. Snow) ; one male, Gila County, June 1902
(Poling) ; one male, Pinal Mountains, Gila County, September 7, 1936
(Parker) ; two males, Santa Catalina Mountains, Pima County, Septem-
ber ; one female, Santa Rita Mountains, Pima County, 4,000 feet, July 26,
1925 (Engelliardt) ; one female, Santa Rita Mountains, Pima County,
5,000 feet, September 6, 1936 (Parker) ; one male, Palmerly, Cochise
County, August; one female, Hereford, Cochise County, April 9, 1937
(H. Hereford) ; one female, Chiricahua Mountains, Cochise County, 7,600
feet, August 6, 1933 (Owen Bryant).
CARMENTA APACHE, new species
Plate 20, Figure 114
Female (holotype). — Antennae lustrous blue-black. Labial palpi buff-
yellow, tips black above. Head purplish black. Collar dull yellow. Thorax
violaceous-black, patagia broadly striped with dull yellow and a broad,
brighter yellow, transverse band on metathorax posteriorly ; a dull-yellow
patch at the sides beneath wing base. Abdomen violaceous-black, seg-
ments 2, 4, 5, and 6 broadl}^ banded with yellow, the last three bands en-
circling the body; anal tuft rounded, black. Legs dull yellow, posterior
tibiae purplish black between the spurs and tarsi touched with purplish
black below the joints. Forewing heavily scaled, violaceous-black, inter-
mixed with yellow ; costa and outer and inner margins broad, transparent
areas reduced before and behind the discal mark, which is square, mostly
black, touched with yellow outwardly ; beneath predominantly yellow.
Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined violaceous, fringes brownish
black ; underside as upper side.
Male. — Description based on two rather worn specimens. Antennae
black and fuscous owing to abrasion. Labial palpi pale yellow, black above
and at tips. Collar pale yellow. Thorax coppery black, patagia striped
with yellow and metathorax well edged with yellow transversely ; a yellow
patch at the sides beneath. Abdomen coppery black, segments 2, 4, and 6
with encircling yellow bands, the band on segment 4 broadest and that on
segment 2 widening at the sides and beneath ; anal tuft fan-shaped, black,
mixed with yellow at the sides. Legs black, violaceous, posterior tibiae
tufted with yellow at the spurs ; tarsi dusted with yellow. Forewing trans-
parent, costa, veins, large vertical discal mark, and outer margin purplish
black; outer margin inwardly between the veins filled with a mixture of
black and yellow scales ; beneath yellower than above from discal mark
to wing base, otherwise as above. Hindwing transparent, outer margin
narrow, purplish black, fringes sordid black ; beneath mixed with yellow,
most heavily so toward the base.
Expanse : Female holotype 20 mm., male 20 mm.
Distribution. — Arizona.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 55
Types.— U.S.N. M. No. 56830, female.
Remarks. — Described from three specimens, a perfect female and two
imperfect males, the latter, not designated as paratypes, in all probability
representing the same species, but without knowledge of the food plant
and habits the evidence is not conclusive. The three specimens are from
Prescott, Ariz., the males collected by H. Dyar, August 20, 1917, and the
female from the Barnes collection, dated July 1-7.
Venation and structures of the genitalia indicate a relationship nearest
to C. tccta, from which the male is readily distinguished by the much
broader margins on the primaries and the female by the wide, yellow edge
on metathorax and the broad, yellow bands on abdominal segments 2, 4,
and 6.
CARMENTA QUERCI (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 20, Figures 115, 116
Aegeria querci Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 98, 1882.
Aegeria querctis Hy. Edwards, Ent. Amer., vol. 3, p. 224, 1888. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.
Sesia querci Packard, 5th Rep. U. S. Ent. Comm., p. 217, 1890. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 141, 1896; vol. 9, p. 220, 1897; Mem.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 301, pi. 31^ fig. 15 (male), 1901.
Podosesia comes Heinrich, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 57, p. 79, 1920. — McDun-
NOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of
America, pt. 2, No. 8770, 1939.
Synanthedon querci McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8736, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, short, strongly clavate to tips, pectinations aris-
ing from brown bases. Labial palpus with a rough brush, black and w^hite
mixed. Head black, shiny blue-black on top, face white. Collar pale yel-
low or wliite above, black at the sides and beneath. Thorax black with
steel-blue or coppery reflections ; patagia tipped with paJe yellow at pos-
terior end and metathorax tufted at the sides and transversely edged with
very pale yellow ; a pale-yellow patch at wing base on the side. Abdomen
black, lustrous steel blue, or coppery, with a very narrow band on seg-
ments 2 and 3, a \try broad one on segment 4 encircling the body, and very
narrow ones on the last two segments; anal tuft black, edged with pale
yellow above. Legs black, femora white beneath, posterior tibiae tufted at
the spurs, white; tarsi sordid white, first joint dusted with black. Fore-
wing transparent, costa and very narrow margin violaceous-black, slig'htly
shaded with golden yellow inwardly; a very slight yellow suflFusion be-
tween the veins at outer margin ; discal mark straight, very narrow, golden
yellow, edged with black at inner junction with costa ; underside mostly
yellow. Hindwing transparent with very narrow violaceous margins and
yellow costa, above and beneath ; fringes short, sordid black.
Female. — Larger and stouter than the male ; forewing with slightly
broader yellow suffusions between the veins at outer margin; abdominal
56 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
segments 2, 3, and 6 narrowly banded with pale yellow above and at the
sides, segment 6 broadly banded, the band encircling the abdomen ; anal
tuft short, rounded, lemon yellowy black at the sides and beneath or black
in the middle between yellow and, laterally, black tufts. Otherwise like the
male.
Expanse : Male 15 to 17 mm., female 18 to 20 mm.
Distribution. — Arizona.
Type. — Male. Collected at Fort Grant, Ariz. In the American Mu-
seum of Natural History.
Remarks.- — Although represented sparsely only from Arizona, its range
most likely extends through Mexico into Central America. It is congeneric
with an unnamed species bred from very large, spongy oak galls in Guate-
mala (Engelhardt, 1934).
Records at the United States National Museum : One female, Arizona,
August 3, 1882 (C. V. Riley) ; male type and one female paratype, Podo-
sesia conies, Bush Corral, Santa Catalina Mountains, Ariz., bred May
11-15, 1920 (G. Hofer) ; two males, Sabina Canyon, Pima County, Ariz.,
bred from spongy galls on Qucrcus oblongifolia, collected February 8, 1921
(G. Hofer), reared Brooklyn, N. Y., March 8-10, 1921 (Engelhardt);
one female, Oracle, Pinal County, Ariz., reared from gall on Quercus ari-
sonica; one male, two females, Baboquivari Mountains, Pima County,
Ariz., August 15-20, 1921 (O. C. Poling) ; one female, Mohave County.
Ariz., July 8-14.
CARMENTA TORRANCIA, new species
Plate 20, Figure 117
Male. — Not known.
Female. — Antennae strongly dila,ted to tips, basal two-thirds lustrous
orange, anterior one-third black-violaceous. Labial palpi rough, pale yel-
low at bases and deep yellow on upper parts and above. Head black ; face
shiny white ; a posterior fringe of stiff hairs, black and yellow mixed, on
top, white at the sides and beneath. Collar broad, golden yellow. Thorax
black, patagia pale yellow on lower half and metathorax edged with yellow
transversely ; wing base of primaries above and at the sides white, beneath
shiny yellow. Abdomen black, broadly banded on segments 2, 4, 5, and 6,
the bands encircling the body ; segment 3 black, slightly mixed with yellow ;
anal tuft a short, rounded brush, light orange, slightly mixed with black
at the base. Legs with femora orange and bla,ck, posterior tibia rough,
orange, black at the proximal end; tarsi orange. Forewing with trans-
parent areas much sufifused and reduced, rusty brown with coppery reflec-
tions; discal mark prominent, bright red, and costa and inner margin
shaded with red; outer margin narrow but densely sufifused by coppery
rays between darker veins ; wing base tipped with blue-black ; beneath deep
yellow and orange, discal mark red ; fringes rusty black. Hindwing trans-
parent; veins, outer and inner margins rusty black, shading to orange
Cr.EAR-WIXG MOTHS OF FAIMILY AEGERIIDAE 57
basally ; costa and discal mark deep orange, fringes rusty black ; beneath
dull yellow outwardly, orange inwardly.
Expanse : Females 16 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — New Mexico, Arizona.
Type. — U.S.N.M. No. 56831. Female. Collected in Torrance County,
N. Mex.
Remarks. — Only the type and three female paratypes in the United
States National Museum and three females in the Engelhardt collection
now included in the National collection are known. Six of the specimens
were collected in Torrance County, N. Mex., 6,000 feet, June 23, 1929
(R. H. Painter), and to these a seventh specimen has been added, collected
at Hereford, Cochise County, Ariz., September 17, 1935 (F. H. Parker).
The species strongly suggests a kinship to rileyana, and with this in mind
I visited the New Mexico type locality in midsummer, 1934. It is in open
country of pasture and agricultural lands. A day was spent in digging
out an abundant blue-flowered and deep-rooted species of Solarium, as
well as many other kinds of herbaceous plants, without results.
CAKMENTA AUSTINI. new species
Plai-e 20, Figure 118
Male. — Antennae strongly pectinate, black above, fuscous beneath.
Labial palpus with a rough brush, yellow, heavily mixed with black at the
sides and above. Head black ; face violaceous, edged with yellow at the
sides. Collar dull yellow. Thorax black, spotted with golden yellow on
each side below the collar, patagia long, tufted with sordid yellow on
posterior part and a yellow patch at and beneath the wing base. Abdomen
black with greenish luster, each segment with a yellow band, which is
broader beneath than above; anal tuft short, spatulate, yellow with black
center and sides. Legs yellow, posterior tibiae rough, slightly shaded with
black at and between the spurs. Tarsi yellow, with a few black, short
spines at the sides. Forewing transparent, costa and narrow outer margin
violaceous-black, broadly rayed with deep orange between the veins ; discal
mark conspicuous, bright red ; inner margin violaceous at tomus, becoming
orange before the wing base ; fringes dull black ; beneath costa and veins
heavily shaded with orange, discal mark red. Hindwing transparent, nar-
rowly edged with black and orange mixed and broadly fringed with dull
black ; discal mark conspicuous, triangular, bright red ; beneath, veins
and margin dull yellow.
Female. — Like the male, orange and red shadings on primaries intensi-
fied ; anal tuft short, rounded, yellow.
Expanse : Male and female, 30 mm.
Distribution. — Texas, Utah.
Ty/)^.— U.S.N.M. No. 56832.
58 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Remarks. — Represented only by the t3'pes ; the male holotype captured
inside a window, Biological Department, University of Texas, Austin,
Tex., November 4, 1922 (H. B. Park), and the female allotype collected
at Ephraim, Sanpete County, Utah, September 29, 1929 (H. B. Park).
The larger size and brighter coloration set the examples apart as a
distinct species.
CARMENTA GILIAE (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 20, Figures 119, 120
Aegeria giliae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 200, 1881. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, vol. 4, p. 174, 1892.
Sesia giliae Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 128, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 279, pi. 31, fig. 8 (male), pi. 33,
fig. 1 (female), 1901.
Synanthedon giliae McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8695, 1939.
With this species have been united as forms a large number of speci-
mens that differ greatly in coloration and in size but that cannot be
separated specifically on structures, external or genitalic. All inhabit
regions of the Rocky Mountains at considerable altitudes, bright-colored
examples in general occurring at elevations from 6,000 to 8,000 feet and
those of darker colors at elevations from 8,(X)0 to 10,000 feet. Arizona
and New Mexico specimens average smaller in size than those from
Colorado and northward to Alberta.
Male. — Antennae strong, slightly dilated at tips, black above, brown
beneath. Labial palpus with a heavy brush, yellow, edged with black at
the sides. Head rusty black, face buff. Collar long-haired, yellow\
Thorax coppery black ; patagia with a narrow yellow stripe ; metathorax
with long, yellowish tufts at the sides and some flat yellow scales on
posterior edge; a yellow spot anterior to wing base and a yellow patch
beneath at the sides. Abdomen coppery black, segments 2, 4, 6, and 8
broadly banded, segments 1, 3, and 5 narrowly banded with yellow, the
narrow bands sometimes very faint; beneath the bands uniting more or
less ; anal tuft flat, rounded, black, yellow in the middle. Legs hairy,
yellow and black ; posterior tibiae rough, black and yellow mixed and
tufted with yellow at the spurs, tarsi yellow, slightly touched with black.
Forewing transparent, costa and veins black; outer margin narrow, lus-
trous coppery black and a narrow suffusion of black and yellow scales
between the veins ; inner margin black, dusted with orange or red scales
to wing base ; discal mark orange or red, black on inner side. Hindwing
transparent, narrowly margined with coppery black, fringes dull black.
Undersides of wings more yellow than black.
Female. — Brighter in coloration. Antennae black, brown when
abraded. Labial palpi golden yellow throughout, or barely touched with
black at the sides. Thorax well marked with a yellow stripe on patagia
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 59
and transversely on posterior margin of metathorax. Abdomen broadly
banded with golden yellow on segments 2, 4, and 6 and more narrowly
banded on segments 3 and 5, subject to variation ; the bands broadened or
united beneath; anal tuft deep yellow, slightly mixed with black at base
and sometimes at the sides. Posterior tibiae rough, yellow, blue-black at
the lower spur ; tarsi pale yellow. Forewing transparent, costa dark
brown, edged with golden brown inwardly, narrow outer margin, fringes
and veins golden brown and inner margin deep orange or red, discal mark
also orange or red except for a very narrow black inner edge. Hindwing
similar, inner veins darker and fringes turning yellow near wing base.
Beneath wings shaded heavily with deep yellow, orange, or red.
Expanse: Male 26 to 28 mm., female 24 to 30 mm.
Distribution. — Rocky Mountains, Colorado, Utah.
Type. — Female. Collected in Colorado (Morrison). In the American
Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — An accumulation of over 50 specimens, assembled under
the name of giliae, align themselves definitely with this species on struc-
tures, but in coloration and in size they vary greatly. This material com-
prises specimens collected singly or in small numbers, many in a worn
condition, over a long period of years. The moths are active fliers,
indiscriminate in visiting flowers. The first clue to the insect's food
plant was furnished by a fine series of fresh specimens collected by A. B.
Klotz during August 1932 on a species of wild geranium in New Mexico,
9,200 feet. Upon repetition of this experience (Klotz and Engelhardt)
in the San Juan Mountains, San Miguel County, Colo., 10,000 feet,
August 1937, a female was observed ovipositing on geranium, and after
persistent search larvae were found in the roots. The borer shows prefer-
ence for old, strongly rooted plants along exposed places rather than in
dense woods, and it was found in colonies, often widely separated. Un-
fortunately none of the larvae survived the winter. More careful and
extended field investigations are needed to support or to correct the
foregoing conclusions.
As typical giliae I have selected a series that most nearly agrees with
Hy. Edwards's original description and with the female type. The
examples in this series, males and females, come from Jefferson County,
Colo., 6,000 to 8,000 feet, as did the type. Added to this series is a female
from Mount Timpanogos, Utah County, Utah, 8,000 feet, and another
very old female, labeled Albuna rileyana Fly. Edwards, Type 2, evidently
in Hy. Edwards's handwriting. This specimen clearly is giliae, not
rileyana. Distinguishing features of typical giliae are the highly colored
forewing with the costa and outer margin golden brown and the con-
spicuous discal mark bright red. The abdomen is banded with yellow,
broadly or narrowly, on every segment. All dates of capture are during
July.
60 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
GARMENT A GILIAE form VITRINA (Neumoegen)
Albuna vitrina Neumoegen, Ent. News, vol. 2, p. 109, 1891.
Aegeria deceptiva Beutenmijller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 93, 1894.
Synanthedon giliae McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8695, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black. Labial palpus rough, yellow, heavily mixed
with black on first and second joints, third joint black. Head black, buff
or pale yellow between the eyes. Collar with long hair, which is mixed
with black, although mostly pale yellow. Thorax lustrous blue-black, on
fresh specimens densely clothed with yellowish hair above and beneath.
Abdomen shiny black, segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 always with encircling yel-
low bands ; segments 3 and 5 with traces of bands on some specimens ; anal
tuft narrowly fan-shaped, pale yellow in middle above and beneath and
broadly edged with black at the sides. Legs hairy in a mixture of black
and yellow; posterior tibiae mostly black between the spurs; tarsi black,
dusted with yellow. Forewing transparent, costa and outer margin black
with a slight mixture of orange scales, which are most pronounced between
the veins at the margin ; inner margin shaded with yellow toward wing
base ; discal mark black, spotted with red ; underside pale yellow, discal
mark red and black. Hindwings transparent, narrowly margined with
metallic black ; fringes broad, rusty black.
Female. — Similar to male. Outer margin of forewing with lustrous
brownish scales between the veins and discal mark black and red or red
edged with black inwardly; abdomen with seginents 2, 4, and 6 broadly
banded with yellow ; sometimes a faint indication of yellow bands on seg-
ments 1, 3, and 5 ; beneath, the bands broadening or uniting; the short anal
tuft bluntly pointed, black and yellow mixed, mostly black in the middle.
Posterior tibiae more evenly mixed with black and yellow than in the male.
Expanse : Male 20 to 24 mm., female 24 to 28 mm.
Distribution. — Rocky Mountains, Arizona to Alberta, Canada.
Type. — Male. Collected at Fort Calgary, Alberta. In the United
States National Museum.
Remarks. — For this form, prevailing in Rocky Mountain regions at alti-
tudes from 8,000 to 10,000 feet (less in the northern limits of its range),
the name vitrina Neumoegen, considered by Beutenmuller a synonym of
giliae, has been resurrected. From typical giliae this form differs strikingly
in its darker coloration, in the fewer abdominal bands, and in the average
smaller size. The eft'ect of higher altitudes is registered by greater
hairiness.
United States National Museum records : Four males, Paradise Creek,
White Mountains, Ariz., 9,000 feet, July 15, 1932 (A. Duncan) ; three
males, two females. Little Tesugue Canyon, Santa Fe, N. Mex., 9,200 feet,
July 27-August 10, 1932 (A. B. Klotz) ; one male, Beulah, N. Mex., July
21 (Cockerell) ; three males, one female, San Juan Mountains, San Miguel
County, Colo.. 10,000 feet, July 1937 (Engelhardt) ; one female. Rock
CLEAK-VVING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 61
Creek, Teller County, Colo., 8,200 feet, August 19, 1937 (Engelhardt) ;
one male, two females. Middle Piney Lake Range, Wyo., 8,000 feet,
August 9-12, 1935 (A. B. Klotz) ; female type, Fort Calgary, Alberta
(Barnes collection, now in the United States National Museum).
CARMENTA GILIAE WOODGATEI, new race
Male. — Antennae black or brown when abraded, pectinations strong.
Labial palpi rough, pale yellow or buff, mixed with black at the sides and
on third joint above. Head black, face bufif. Collar pale yellow mixed
with black above, buff at the sides and beneath. Thorax black, heavily
clothed with yellow and black hair ; metathorax with long tufts overlapping
from the sides to the center; a pale-yellow spot at anterior base of the
primaries connecting with patches of the same color at the sides and be-
neath. Abdomen black, with pale-yellow, broad, encircling bands on seg-
ments 2 and 4, the bands uniting on segments 5, 6, and 7 ; segment 3 barely
edged with yellow and otherwise deep black ; anal tuft narrow and more
pointed than flat; the central tuft yellow, the lateral tufts black. Legs
hairy, black and yellow; posterior tibiae rough, broadly banded with
violaceous-black between the spurs ; tarsi yellow, dusted with black above.
Forewing transparent, costa violaceous-black with a thin orange inner line ;
outer margin narrow, with black and orange scales between the veins, all
veins dusted more or less with orange, most heavily on the inner margin ;
discal mark black and orange, in some specimens largely black, in others
largely orange ; underside heavily dusted with yellow, orange on the discal
mark ; fringes brownish black. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined
with violaceous-black ; underside dusted with yellow and orange on discal
mark ; fringes pale yellow at wing base.
Female. — Similar to male ; costa of forewing golden brown, outer mar-
gin broader, lustrous deep yellow, discal mark orange or red, margined
with black inwardly. Thorax with a yellow stripe at the sides. Abdominal
bands pale yellow or buff, separated above, united on posterior half be-
neath ; anal tuft yellow, slightly mixed with black.
Expanse : Male 18 to 24 mm., female 20 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Rocky Mountains, New Mexico and Arizona.
Type.—U.S.^.M. No. 56833, male. Collected at Fort Wingate, N.
Mcx. Female allotype, nine male and throe female paratypes also in the
United States National Museum.
Remarks. — The relationship of this form to typical giliae is recognized
on evidence of the male genitalia. Without this evidence the status or re-
lationship would be in doubt. The material on hand, while extensive,
consists largely of old, worn examples, some obtained from John Wood-
gate, a pioneer collector and former postmaster at Fort Wingate and Jemez
Springs, N. Mex., for whom this form has been named. Other examples
were collected by F. H. Snow in Oak Creek Canyon, Yavapai County,
62 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Ariz., early in this century. A few specimens of more recent date come
from Oak Creek Canyon and from the White Mountains, x\rizona.
In coloration the form zvoodgatei closely resembles the typical form of
giliae, but it averages much smaller in size. Examples from Fort Wingate,
N. Mex. (Woodgate), are dated August 1-7, year and altitude not being
shown. Hairiness of the examples indicates an elevation of 9,000 to 10,000
feet, regions favored by Woodgate when collecting. The specimens col-
lected by Snow, Oak Creek Canyon, Ariz., August, 6,000 feet, are not so
hairy, thus reflecting the lower elevation. A pair collected in copulation,
Oak Creek Canyon, Ariz., August 9, 1932 (R. H. Beamer), duplicates the
Snow specimens. Both vitrina and zvoodgatei are represented in material
from the Wliite Mountains of Arizona collected at elevations of 8,000 to
10,000 feet. Along the highway from Springerville to Harrigan Meadows,
Apache County, Ariz., 8,500 feet, aegeriid larvae were found in the big,
spongy roots of Geranium caespitosiiin growing on a steep embankment.
These again failed to survive the winter. It is hoped that these investiga-
tions will be continued more successfully by western collectors.
GARMENT A BASSIFORMIS (Walker)
Aegeria bassiformis W.xlker, List of tlie specimens of lepidopterous insects in the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 39, 1856. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, p. 24, 1893.
Trochilium bassiformis Morris, Sj-nopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North
America, p. 331, 1862.
Sesi^ bassifonnis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle dcs insectes: Species general dc^
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 434, 1874. — Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer.
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 133, 1896; vol. 9, p. 219. 1897.
Trochilium lustrans Grote, Can. Ent., vol. 12, p. 213, 1880.
Aegeria consimilis Hy. Edw.\rds, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 194, 1881. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173, 1892.
Aegeria corusca Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 193, 1881.
Aegeria eupatori Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 195. 1881. — Beutenmuller, Ann.
New York Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 205, 1890 ; Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4,
p. 173, 1892.
Aegeria sexfasciata Hv. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 193, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173. 1892.
Aegeria imitata Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 196, 1881.
Aegeria lustrans Grote, New check list of North American moths, p. 12, 1882. —
Weed, Amer. Nat., vol. 23, p. 1108, pi. 43, fig. 6, 1889.— Kellicott. Can. Ent.,
vol. 24, p. 46, 1892. — Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4,
p. 173, 1892; vol. 5, p. 25, 1893; vol. 6, p. 92, 1894.
Scsia corusca Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 140, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1. pt. 6, p. 299, pi. 31. fi?. 21, 1901.
Sesia imitata Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 133, 1896.
Sesia bassiformis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 284,
pi. 31, fig. 3, pi. 33, fig. 4, 1901.
Sesia bassiformis Hy. Edwards, Ent. News, vol. 19, p. 164, 1908.
Synanthedon bassiformis McDunnough. Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8704, 1939.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 63
Male. — Antennae only slightly dilated toward apices, pectinations short
and fine, black with bluish reflections, sometimes with a short, huff shading
above on outer half. Labial palpi smooth, pale yelUnv, tips black. Head
violaceous-black. Collar yellow. Thorax black, lustrous blue-black or
coppery ; a long, thin, yellow stripe on patagia ; metathorax with yellow
tufts at the sides and a few flat yellow scales transversely; a yellow,
narrow patch at the sides before the wings and an irregular patch below
the wings. Abdomen long, slender, violaceous-black, all segments nar-
rowly banded with yellow above, the bands broadening at the sides and
uniting beneath ; bands on segments 3 and 5 fainter or sometimes wanting,
owing usually to abrasion or discoloi-ation ; anal tuft large, fan-shaped,
lustrous black, edged with yellow at the sides and yellow in the center
beneath. Legs yellow, violaceous-black on outer side, except at tibial
spurs ; tarsi yellow, touched with blackish between the joints. Forewing
transparent, with narrow metallic bronzy borders, the outer margin
broader and rounded inwardly, with yellow rays between the veins ; discal
mark straight, oblong, purplish black ; underside washed with yellow.
Hindwing transparent, margin narrow, black, dusted with yellow, fringes
(lull black, above and beneath.
Female. — Similar to the male, but with a stouter body. Antennae
always buff or yellow before the tips. Margins and discal mark of the
forewing bronzy brown rather than bronzy black. Abdominal segments
4 and 6 conspicuously banded with yellow, twice as broad as the bands
on segments 1, 2, and 4; segment 5 not banded above, but broadly so
beneath, this band uniting with that on segment 4 ; the short, blunt anal tuft
black at the base and orange at the tip, above and beneath.
Expanse: Male 18 to 21, female 18 to 26 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern States.
Type. — In the British Museum of Natural History.
Remarks.— Cr'xtiQdA studies of long series of well-preserved specimens
in the United States National Museum collection confirm Beutenmiiller's
conclusion in considering as synonyms the species listed under hassiformis.
Captured specimens of the moths, which are strong, active fliers, often
are worn and in the cabinet become discolored by grease. Judged by the
condition of types such imperfections have caused confusion in the past.
For accurate determination the venation and structures of the genitalia
are more dependable. Veins 10 and 11 of the forewing are confluent from
or before middle to costa. The sacculus ridge of the genitalia is densely
clothed with strong, bifurcated scales and connects before the margin of
the harpe with a recurving pocket filled with smaller lighter colored
scales. This structure, shared by other species of the genus, differs suffi-
ciently in details to afford specific alignment.
C. hassiformis is a root borer in ironweed, Vernonia noveboracensis,
and in near-related species of this plant. I have failed to find it in joe-
64 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
pye-weed, Eupatorium purpureum, recorded by H. Edwards as a host.
The insect is locally common and appears to live in colonies, often widely
separated, regardless of an abundance of the food plant. The moths in
visiting flowers fly long distances, but in the morning and late in the
afternoon they can be found resting on foliage about their breeding places.
They emerge from late in July through August and September. The
eggs are laid singly or in small numbers attached to leaves or dropped at
the base of the food plant. The young larvae enter growing stems, bore
down to the roots, where they winter in various stages of development,'
and resume feeding during spring and early summer. Before pupation
stems of the previous year's growth again are entered, girdled, and caused
to break off several inches above ground. For purposes of rearing, these
stem stumps containing pupae in midsummer can be collected easily, com-
pared to the labor of digging out the deep-rooted plants. Many of the
aegeriid species that are root borers in herbaceous plants have similar
habits.
Fine series of bassiformis have been obtained by rearing on Long Island,
Staten Island, and in the vicinity of New York City ; also near Pittsburgh,
Pa., by Henry Engel. Records of captures in general cover the Atlantic
Coast and Midwestern States, the specimens showing no variation, with
one striking exception, a form with opaque or nearly opaque forewings
that is represented only by the female. In Illinois this form occurs in
mixed association, but in Kansas, Missouri, and Texas it replaces typical
females of bassiformis. All the males run true to type and the females
differ only in coloration, not in structure. Good series, definitely connect-
ing the sexes, have been collected in the region of Manhattan, Kans.
(R. P. Painter). In Ellsworth County, Kans., a heavy infestation was
noted in Vemonia crinita, indicating an earlier season of emergence, June
and July. Records from Austin and College Station, Tex., are dated as
early as April and May. Beutenmiiller doubtfully considered this form
as the female of aureopurpurea Hy. Edwards, a species from Texas, con-
generic but much smaller and specifically distinct, which is still known
only from two male types described in 1880. Available males associated
with such females perfectly match the type of bolli Hy. Edwards, from
Texas, described from a single male (which is in the United States
National Museum) and placed by Beutenmiiller as a synonym of bassi-
formis. Accordingly, the name bolli is here restored and applied to this
female color form of bassiformis.
Records in United States National Museum : Old specimens without
locality and date from New York, New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina,
Texas. Dated records. Long Island, N. Y. (Jamaica, Newton, Flushing),
reared males and females, August-September 1924 (Engelhardt) ; Staten
Island, reared males and females, August 1926 (W. T. Davis and Engel-
hardt) ; Bronx River, N. Y., Botanical Garden, males and females, July,
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 65
August, September 1937 (H. J. Dietz) ; Delaware Water Gap, Pa.,
males and females, July (A. T. Slosson) ; Pittsburgh, Pa., reared males
and females, August-September 1906 (Hy. Engel) ; Clearfield, Clearfield
County, Pa., reared males and females, July- August 1922 (Nell Mc-
Murray) ; Cincinnati, Ohio, males and females. May 1902 (A. F. Braun) ;
Palos Park, Chicago, III, male and female, August 8, 1915 (A. K.
Wyatt) : Washington, D. C, one male, August 1925 (A. Busck) ; Nelson
County, Va., males and females, August 2, 1927 (W. Robinson) ; Black
Mountains, N. C, female, September 11, 1906 (Beutenmiiller) ; Putnam
County, 111., one female, August 4, 1940 (M. O. Glenn).
CARMENTA BASSIFORMIS form BOLLI (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria bolli Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 191, 1881.
Synanthedon bassifonnis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8704, 1939.
Male. — Like the male of bassijormis.
Female. — Differs from the female of typical bassifonnis by the heavier
scaling on the forewings, which in extreme examples are entirely opaque
and in others show a reduction of the clear areas to a small, circular space
before and a narrow, short space behind the discal mark. The wings have
a purplish rather than a violaceous luster. The bands on abdominal seg-
ments 1, 2, 4, and 6 are pale yellow or sordid white and do not broaden or
unite beneath. The anal tuft is black throughout, not orange at the tip.
Expanse : Male 17 to 20 mm., female 20 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.
Type. — Male, from Texas. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — What has been considered as the female of aureopurpurca
Hy. Edwards, a species known only by two male types from Texas, proves
to be a color variation restricted to females of bassijormis in the midwestern
and western range of the species. Good series of specimens of both sexes
from Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas definitely establish this rela-
tionship.
Records in the United States National Museum: Decatur, 111., males
and females, July 16, 1923 (Barnes collection) ; River Grove, Cook
County, 111., August 5, 1934, male and female (A. K. Wyatt) ; Pottawa-
tomie and Riley Counties, Kans., males and females, June-July 1929 (R.
B. Painter and G. P. Engelhardt) ; Willard, Greene County, Mo., one
female, July 27, 1929 (A. E. Brower) ; Austin, Tex., one female, April 3,
1921 (R. B. Painter) ; College Station, Tex., two males. May 20, 1935
(H. J. Reinhard).
CARMENTA TEXANA (Hy, Edwards)
Pyrrhotoenia texana Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 204, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, p. 26, 1893; vol. 8, p. 145, 1896.
66 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Pyrrhotacnia zvittfeldii Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 3, p. 156, 1883 ; Ent. Amer.,
vol. 3, p. 224, 1888. — Beutenmijller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4,
p. 175, 1892.
Sesia texana Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 304,
pi. 31, fig. 4 (female, not male), 1901.
Synanthedon texana McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8742, 1939.
Male. — Antennae strong, black, with a bluish luster, pectinations short.
Labial palpus orange, third joint black toward the tip. Head inetallic
black. Collar orange. Thorax lustrous blue or green-black ; patagia con-
spicuously striped and metathorax transversely edged with orange or red ;
orange or red patches on the sides and underside. Abdomen sbiny blue-
black; segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 evenly banded above with deep orange or
red, band on segment 2 not extending beneath, but bands on seginents 4,
6, and 7 uniting with that on segment 5 into one deep orange or red patch ;
anal tuft fan-shaped, angular at base, rounded at lip, violet-black, orange
at the edges and in center beneath. Legs lustrous purplish black, posterior
tibiae golden yellow on the inner side and ringed at the spurs with the same
color; tarsi ringed with yellow at the joints. Forewing with veins 10 and
11 coincident, heavily scaled, violaceous-black, transparent areas much
reduced, the outer one more or less suffused with orange, the inner one
clear, narrowly triangular, extending to wing base ; discal mark large,
square, lustrous purple ; fringes dark brownish black ; underside heavily
shaded with orange from discal mark to wing base. Hindwing trans-
parent, with black margin and brownish-black fringes alx)ve and beneath.
Female. — Similar to the male but with forewing more opaque, the outer
clear area being obscured with orange and purplish scales and the inner one
reduced to a short, narrow slit, not reaching the wing base; an orange
streak between the veins before the inner margin on basal half. Abdomen
with an orange or red band on segments 2, 4, and 6 and sometimes a fainter
band indicated on segment 5 above ; beneath the bands broadening and
nearly uniting on segments 4, 5, and 6 ; anal tuft glossy black, short,
rounded, indented centrally.
Expanse : Male and female 18 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Florida, coastal regions of Gulf of Mexico to Texas.
Type. — Female, from Texas. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — This species, contrastingly marked with orange or red and
lustrous black, does not readily suggest its near kinship to bassiformis, but
this affinity is evident froin its structure and habits. Its resemblance to
floridensis has caused confusion, though the two species are not closely
related.
The principal food plant of texana is Eupatorium serotinum, a com-
posite that grows luxuriously in moist places throughout Florida and in the
coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico to Texas. The larvae bore in the
roots and stalks, numbers of them in large plants. Rearings from Arte-
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 67
niisia and Grindelia also produced the same species. In Florida the moths
emerge from March to Jmie, issuing from larval galleries packed with frass
in the crown roots and in the stalks.
Records from specimens in United States National Museum : Royal
Palm State Park, Dade County, Fla., reared from Eupatoriuni, males and
females. May 5-16, 1930 (Engelhardt) ; Biscayne Bay, Dade County, Fla.,
male and female (A. T. Slosson) ; Lake Okeechohee, Glades County, Fla.,
reared male and female. May 6, 1929 (Engelhardt) ; St. Petersburg, Fla.,
May 12, 1914, two males (R. Ludwig) ; Dunedin, Pinellas County, Fla.,
reared from Grindella, male, March 20, 1929 (Engelhardt) ; Palm Beach,
Fla., male and female, June 1900 (P. C. Truman) ; Florida City Beach,
Fla., one male reared from Eupatorium serotinum, May 6, 1941 (F. M.
Jones) ; Lower Matacumbe Key, Fla., one female reared ironi M cLuit'iura
deltoidea, May 2, 1941 (F. M. Jones).
CARMENTA ITHACAE (BeutenmuUer)
Plate 21, Figures 121, 122
Sesia ithacae Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 9, p. 25, 1897;
Mem. Amer. ]Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 299, pi. 31, fig. 22 (female), 1901.
Synanthedon ithacae McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8732, 1939.
Male. — Antennae metallic black, white before the tips. Labial palpi
whitish or pale yellow, black above. Head lustrous blue-black. Collar pale
yellow. Thorax shiny black, patagia with a thin yellow stripe and meta-
thorax tufted with sordid yellow at the sides and pale yellow patches on
thorax beneath the wing base. Legs with f orecoxae shiny white, posterior
tibiae and tarsi violaceous-black, the former white at the spurs, the latter
white at the joints. Abdomen shiny black with violaceous or coppery re-
flections ; segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 with thin whitish bands above, the bands
narrowly uniting at the sides, the one on segment 4 encircling the body ;
Vv'hitish scales scattered along the middle of the abdomen beneath ; anal tuft
broadly fan-shaped, shiny black, edged with whitish at the sides and in the
center beneath. Forewing with veins 10 and 11 coincident, transparent,
costa and margins black, outer margin much broadened by golden-yellow
ra3's between the veins ; outer clear area small, square ; basal area triangular
to wing base ; discal mark subquadrate, purplish black ; underside pale yel-
low on costa and inner margin ; fringes grayish black. Hindwings trans-
parent, narrowly margined with black above and beneath.
Female. — Veiy similar to the male, but the body stouter. Antenna more
contrastingly marked with whitish before the tip. Abdominal segments 2,
4. and 6 narrowly banded with whitish or pale yellow above and broad,
whitish patches at the sides, absent beneath.
Expanse : Male 15 to 17 mm., female 16 to 18 mm.
68 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Distribution. — Eastern and Midwestern States, Appalachian Mountains
in the South.
Type. — Male from Ithaca, N. Y. In ihe American Museum of Natural
History.
Remarks. — Cabinet specimens invariably become greasy and the color
markings obscured. Even immersion in benzene or other chemical agents
does not always restore the natural colors. This may explain the in-
accuracy of Beutenmiiller's description and colored illustration.
C. ithacae easil}- can be, and frequently has been, confused with Thamno-
sphecia pyri and T. scitula because of superficial resemblance. For
definite determination, differences in venation and in the genitalia are
more dependable. Veins 10 and 11 in the forewing of T. pyri are separate,
the sacculus ridge of the male genitalia is armed with strong spines in a
row not reaching the margin of harpe, and the vinculum is short ; whereas
in C. ithacae veins 10 and 1 1 are coincident, the sacculus ridge bears flat,
bifurcated scales connecting near the margin of harpe with a pocket of
smaller, paler scales, and the vinculum is slender and long. The food plant
of C. ithacae is oxeye, Heliopsis helimitholdes, the larvae boring in the
crown roots and lower parts of the stems, where they pupate early in the
summer, having previously filled the galleries with frass and constructed
a silk-lined case behind a thinly covered circular exit. The moths are at
large from late June to August. One female is labeled : Chicago, 111.,
August 18, 1907, bred from sneezeweed, Heleniiim autumnale by Hy. Bird.
Records in United States National Museum: Reared series, Ithaca,
N. Y. (type locality), males and females, July 29- August 5, 1930 (A. E.
Brower and Engelhardt) ; Clearfield, Pa., males and females, July 14-
August 20, 1923 (N. McMurray). Captured specimens, Falls Church,
Va., one male, July 20, 1914 (C. Heinrich) ; Montgomery County, Md.,
June 20, 1914, one female (W. T. Davis) ; Glencarlyn, Va., one female,
June 6, 1910 (F. Knap) ; Onaga, Kans., one male, June 27, 1922 (Creve-
ceur) ; La Fayette, Ind., July 3; Balsam, N. C, one male, July 20, 1911
(A. F. Braun) ; Forest Park, Chicago, 111., one female, July 11, 1915
(E. Beer).
CARMENTA AUREOPURPUREA (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria (?) aureopurpura Hy. Edwards, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 3, p. 72, 1880.
Sesia amcopurpurea Beutenmijller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 137,
1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 296, pi. 32, fig. ii
(male), 1901.
Synmithedon aiircopurpurea McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United Slates of America, pt. 2, No. 8728, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, broadly white near the tips. Labial palpi yellow.
Head black. Collar yellow. Thorax brownish black, patagia striped with
bright yellow. Abdomen lustrous blue and coppery black, segments 1, 2,
4, 6, and 7 narrowly edged with pale yellow. Anal tuft fan-shaped,
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 69
brownish black. Legs yellow, posterior tibiae and tarsi purplish brown.
Forewing opaque, purplish black and lustrous golden between the veins
before outer margin ; fringes brownish ; underside streaked with golden
yellow. Hindwing transparent, margins narrow, violaceous-brown.
Female. — Not known.
Expanse : 14 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern Texas.
Type. — Male. In the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge,
Mass. Paratype in the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — This species is known by two males only, labeled Texas,
locality and date omitted. They were collected by J. Ball, 1880, most likely
in the vicinity of Dallas, eastern Texas, his home city. The genitaba have
not been examined. The insect should prove to be a root borer in com-
posite plants.
CARMENTA ALBOCILIATA (Engelhardt)
Plate 21, Figures 123, 124
Syiianthedon albociliata Engelhardt, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 20, p. 215,
1925.— McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptcra ol Canada and the United
Slates of America, pt. 2, No. 8710, 1939.
ilfa/t'.— Antennae strong, glossy black. Labial palpus white, black above
and on third joint. Head black, a strong brush on top mixed black and
white. Collar narrow, sordid white. Thorax purplish black, patagia
inwardly edged with white, metathorax with white tufts at the sides, and
some white scales at the wing base beneath. Abdomen slender, purplish
black, segments 2, 4. 6, and 7 very faintly edged with white, these markings
not always recognizable; segments 4, 5, and 6 beneath wholly shiny white;
anal tuft long, narrowly fan-shaped, black above, white at base beneath.
Coxae and trochanters of forelegs shiny white, black on inner sides ; pos-
terior tibiae rough-haired, black and white, tarsi black and white mixed.
Forewing transparent, clear areas with a white sheen ; broad costa, narrow
outer and inner margins, and larger discal mark, deep black ; a suffusion
of dark scales between veins 7, 8, and 9 at apex and costa ; fringes dark
at apex, white at termen ; underside heavily shaded white. Hindwing
transparent with fainter shiny white reflections, discal mark and inner
veins white, outer margin narrow, dull black, fringes contrastingly white.
Female. — More robust. Thorax contrastingly marked with white on
patagia. Abdomen with posterior half of segment 4 yellowish white, the
band extending to the side and partly beneath ; anal tuft short, rounded at
tip, wholly violaceous-black. Posterior legs wholly purplish and bronzy
black. Forewing heavily and broadly scaled at costa and margins, viola-
ceous-black; much reduced clear areas with a white sheen. Hindwing
transparent, more broadly margined with black ; fringes on both f orewings
and hindwings brownish or dull black. Otherwise like the male.
70 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Expanse : Male 16 to 18 mm., female 16 to 20 mm.
Distribution. — Kerrville, Kerr County, Tex.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Known onl}^ from the type locality at Kerrville, Tex. H.
Lacey, the collector, reported the moths confined to weedy places on his
ranch, which supports my suspicion that the insect is a root borer in
herbaceous plants. The examples collected by Mr. Lacey are dated Octo-
ber 1916. One male from the same locality, collected by F. C. Pratt, is
dated April 11, 1907. This record, considered doubtful, would indicate
a 2-brooded species.
CARMENTA AURITINCTA (Engelhardt)
Plate 21, Figures 125, 126
Synanthcdon auritincta Engelhardt, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 20, p. 216,
1925. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United
States of America, pt. 2, No. 8711, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, with small white area on upper surface near
tips. Labial palpus pale yellow, black above on second and third joints.
Head black, front glossy whitish, a coarse brush on top black and pale
yellow mixed. Collar yellow above, white at the sides and beneath. Thorax
above black-violaceous, with two lateral stripes and posterior margin
golden yellow ; beneath, the wing base laterally with yellow patches. Ab-
domen slender, violaceous-black, segments 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 narrowly
banded with yellow above and at the sides, not beneath; anal tuft fan-
shaped, violaceous-black, touched with pale yellow at the sides. Coxae and
trochanters of forelegs shiny white; hindlegs with tibiae violaceous-black,
tufted with pale yellow at the spurs ; tarsi ringed with pale yellow at the
joints. Forewing transparent, costa and broad outer margin violaceous-
black, with coppery rays between the veins ; rectangular discal mark and
narrow inner margin metallic black ; fringes dark, bronzy black ; underside
shaded more strongly with yellow on basal half. Hindwings transparent,
narrowly margined, black with coppery reflections above and beneath.
Female. — Antennae lustrous black, usually, but not always, inarked with
white before the tips. Labial palpi bright yellow, tips black. Head viola-
ceous-black, face black and white. Collar golden yellow above, pale yellow
at the sides and beneath. Thorax shiny blue-black, deep golden yellow at
the sides and at anterior and posterior margins ; ventral parts with pale-
yellow or whitish patches. Abdomen bluish black, all segments narrowly
banded with deep yellow, except segments 4 and 6, which are nearly or
entirely deep yellow; beneath, only segment 3 remaining black, all other
segments much suffused with yellow ; anal tuft golden yellow, mixed with
black at base.
Expanse : Male 16 inm., female 16 to 21 mm.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 71
Distribution. — Arizona (Baboquivari and Santa Catalina Mountains).
Type. — Male. In the United States National Aiuseuni. The allotype
female and two male and five female paratypes are also in the United States
National Museum.
Remarks. — The food plant of this beautiful species is not known. How-
ever, the insect appears so well aligned with the group of species that bore
in the roots of herbaceous plants that its habits should prove similar ; it is
rather likely a root borer in one of the Composilae so abundantly repre-
sented in the Midwest. With one exception, a male from Sabino Canyon,
Santa Catalina Mountains, August 13, 1924 (E. P. Van Duzee), all the
known examples have been collected in the Baboquivari Mountains, Pima
County, August 15-30, 1923, by O. C. Poling, an experienced collector,
who vouches for the identity of the dimorphic sexes.
CARMENTA CORNI (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 21, Figures 127, 128
Aegeria corni Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 190, 1881.
Aegeria infirma Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 195, 1881.
Synanthedon corni McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8705, 1939.
Examination of the type of infirma, American Museum of Natural His-
tory, shows it to be a worn female, not a male, of corni collected on Long
Island, N. Y., by S. L. Elliot. Additional bibliographical citations have
been placed under Conopia acerrubri, as they involve confusion with that
species.
Male. — Antennae black, apical third buflf or sordid white. Labial palpus
orange, third joint bla,ck above. Head tufted black and orange on top,
face white. Collar orange. Thorax bluish black, densely clothed laterally
and at posterior margin with dull-yellow hair ; beneath also dull yellow.
Abdomen black above, not banded, but dusted with pale yellow or grayish
scales, which are heaviest on segments 4, 5, 6, and 7, but are often lost ;
underside of abdomen yellow ; anal tuft fan-shaped, orange in the center,
black slightly mixed with orange at the sides and orange beneath. Legs
yellow, posterior tibiae marked with purplish black at lower spurs and tarsi
purplish black, pale yellow at the joints. Forewing transparent, costa and
broad outer margin black, with a few yellow scales sprinkled on costa and
a faint yellowish shading between the veins at outer margin; the discal
mark conspicuous, nearly square and deep black ; the outer clear area with
a yellowish stain not present in the inner area; fringes grayish black;
underside shaded with yellow, most heavily so toward wing base. Hind-
wing transparent, discal mark and narrow border black, fringes grayish
black, above and beneath.
Female. — Very similar to the male, larger, with a stouter body. The
yellowish stain over the outer clear area of forewing more pronounced and
72 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
the costa showing a denser scattering of yellowish scales. The anal tuft
short, deep orange. Color patterns, so contrasting on freshly emerged
specimens, unavoidably become blurred or lost in the cabinet. A confusion
with Conopia acerrubri can always be a.voided by comparison of the male
genitalia.
Expanse : Male 15 to 18 mm., female 18 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern Atlantic Coast States.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Reared from the roots and basal parts of stalks of Doellin-
geria umbellata (tall, flat-topped white aster) late in May and early in
June 1921. The insect is a fairly common species along the borders of a
swampy region at Woodhaven, Long Island, N. Y. The males fly about
actively on bright, sunny days, while the more sluggish females, resting on
or near the food plant, can be taken with a killing bottle. The eggs are
laid singly on the lower stems of the food plant, and the young larvae work
downward through the pith to the root, attaining full growth late in fall.
At this time also preparations are made for the change to pupae early in
May by enlarging the larval gallery from the root upward for 2 or 3
inches, where the stalk is weakened by inner, circular incisions and the gal-
lery capped with f rass. Just below the weakened part of the stem a round
hole thinly capped with plant tissue provides an easy exit for the moth,
which emerges two or three weeks after pupation. Stems weakened by
incisions invariably break off during winter storms, leaving clean-cut,
short, upstanding stumps, easily recognized by the collector when looking
for pupae. Quick action is needed, though, for the pupa is capable of mov-
ing up or down and will descend well into the root upon disturbance. This
provision no doubt also is of advantage to the larva and pupa at times
when the swamps are flooded. It is a habit characteristic of many of the
root borers in herbaceous plants. Larvae that have not transformed to
pupae by the end of May usually are found to be parasitized.
At Woodhaven, Long Island, more than a hundred specimens were ob-
tained by rearing or collecting. The species in general follows the dis-
tribution of its food plant in Eastern and Midwestern States.
The name corni was suggested by the capture of the type on Cornus
sericea in Purgatory Swamp near Boston, Mass. Subsequent to the de-
scription in 1881 this borer in the roots of asters was confused with another
species (acerrubri) bearing some external resemblance but a wood borer
in maple, principally red maple. Under the misapplied name of corni this
form has received considerable attention as an economic species, while the
true corni has been ignored. Worn and greasy examples of the two species
in mixed collections are confusing. For accurate determinations it is nec-
essary to compare the male genitalia. In corni the vinculum is long and
slender and the sacculus ridge of harpe is densely and broadly scaled to a
recurving pocket at the margin ; in acerrubri the vinculum is shorter and
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 73
broader and the saccukis ridge bears a straight, narrow line of scales, end-
ing before the margin, which lacks a pocket. Other structural differences
are present, but these serve best.
CARMENTA OGALALA, new species
Plate 22, Figure 129
Male. — Antennae black. Labial palpi sordid white, black on the sides
and at tips. Head black, with a strong brush, which is mixed black and
pale yellow, face sordid white. Collar sordid white. Thorax black,
broadly marked with golden ochreous laterally, anteriorly, and beneath,
this color becoming whitish at posterior margin. Abdomen brownish black
with bright-blue reflections, segment 4 with a narrow, white, encircling
band, last segment edged with white and segments 5, 6, and 7 beneath with
white suffusions ; anal tuft fan-shaped, brownish black, edged with white
at the sides and white centrally beneath, iridescent at base above. Coxae
and trochanters of forelegs glossy white ; posterior til)iae slightly rough,
mostly white with blue-black reflections anterior to spurs, which are white ;
tarsi white, slightly shaded with black. Forewing opaque, costa to cell and
narrow outer margin bluish black, also to wing base in an otherwise
golden-ochreous inner field; the discal mark, not clearly defined, of a
deeper ochreous shade ; the fringes grayish brown, a bright blue metallic
mark at the wing base ; underside brownish black, with light-gray rays be-
tween the veins. Hindwing transparent, margins narrowly brown-black,
between the veins inwardly a suffusion of brownish gray for about half
the distance to the cell, and between veins 2 and 3 to beyond the cell with
golden reflections.
Female. — Very similar to the male. Hindwing more suffused, only the
areas between veins Ic to 5 from the cell to wing base remaining trans-
parent.
Expanse : Male and female, 20 mm.
Distribution. — Prairie regions of Colorado and Kansas.
Type. — U.S.N.M. No. 56834. Described from male holotype from
Durango, Colo. (Oslar), female allotype, Jewell County, Kans., August 7,
1925 (H. J. Grady) , and paratype male, Graham County, Kans., 2,130 feet,
August 16, 1912 (F. F. Williams) ; all in the United States National
Museum.
Remarks. — A little-known but very distinct species. Of two examples
observed among herbaceous plants on open, hilly pasture lands, near Plain-
view, Jefferson County, Colo., 6,000 feet, only one, a male, was captured
(Engelhardt and E. L. Bell). None of the plants examined gave evidence
of the borer's work.
74 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
CARMENTA SUFFUSATA, new species
Plate 22, Figure 130
Male. — Antennae brown-black. Labial palpus sordid \^'bite, third joint
black. Head brown-black, a strong tuft on top black and white mixed.
Collar black and white. Thorax brown-black, glossy, the sides tufted with
black and white mixed. Abdomen deep brown, glossy ; segment 4 with a
white band encircling the body, segments 5, 6, 7 white beneath, not above ;
anal tuft narrowly fan-shaped, brownish black. Coxae and trochanters
of forelegs shiny white, posterior tibiae and tarsi brown-black, with a
violaceous sheen and a white tuft at anterior spurs of tibiae. Forewing
opaque, brownish, outer half sprinkled with ash-gray scales ; discal mark
in a concolorous blending ; underside grayish brown. Hindwing opaque,
brown-black, except for a small clear basal area between veins Ic and 2 ;
fringes pale brown ; underside similar.
Female. — Like the male except forewing with a denser sprinkling of
ash-gray scales on outer half and hindwing entirely opaque.
Expanse : Male 16 mm., female 18 mm.
Distribution. — Oklahoma and Kansas.
Type.— U.S.N. M. No. 56835, male.
Remarks. — While quite distinct in general appearance, the venation and
the structure of the male genitalia closely associate this species with
C. ogalala. Only three rather worn examples are at hand. The type from
McAlester, Pittsburg County, Okla., is labeled "bred from root," April 19
(C. E. Hood). The name of the plant is lacking. The paratypes, two
females, come from Wichita National Forest, Comanche, Okla., July 14,
1931 (R. H. Painter), and from Sharon Springs, Wallace County, Kans.
(A. B.Klots).
CARMENTA VERECUNDA (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 22, Figures 131, 132
Aegeria vcrecunda Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 190, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173, 1892.
Sesia verecunda Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 142, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 312, pi. 32, fig. 26, 1901.
Carmenta nigra Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 95, 1894;
vol. 8, p. 147, 1896.
Sesia florissantella Cockerell, Can. Ent., vol. 40, p. 330, 1908.
Synanthcdon vcrecunda McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8760, 1939.
Synanthcdon florissantella McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8700, 1939.
Synanthcdon nigra McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8759, 1939.
Male. — Antennae rather stout, black, tuft at tips white. Labial palpus
white, with long, black hair at outer side, third joint white and black mixed.
Head black with a strong brush, which is black slightly mixed with orange,
CLEAR.WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 75
face white. Collar above with an erect orange brush, white at the sides and
beneath. Thorax metallic black, with an ill-defined whitish stripe an-
teriorly and a long, sordid-white brush posteriorly at the sides ; beneath
shiny white. Abdomen black, segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 narrowly banded
with clear white ; beneath segment 4 entirely white, the other segments
shaded with white; anal tuft short, rounded, black, slightly mixed with
buff at base above and at the sides, medially beneath sordid white. Legs
hairy, mostly white ; posterior tibiae slightly rough, anterior half mixed
black and white, black between the spurs, which are white ; tarsi sordid
white. Forewing semitransparent, clear areas with a white sheen between
the veins ; costa heavily and broadly scaled with black, narrow outer mar-
gin and fringes sordid black; discal mark conspicuous, nearly square,
black ; underside with costa white and a white sheen over the wing more
pronounced than a,bove. Hindwing transparent, a white sheen only sug-
gested ; outer margin narrow, violaceous-black ; the fringes, sordid white
at apex, blend into pure white at the wing base.
Female. — Collar with an erect, orange brush above, which is more pro-
nounced than in the male. Thorax laterally striped with sordid white or
buff. Abdominal segments 2, 4, and 6 narrowly banded with white above
and beneath ; segment 5 banded with white beneath only. Posterior tibiae
black, sordid white at anterior spurs ; tarsi black, white at the joints. Fore-
w'mg nearly or quite opaque, brownish black with areas before and behind
discal mark, usually but not always, streaked with sordid white. Hind-
wing scaled with brown-black between the veins inwardly from outer mar-
gin to near the cell and along the inner margin to wing base. Fringes on
both wings brownish black.
Expanse : Male 18 to 20 mm., female 18 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Colorado, Utah, Washington.
Type. — Female. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks.—-Yiy. Edwards's description of verecunda, based on three ex-
amples, one male and two females from Colorado (Morrison), does not
discriminate between the sexes, which are dissimilar. The male type, if
existing, cannot be located. Two females, labeled type, are at the American
Museum of Natural History. Additional material, doubtfully assigned to
this species, consists of a small number of specimens from Colorado and
various Rocky Mountain regions northward to Canada. These specimens,
collected at random over a long period of years, are mostly in a worn con-
dition and lack information on food plants and habits. They are mostly
females and superficially similar, but structural dififerences of the male
genitalia indicate at least two distinct species. For conclusive determina-
tion, more adequate and reared series from Rocky Mountain regions are
needed.
Two long series of specimens are available, which were reared from
the roots of Litlwspermum riideralc (Boraginaceae) in the State of Wash-
76 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
ington. From roots collected at Sawmill Flat, Mount Rainier National
Park, 3,000 feet, July 4, 1933, the moths emerged from July 25 to August
25, six or more from large roots (Engelhardt and J, Wilcox). From
roots collected at Kamiack Butte, Whitman County, late in the season and
winter, the moths emerged during April and May 1935 (J. F. Gates
Clarke).
The males of these series differ in the extent of the white shadings over
the otherwise vitreous areas of the forewings, and the females vary in the
amount of dark suffusions on both wings, which in extreme cases become
entirely opaque. This is the form of Hy. Edwards's female types from
Colorado, also illustrated in Beutenmiiller's "Monograph of the North
American Sesiidae." Sesia nigra Beutenmiiller is considered another
extreme form of verecunda. The unique female type from Colorado differs
from the female type of verecunda only by lacking the whitish suffusions
on the fore and hind wings. Both wings of nigra are opaque, brownish
black. Again final conclusions must be withheld, pending the acquisition
of adequate material.
An unusual problem in taxonomy is presented in the aberrant venation
of the series of reared specimens from Washington. Veins 10 and 11 are
present, confluent at tip, or coincident. This is upsetting in a key to a
classification largely based on venation. All specimens of the series dis-
sected agree perfectly in structures of the genitalia.
Individual records provisionally assigned to verecunda are: One male,
Sioux County, Nev., July 16, 1917 (R. A. Leussler) ; one male. La Junta,
Colo. (Oslar) ; one female, Chimney Gulch, Golden, Colo., June (Oslar) ;
one male, Plainview, Jefferson County, Colo., July 10, 1927 (E. L. Bell).
Sesia florissantclla Cockerell, known only by the male type, is apparently
a dwarfed specimen of verecunda, with which it conforms in all respects
except size.
The American Museum of Natural History collection contains the fol-
lowing determined as verecunda: One female, Meeker, Colo., 6,200 feet ;
one female, Easton, Wash. ; one male. Fort Douglas, Utah, June 26, 1904
(Wickham) ; Medicine Bow, Wyo., 6,000 feet, June 23, 1920.
CARMENTA PROSOPIS (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 5, Figures 33, 33a; Plate 13, Figure 63
Aegeria prosopis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 99, 1882; Ent. Amer., vol. 3,
p. 224, 1888.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.
Aegeria candescens Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 123, 1882.
Sesia prosopis Smith, List of Lepidoptera of Boreal America, p. 21, No. 833,
1891.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 142, 1896 ; vol. 9,
p. 220, 1897 ; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 302, pi. 31, fig. 6,
male, 1901.
Sesia candescens Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 303,
pi. 31, fig. 12, female, 1901.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 77
Synanthedon prosopis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8737, 1939.
Synanthedon candescens McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8739, 1939.
Male. — Labial palpi with second joint pure white ; terminal joint black.
Antennae stout with short pectination, black. Head, collar, and thorax
black. Abdomen all black, or commonly with a narrow, white, trans-
verse band on second joint; sometimes with white transverse bands also
on other segments, especially the last ; underside all black ; anal tuft black,
fan-shaped, slightly edged with white. Forewing transparent with costa»
edge, veins and discal mark black. Hindwing transparent, costal edge and
veins black, cilia black with tips narrowly white. Legs black with white
annulations.
Female. — With broader black borders on both wings ; otherwise like the
male.
Reared from small woody galls of the encyrtid genus Tanaostigmodes
Ashmead on mesquite, kindly determined by A. B. Gahan, of the United
States Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine.
Expanse: 13 to 16 mm.
Distribution. — Arizona and Brewster County, Tex.
Food plant. — Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) .
Type. — In United States National Museum.
SYLVORA, new genus
Genotype, TrochiUum acerni Clemens.
Tongue long, spiraled. Antennae of male long, slender, slightly dilated
toward tips, with short fine pectinations ; female antennae simple. Labial
palpus with second joint erect, thickened with a nearly smooth, short
brush, but slightly rufBed in front; third joint short, blunt. Forewing
with 12 veins, 7 and 8 stalked to costa, 10 and 11 stalked; hindwing with
veins 3 and 4 stalked. Posterior tibiae with rough scaling above; first
tarsal joint not thickened with scales. Anal tuft of male fan-shaped, sub-
ject to spreading or folding. Male genitalia with aedeagus deeply forked at
tip ; penis finely granulated ; sacculus ridge unsealed. Female genitalia
with ductus sclerotized only at extreme end ; ostium cup-shaped.
The genus is based mainly on the stalked veins 10 and 11 in the fore-
wing, a small but unusual character in this group where the tendency is
for these veins to become confluent at the edge of the wing rather than
at the cell. This genus comprises the maple bark borers. The North
American representatives are acerni and its races huscki and tepperi.
78 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
SYLVORA ACERNI (Clemens)
Plai-e 1, Figure 6; Plate 5, Figure 34; Plate 13, Figure 64
Trochilium acerni Clemens, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1860, p. 14. —
Morris, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North America, pt. 1, p. 330,
1862.
Aegeria acerni Riley, Sixth annual report on the noxious and other insects of the
State of Missouri, p. 107, 1874. — Thomas, Sixth report of the State entomolo-
gist on the noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois, pt. 1, 1876,
p. 40, 1877; Seventh report (1. c), 1877, p. 173, 1878.— Kelucott, Can. Ent.,
vol. 13, p. 7, 1881. — Packard, Insects injurious to forest and shade trees, U. S.
Ent. Comm. Bull. No. 7, p. 106, 1881.— Saunders, Can. Ent., vol. 13, p. 69,
1881.— Riley, Amer. Nat, vol. 8, p. 124, 1874.— Weed, Amer. Nat., vol. 23,
p. 1108, pi. 43, fig. 5, 1889.— Riley and Howard, Insect Life, vol. 3, 1890, p. 161,
1891. — Beutenmuuler, Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 205, 1890. —
Bruner, Rep. Nebraska HorL Soc, p. 197, 1891.
Trochilium acericolum Germadius, Amer. Nat., vol. 8, p. 57, 1874.
Sesia acerni Hulst, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 6, p. 10, 1883.— Lugger, Bull.
Minnesota Agr. Exp. Stat., No. 43, p. 188, 1896. — Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer.
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 138, 1896; vol. 9, p. 220, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 294, pi. 31, fig. 24, 1901.
Synanthedon acerni McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8727, 1939.
Male. — Antennae long, slender, slightly dilated toward tips, shiny black
or brown-black, pectinations short and very fine. Palpi nearly smooth,
orange. Head black, tufted with orange at base, orbits white. Collar
orange. Thorax dark orange above, pale orange beneath. Abdomen cov-
ered with orange and blackish scales that are more or less mixed, wholly
pale yellow beneath ; anal tuft broadly fan-shaped, bright orange, touched
with black at the base. Legs yellow, tibiae of hindlegs blue-black between
the spurs or sometimes wholly blue-black above. Forewing narrow, costa,
veins, narrow marginal border, and large discal mark black ; a small trans-
parent area before and a long transparent area behind the discal mark ;
apex of wing shaded with pale yellow between the veins, mixed inwardly
with blackish scales, suggesting a broken cross band ; the fringes broad,
grayish black ; the pale-yellow scaling heavier on the underside of the
wings. Hindwing transparent, lightly scaled with pale yellow between the
veins at apex, borders narrow, dull black, fringes broad grayish black,
discal mark conspicuous, black.
Female. — Very similar to the male, with wings more contrastingly black
and pale yellow ; abdomen blackish above and at the sides in an irregular
pattern, due to an admixture of gray scales ; the segments narrowly edged
with gray posteriorly ; abdomen beneath wholly pale yellow ; anal tuft
short, depressed in center, orange or red.
Examples of this species very often are discolored by grease ; clean, well-
marked specimens are scarce in collections. Submergence in a cleaning
medium (benzol or gasoline) for a day or two may be necessary to restore
natural color markings before determinations are attempted.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 79
Expanse : Male a.ncl female, 20 to 25 mm.
Distribution. — Canada, New England, Eastern and Midwestern States,
and Mississippi Valley, in general following the distribution of the white
maple (Acer saccharinum) and red maple (Acer ruhriim).
Type. — Lost.
Remarks.- — A common, well-known bark borer in shade trees, destruc-
tive to white and red maples. The larvae feed upon the inner bark and the
sapwood and once established continue their attacks year after year, re-
sulting in the gradual weakening and final death of the trees. The white
maple, formerly so popular as a shade tree in cities and towns, now is
being replaced largely by Norway and other maples less subject to attacks
by this insect. Maples in native environments, woodland, etc., sufTer far
less than those planted in streets and gardens. The moths appear late in
May and during June, emerging early in the morning, and can be collected
easily while still resting or mating on the tree trunks. Their flight on
sunny days is swift and erratic. In ha,bits they are strictly diurnal. Not
infrequent records of night capture under city lights are accidental. The
larvae winter within their galleries, constructing oblong cocoons of chips
and frass before pupation in the spring, and the moths emerge through cir-
cular holes in the bark, leaving the pupal exuvia protruding, usually in
places showing injury and blistered bark on the tree trunks, rarely on the
branches. Within the more temperate part of its range the species varies
slightly only in coloration, but along the coastal regions in the South two
color phases occur which are so striking as to demand recognition as geo-
graphical races. Both of these races have been obtained by rearing, estab-
lishing beyond doubt that they are conspecific with acerni.
Records of this species from New England and the Eastern and Mid-
western States are well represented in the United States National Museum
collection. There are also records from Monteagle, Tcnn., St. Louis, Mo.,
and Texarkana, Tex.
SYLVORA ACERNI BUSCKI, new race
Plate 22, Figure 133
Male. — Antennae blue-black. Palpi deep orange, slightly black at the
tips. Head tufted with orange above, face violaceous-black, orbits white.
Collar orange. Thorax brownish red, tinged with blackish centrally and
shiny black at the sides to the wing base, brownish red beneath. Abdomen
orange, segment 3 scaled with blue-black, except for the center, which re-
mains orange ; segments 4, 5, 6, and 8 with blue-black scales, which are
heaviest on the last segments; abdomen beneath wholly orange; anal tuft
fan-shaped, orange above and beneath. Hindlegs with femora orange,
tibiae outward shaded with blue-black scales, thin above, but dense between
the spurs, otherwise orange ; the tarsi showing a sprinkling of blue-black
scales. Forewing broadly shaded with bright orange or golden yellow be-
80 BULLETIN 190. UNITED STA']KS NATIONAL MUSEUM
tween the black veins at outer margin to a much-reduced clear space before
the large, black discal mark and below the heavily black-scaled costa ; in-
ward from the discal mark a narrow clear space extending to the wing
base ; fringes broad, brownish black, the orange shading heavier on under-
side than above. Hindwing transparent, with a slight shading of black and
orange scales between the veins at apex.
Female. — Forewing only slightly shaded with orange at the outer mar-
gin ; abdomen orange, with segments 3, 4, 5, and 6 blue-black above ; anal
tuft short, orange. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse : Male and female 18 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Florida, Georgia.
Types. — U.S.N.M. No. 56835, male, from Gainesville, Fla. Also allo-
type female, Gainesville, Fla. ; t\\ o male and two female paratypes, Florida
and Georgia, in the United States National Museum.
Kcmarks. — Records of this beautiful race are confined to Florida with
one exception, a reared female from Cordele, Ga., May 7, 1906 (Georgia
State coll.). The Florida examples, males and females, were obtained on
the campus of the University of Florida, at Gainesville, by rearing from
heavily infested young white maples near the agricultural building. The
trees subsequently died. An additional specimen was reared from the
bark of a red maple near a swamp. The moths emerged in March, April,
and May.
This race has been named in honor of my friend and collaborator August
Busck.
SYLVORA ACERNI race TEPPERI (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 22, Figure 134
Pynhotaenla uppcri Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 203, 1881.
Sesia iepperi Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 137, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 294, pi. 32, fig. 24 (male), 1901.
Syimvthedon iepperi McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8726, 1939.
Male. — Antennae blue-black. Labial palpus orange, third joint black.
Head orange above, face blue-black, orbits white. Collar orange. Thorax
orange above and beneath, blue-black at the sides before the wing base.
Abdomen slender, violaceous or blue-black above and at the sides, except
the first segment, which shows a mixture with orange and brownish scales ;
venter orange ; anal tuft fan-shaped, touched with blue-black at the base,
otherwise wholly orange. Legs orange and blue-black, the femora a mix-
ture of these colors, the tibiae of hindlegs blue-black on upper surfaces,
mixed with orange beneath, a short tuft of yellow hair at the posterior
spurs ; tarsi violaceous. Forewing nearly opaque, metallic black ; a small
clear area before and a long, narrow one behind the large discal mark, the
clear areas somewhat blurred by scales. Hindwing transparent, broadly
CLEAR.WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 81
margined and fringed with black and brownish and a scattering of scales
between the veins at outer margin.
Female. — Like the male, but stouter and with scaling and color intensi-
fied. Thorax darker, the first abdominal segment barely touched with
orange anteriorly and the blue-black scaling on all segments above, extend-
ing more or less beneath the abdomen ; the short, blunt anal tuft bright red ;
tibiae and tarsi of hindlegs blue-black, slightly tinged with orange beneath ;
a small, yellow, hair tuft at the posterior spurs of tibia.
Expanse : Male 20 to 23 mm., female 20 to 25 mm.
Distribution. — Known only from Alabama and Mississippi.
Type. — Male. In the Tepper collection, Michigan Agricultural College.
Remarks. — The long series in the United States National Museum, with
the exception of one specimen from Mississippi, came from Mobile, Ala.,
the result of rearing from young white-maple shade trees. F. M. Jones, of
Wilmington, Del., first reported the food plant and habits on a visit to
Mobile in 1920. The infestation at that time was serious and the trees were
in a mucli weakened condition, with sores and swellings on trunks and
branches. On subsequent visits in 1928 and 1930 (Engelhardt) most of
the trees had died and had been removed. Credit for rearing many exam-
ples belongs to Thomas S. Van Auer, W. C. Dukes, and H. P. Loeding,
sterling entomologists and friends, who have contributed so much informa-
tion on Alabama insects.
5". acerni tepperi, with the food plant and habits unknown, has been
regarded as a distinct, valid species. Now that this information is available
and is supported by structural conformities, tepperi has been established
indisputably as conspecific with the common eastern maple bark borer,
acerni, of which buscki from Florida is the intermediary and tepperi from
Alabama the third link in a chain of geographical races. This serves as an
illustration of the chief aim of the present revision of the family, a classi-
fication based on a combined study of taxonomy and biology.
Emergence records from Mobile, Ala., are dated from March to June.
A single example from Hattiesburg, Miss., is labeled "Bred from maple,
Aug. 27, 1917."
Genus CONOPIA Hiibner
Conopia Hubner, Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, p. 129, 1819. (Genotype,
Sphinx myopiformis Borkhausen.)
Male antennae ciliate ; female antennae simple. Tongue long, spiraled.
Second joint of labial palpus with a short, nearly even brush ; terminal joint,
short, biunt. Head and tliorax smoolh, Forewing with 12 veins ; 7 and 8
stalked; 7 to costa or apex; 10 and 11 separate. Hindwing with eight
veins, 3 and 4 stalked. Posterior tibiae roughly hairy. Posterior first
tarsal joint smooth. Male anal tuft wedge- or fan-shaped. Male genitalia
of the Synanthedon type ; vinculum rather short, blunt ; aedeagus straight,
82 BULLETIN 190. UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
slightly bulbous at base; sacculus ridge with a thin, slightly curved row of
flat, biforked scales. Female genitalia with ductus sclerotized posteriorly,
ending in a vase-shaped ostium ; no signum or at most a small, slightly
granulated, oval spot.
The genotype is figured on plate 1, figure 7, and plate 3, figures 26, 27.
CONOPIA ALBICORNIS (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria albicornis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 201, 1881. — Beutenmuller.
Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 205, 1890; Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hi.st.,
vol. 4, p. 174, 1892.
Sesia albicornis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 292,
pi. 31, fig. 23, pi. 33, fig. 15, 1901.
Synanthedon albicornis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8723, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, moderately dilated toward tips, finely pec-
tinated and narrowly but plainly marked with white before the tips. Labial
palpi rough, pale yellow beneath, black above. Head, thorax, and abdomen
bluish or purplish black. Abdomen sometimes, though usually not, edged
very narrowly and faintly with white on segment 2 above and along the
sides ; anal tuft wedge-shaped, white in the middle beneath. Wings trans-
parent ; veins, discal marks, costae, and outer margins metallic black. Fore-
wing beneath shaded with bright yellow along costa from discal mark to
wing base. Veins 3 and 4 on hindwings on a short stalk. Legs steel blue,
forecoxae white, tibiae tufted, white at the spurs, which also are white.
Tarsi whitish at the joints and at tips.
female. — Similar to the male. Labial palpi not so rough or so white
as those of the male. Antennae marked with white for one-third of their
length before the tips. Anal tuft narrow, roimded at end, and black
throughout.
Expanse: Male 18 to 20 mm., female 16 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Rocky Mountains, Colorado, Idaho, Sierra Nevada,
Sierra Madre, California to Washington.
Type. — Female (Nevada, Morrison). In collection F. Tepper, Michi-
gan Agricultural College.
Ke marks. — Check lists synonymize proxima (Hy. Edwards) and mo-
desta Kellicott with albicornis, but on critical examination of ample material
it is found that western examples differ specifically from eastern speci-
mens. Conclusive evidence of this is furnished by the male genitalia. The
sacculus of albicornis shows a curved line of flat scales ending in a point ; in
proxima the line of scales terminates distinctly in a hook. Furthermore,
there are external differences. The labial palpi of albicornis in both sexes
are pale yellow ; in proxima only the male palpi are pale yellow, the female
palpi are black. C. albicornis lacks the narrow, pale yellow lateral stripes
present on the thorax of proximo. The antennae of albicornis are plainly
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 83
marked with white before the tips in both sexes; in proxima only the
females are thus marked.
C. albicornis was described by Hy. Edwards from a female, not a male
as he states, labeled Nevada (Morrison) . That is a vague designation, but
most likely applies to the mountainous western part of the State. Avail-
able records include: San Juan Mountains. Colo., 1 male (Oslar) ; Coolin,
Priest Lake, Idaho, July 24, 1927, 1 female; Snoqualmie Pass, Wash.
(V. Argo), July 25, 1925, 1 male; Mount Rainier, White River Camp..
Wash. (James Wilcox), August 7, 1935, 5 males, 1 female; Plumas
County, CaHf. (F. M. Jones), July 20, 1918, 1 female; Meadow, Plumas
County, Calif., 4,000 feet (Van Dyke), June 21, 1924; Los Angeles
County, Calif. (Coquillett), 1 female reared in March, 1 female reared in
April, 1 male reared in October.
This species is well distributed from the Pacific coast to the Rocky
Mountains and northward into British Columbia. At Madeline, Lassen
County, Calif., a heavy infestation was evidenced by masses of brown
pellets and pupal exuviae from larval burrows in exposed roots of low-
growing willows, too late in the season to obtain adults. Otherwise mod-
erate swellings on willow canes and branches indicate attacks. At River-
side, Calif., C. M. Dammers reared examples found boring in the bark of
fairly large tree willows. As in the East, the species in the West also often
enters abnormal growth or wounds caused by coleopterous larvae.
CONOPIA PROXIMA (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria proxima Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 201, 1881.
Albuna modesta Kellicott, Can. Ent., vol. 24, p. 46, 1892.
Sytwnihedon albicornis McDunnough (in part), Check list of the Lcpidoptera of
Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8723, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, rarely marked faintly white before the tips,
pectinations short and fine. Labial palpi white beneath, black above.
Head, thorax, and abdomen blue or bronzy black, collar mixed with pale
yellow and thorax laterally striped with pale yellow ; anal tuft wedge-
shaped, edged with white at the sides and white in the middle beneath.
Wings transparent, veins, discal marks, costae and outer margins metallic
black. Forewing beneath shaded with pale yellow on costa and from
discal mark to base of wing. Veins 3 and 4 of hindwing on a long stalk.
Legs blue or coppery black, anterior coxae marked with white, tibiae
tufted with white at the black spurs, tarsi banded with white at the joints
and at tips.
Female. — Similar to male. The simple antennae broadly marked with
pale yellow before the tips. Labial palpi black, above and beneath. Anal
tuft straight, narrow, black throughout.
Expanse : Male 16 to 20 mm., female 18 to 24 mm.
84 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Distribution. — Atlantic Coast States, Maine to Pennsylvania; Midwest-
ern States. Canada, Ontario to Alberta.
Type. — Female. In collection of F. Tepper, Michigan Agricultural
College.
Remarks. — Hy. Edwards's very brief original descriptions of albicornis
and proxima on the same page (Papilio, vol. 1, p. 201, 1881) are insuf-
ficient to separate clearly two species that superficially resemble each other
so closely. With imperfect specimens it is diflficult to avoid confusion.
For precise determination the genitalia are dependable.
C. proxima in general may be stated to inhabit the eastern half of the
North American Continent, whereas albicornis is indigenous to the western
half. The female type came from the White Mountains, N. H. (Mor-
rison), from which locality I also have examples. Locally it is a common
species in the vicinity of New York City and on Long Island, most easily
obtained by rearing from cuttings of canes, branches, and exposed roots of
low-growing willows in moist or swampy situations late in spring and
early in summer. Numerous records from New York and New Jersey
show a period of emergence from late in May to July ; for the Catskill
Mountains, July 3 and 20, 1913 (Pearsal) ; White Mountains, N. H., July
(Mrs. Slosson) ; Willislon, N. Dak., June 13, 1923 (H. Notman) ;
Aweme, Manitoba, June 28, 1921 (N. Criddle). The species is annual,
wintering as larvae and pupating within the burrow during spring.
CONOPIA BOLTER! (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria bolteri Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 3, p. 155, 1883; Ent. Amer., vol. 3,
p. 224, 1888.— BEUTENMiJLLER, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.
Sesia bolteri Beutenmijller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt, 6, p. 290,
pi. 32, fig. 32, 1901.
Synanthedon bolteri McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8716, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, apical third yellowish white above ; pectinations
short and fine. Labial palpi above black, beneath roughly scaled with
orange. Head, collar, and thorax lustrous black, orbits white. Abdomen
steel or coppery black, segments 4 and 5 encircled with deep orange or
scarlet, the band on segment 5 extending over segment 6 beneath ; anal tuft
wedge-shaped, edged with white at the sides and yellow in the middle be-
neath. Legs bluish black, tibiae rusty yellow at the sides and beneath,
white-tufted at the spurs. Tarsi rusty yellow and black, a pale narrow
band at first joint; northward within the range of the species the leg in-
creasingly brighter with a corresponding reduction in black. Forewing
transparent ; veins, discal mark, and broad costal margins lustrous black,
sparsely intermixed with orange scales, denser at posterior wing base;
distal area very broadly coppery red or deep orange between the veins ;
cilia brownish. Hindwing transparent, costa dull yellow. Wings paler
beneath than above.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 85
Female. — Same as the male. Anal tuft straight, rounded.
Expanse : Male 15 to 18 mm., female 18 to 20 mm.
Distribution. — Temperate North America, Canadian and Hudsonian
to Arctic Zone.
Type. — Female, in the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Rearing records associate this species invariably with ab-
normal growths on low-growing willows caused by the boring larvae
of the beetles Cryptorhynchus lapathi (Linnaeus) and Saperda concolor
LeConte and by fungi. C. bolteri has not been reported in heavy
infestations throughout its wide range. It is scantily represented, if at
all, in most collections. The larvae winter in their burrows and con-
struct oblong cocoons in spring, and the moths emerge from late in May
to July. Conopia formicaeformis (Esper), of Europe, is a close relative,
very similar in appearance and identical in habits. It has the antennae
entirely black, not marked with white on the apical third as in bolteri.
Records for bolteri: Moshulu, New York, N. Y., 3 females; Ivoryton,
Conn., 3 males, 2 females, bred May 19, 1914 (H. Tuschka) ; Ute Trail,
Colo., 1 male, 2 females, bred June 19-23, 1914 (H. B. Kirk) ; Brook-
ings, S. Dak., 1 female, June 17, 1914; Yakima Indian Reservation, Wash.,
3,000 feet, 1 female, June 30, 1925 (E. C. Van Dyke) ; Cheboygan County,
Mich., 1 male, July 30, 1931 ; Earl Grey, Saskatchewan, 6 males, 4 females,
bred July 7-11, 1925 (J. D. Ritchie) ; Hasavich, Manitoba, 1 female, July
5, 1910 (J. B. WalHs) ; Lethbridge, Alberta, 1 male, July 28, 1912 (H. L.
Seaman) ; Fort Yukon, Alaska, 1 male, 1 female, June 16, 1916; Rampart,
Alaska, 1 female, July 1916; Dawson, Yukon, 1 male, June 1916.
Examples from British Columbia and from Alaska average darker
in coloration.
CONOPIA ACERRUBRI (Engelhardt)
Synanthedon acerruhri Engelhardt, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. See, vol. 20, p. 64, 192b. —
McDuNNouGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States
of America, pt. 2, No. 8706, 1939.
The following bibliographical citations under the specific name of "corni
Hy. Edwards," as far as can be ascertained, refer to the present species,
which invariably has been confused with the true "corni," a borer in the
roots of asters.
Aegeria corni Hy. Edwards, Kellicott, Can. Ent., vol. 24, pp. 46, 210, 1892 ; Insect
Life, vol. 5, p. 83, 1892. — BEtrrENMiJiXER, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4,
p. 173, 1892.
Sesia corni Hy. Edwards, Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8,
p. 138, 1896; vol. 9, p. 220, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 296, pi. 31, fig. 17, 1901.
Male. — Antennae black, more or less tinged with white or pale yellow
before the tips, pectinations short and fine. Palpi orange, mixed with
86 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
black behind, tips black. Head black, orbits silvery white. Collar orange.
Thorax violaceous-black, with yellow scales on patagia in a broken ar-
rangement ; thorax beneath pale yellow. Abdomen above steel blue or
violaceous, segments 2, 4, 5, and 6 edged with pale yellow; beneath
segments 1 and 2 sprinkled with whitish scales and segments 4, 5, 6, and
7 wholly sordid white shading to pale yellow laterally ; anal tuft fan-
shaped, bluish black, mixed with red at the sides and end, beneath bright
red, black at the sides on upper part, and claspers yellow. Outer side
of femora, anterior part of tibiae and tarsi blue-black mixed with yellow
scales and tarsi banded with yellow at the joints ; posterior part of tibiae
between the spurs solid blue-black ; inner side of femora, tibiae, and
tarsi yellow, except for a blue-black area between the spurs, which are
yellow. Wings transparent ; costa, veins, rather broad apical margin,
and large discal mark of primaries metallic black ; hindwings with nar-
row black outer margins and brownish fringes ; underside of wings shaded
slightly with yellow scales on costa and veins.
Female. — Apical third of antenna contrastingly shaded with sordid
white or pale yellow on upper surface. Abdominal segments often, but
not always, dusted with pale-yellow scales in addition to having narrow,
pale-yellow bands on segments 2, 4, and 6; segments 4, 5, and 6 be-
neath sordid white ; anal tuft short, rounded, wholly bright red. Other-
wise like the male.
Expanse : Male 16 to 18 mm., female 18 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern half of the North American Continent from
the Atlantic coast to Canada.
Type. — Male, in the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Red and sugar maples are the native food plants of
acerrubri, but other maples, especially when planted as shade trees, also
are attacked. The larvae bore. under the bark, preferring branches to
tree trunks. When a larva is working singly it causes a slight swelling
or a roughening on the branch. Quite often advantage is taken of wounds
and scars caused by the borings of other insects, beetles of the family
Cerambycidae and Buprestidae and of the leopard moth, Zeusera pyrina
(Linnaeus), which has become a serious pest to various shade trees
in the neighborhood of New York City and on Long Island. Such
scars may harbor six or more larvae of the aegeriid borer, thereby
contributing to the injury. C. acerrubri is an annual species ; the larva,
wintering in its burrow, resumes feeding in spring before changing to
a pupa within an oblong cocoon of castings and chip^ in a cell just
under the bark, with a thin, circular shell remaining' to be broken by
the pupa upon emergence of the moth during late May and June.
C. acerrubri is not so common a species as the other maple-infesting
aegeriid, Sylvora acerni. Serious outbreaks usually are local. While
somewhat resembling acerjii in appearance, it is structurally quite distinct.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 87
CONOPIA RICHARDSI, new species
Plate 22, Figure 135
Male. — Antennae violaceous black-buff before the tips. Labial palpus
buff at base, second joint dull yellow, terminal joint yellow mixed with
black. Head black with metallic reflections, face glossy white. Collar pale
yellow, slightly mixed with black above. Thorax black-violaceous, patagia
narrowly touched with pale yellow inwardly ; underside of thorax very
pale, glossy yellow. Abdomen slender, lustrous blue-black, segments not
banded above; beneath segments 2, 3, 4, and 5 glossy buff, segments 1, 6,
and 7 black; anal tuft long, narrow, the center a thin pencil extending
beyond the sides, blue-black slightly intermixed with orange at base
beneath. Legs pale yellow, sparsely shaded with violaceous; posterior
tibiae very rough, golden yellow ; tarsi smooth, yellow, shaded with black.
Forewing transparent; costa, veins, and large oblong discal mark glossy
black; outer margin broadly shaded, black on the veins and orange between
the veins, as wide as the transparent area before the discal mark; fringes
dull black; underside with costa and veins touched with orange and the
discal mark narrowly orange at the sides. Hindwing transparent, nar-
rowly margined with violaceous-black; fringes sordid black above and
beneath.
Female. — Similar to male. Antennae with basal half violaceous-black,
outer half buff or pale yellow before the black tips. Forewing with outer
margin broader and brighter orange. Abdomen more robust, segment 4
with a conspicuous yellow band, venter of all segments shiny buft' or pale
yellow ; anal tuft short, rounded, orange.
Expanse: Male 18 mm., female 20 mm.
Distribution. — Georgia, Virginia, Ohio.
Type. — U.S.N.M. No. 56837, male. Allotype female and two male
and two female paratypes also in the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Holotype, allotype, and one male and one female paratype
were collected on flowers in moist meadows along a river in Clarke County,
Ga., June 15, 1938 {A. Glenn Richards). One paratype male, Cincinnati,
Ohio, June 20, 1909 (Annette Braun). One paratype female, Falls
Church, Va., June 28 (Nathan Banks).
The food plant is not known.
Genus SYNANTHEDON Hubner
Synanihcdon Hubner, Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, p. 129, 1819. (Geno-
type, Sphinx oestriformis Esper, synonym of Sphinx vespiformis Linnaeus.)
Tongue long, spiraled. Antennae of male robust, bipectinate ; pectina-
tion longest at bases, shortening toward the strongly dilated, tufted tips.
Female antennae simple. Labial palpus with second joint thickened with
rough scales, terminal joint short, smooth. Forewing with 12 veins, 10
and 1 1 separate, 7 and 8 stalked, 7 to apex ; hindwing with veins 3 and 4
88 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
stalked. Posterior tibiae roughly scaled above; first tarsal joint thickened
with rough scales above. Male genitalia with short, stout (often paired)
cornuti, saccnlus ridge with flat scales in a dense, obliquely curved line.
Female genitalia with outer end of ductus bursae sclerotized. Anal tuft
in male wedge-shaped.
The American species placed in this genus, aside from structural similari-
ties, have much in common with the biological characteristics of the geno-
type, vespijormis, of Europe. The sacculus ridge of the male genitalia in
the American species shows flat scales in a less dense arrangement, curved
outwardly, differing in this respect from vespijormis. Most of the Ameri-
can species, as here limited, are borers in oak, normally attacking the
bark, but specimens found in greatest abundance in abnormal swellings due
to cankerous growth and, in particular, in woody galls of cynipid origin,
which they occupy as commensals. There are other generically distinct
species sharing such habits; from these the species of Synanthedon are
distinguished by the thickened posterior first tarsal joint and by the wedge-
shaped male anal tuft.
The genotype is figured on plate 1, figure 8; plate 6, figures 3S, 35a;
and plate 13, figure 65.
SYNANTHEDON SAPYGAEFORMIS SAPYGAEFORMIS (Walker)
Acgeria sapygaeformis Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in
the collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 45, 1856.— Hy. Edwards, Papilio,
vol. 1, p. 207, 1881.
TrochiUum sapygaeformis Morris, Synopsis of tlie described Lepidoptera of North
America, p. 333, 1862.
Sesia sapygaeformis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle dcs insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 440, 1874.
Pyrrhotaenia sapygaeformis Grote, New check list of North American moths, p. 12,
1882.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 146, 1896.
Sesia sapygaeformis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 310, 1901.
Synanthedon sapygaefonnis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8753, 1939.
Male. — Antennae robust, strongly dilated, bipectinate. Labial palpi
long, ascending, curved, deep orange, bases and sides black. Head black,
covered with strong violaceous scales. Collar red. Thorax densely hairy,
black, conspicuously bordered with red posteriorly above ; beneath marked
with red before the wing base. Abdomen lustrous black, segments 4, 5, 6,
and 7 red above and beiieath ; anal tuft wedge-shaped, black. Legs viola-
ceous, marked with orange ; hindtibiae twice broadly banded with orange ;
first tarsal joint thickly scaled, black and orange. Forewing very nar-
row, widening at outer third, which is blackish violaceous ; the narrow por-
tion of the wing medially orange-red, with radiations beyond the deep red
cell; clear spaces reduced to an intervenular short streak from the wing
base ; underside largely shaded with orange, radiating into the outer margin.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 89
Hindwing pellucid, with a narrow orange costal border, the broad margins
violaceous, the fringes dull black.
Female. — Very similar to the male. Abdomen with only the three last
segments red, instead of four as in the male ; anal tuft short and blunt with
a central indentation, black.
Expanse: Male 13 to 20 mm., female 18 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Florida.
Type. — Male. In the British Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Priority in nomenclature dictates the elevation of a color
variety to specific rank and reduces the actual species to the status of
a variety. Collecting records of sapygaeformis have been few and far
apart since its description in 1856. Its food plant and habits remained
unknown until extensive rearing experiments with fioridensis proved this
to be conspecific and only a color variety of sapygaeformis. From identical
lots of breeding material, consisting of cynipid oak galls, 4 sapygaeformis
were obtained as against 96 fioridensis per hundred. There are onlv color
differences between the two, and these are restricted to the banding of
the abdominal segments. In sapygaeformis segments 4, 5, and 6 are con-
colorous, whereas in fioridensis segments 4 and 6 are red and segment 5
is black. Intermediate color forms are not lacking.
Records : Daytona Beach, Fla., males and females, April 14, 1929
(Engelhardt) ; Jacksonville, Fla. (Ashmead).
One unique female example, labeled East Florida (Ashmead), lacks
all the red abdominal bands above but has segment 4 banded with red
beneath and segments 2 and 3 red at the sides. If not substantiated by
additional specimens, it may be regarded as a freak.
SYNANTHEDON SAPYGAEFORMIS variety FLORIDENSIS (Grote)
Pyrrhotaenia fioridensis Grote, Can. Ent., vol. 7, p. 174, 1875. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892; vol. 8, p. 145, 1896; vol. 9, p. 220,
1897.
5" mo fioridensis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 309,
1901.
Synanthedon fioridensis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8751, 1939.
Differs from typical sapygaeformis only in the banding of the abdominal
segments. Male with segment 4 red, 5 black, 6 and 7 red ; female with
segment 4 red, 5 black, and 6 red.
Expanse: Male 16 to 21 mm., female IS to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Florida.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History. From
Enterprise, Fla.
Remarks. — Long series of fioridensis have been reared from woody
cynipid galls on various species of oaks in Florida. Material from the
following sources is available : Royal Palm State Park, galls on live oak.
90 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
April 23, 1927, July 1926 (F. M. Jones), February 25, 1919 (H. S.
Barber), Biscayne Bay (Mrs. A. T. Slosson), Coronado Beach, March
1929, Daytona Beach, October 1938; galls on spiny-leaved scrub oak,
Monticello, June 1928; on scrub oak, Gainesville, April 15, 1930; on
water oak, Longwood, April 10, 1930 (Engelhardt).
The prolonged season of emergence does not prove that there are two
broods annually. Larvae in various stages of growth have been noted
throughout the year. Only galls well along in development, but with the
tissue still alive, serve for occupancy. The presence of larvae is indicated
by frass and, by spots that are soft under pressure. The borers are
abundant locally and are easily reared in numbers. Coinhabitants in the
galls very often are ants. This association appears to be harmonious
as long as the silk-lined galleries and pupal cases of the lepidopterous
borers remain intact.
SYNANTHEDON DECIPIENS DECIPIENS (Hy. Edwardi)
Plate 22, Figures 136, 137
Aegeria decipiens Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 197, 1881. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 367, 1894.
Aegeria imperfecta Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 198, 1881. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173, 1892.
Aegeria nicotianae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 202, 1881.
Sesia decipiens Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 141, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 300, 1901.
Synanthedon decipiens McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8734, 1939.
Male. — Labial palpi golden yellow, black on the inner sides. Head
black, collar yellow. Thorax black with a posterior, yellow, transverse
band and a yellow patch on each side beneath. Abdomen coppery black,
somewhat swollen centrally and with segments 2, 6, and 7 narrowly ^nded
with yellow above, segment 4 broadly banded with yellow above and
beneath ; anal tuft wedge-shaped, edged with whitish at tip. Legs broadly
banded with yellow and blue-black. Forewing narrow, costa heavily
scaled, black and orange scales being intermixed ; veins black, interspaces
from outer margin streaked with orange, leaving a small vitreous area
before, and another narrow long one beyond, the red, black-edged discal
mark; fringes lustrous brown; underside heavily shaded with golden
yellow. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined; discal mark very
small, orange.
Female. — Differs from the male in having broader wing margins and
denser orange shading between the veins, with a corresponding reduction
in the vitreous areas before and beyond the discal mark, which is bright
red, only barely edged with black. Abdomen with segments 2 and 6
narrowly banded with yellow above, band on segment 4 above and beneath
twice as broad as those on segments 2 and 6; anal tuft short, rounded.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 91
centrally indented, black, edged with yellow. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse: Male 15 to 17 mm., female 15 to 18 mm.
Distribution. — Rocky Mountains, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Gulf
Coast States.
Type. — Male. Collected in Colorado by Morrison. In the American
Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Records from specimens in the United States National
Museum: North Cheyenne Canyon, Colo., reared from cynipid galls
on scrub oak, 2 females, June 15, 1915 (A. B. Champlain) ; Manitou,
Colo., from galls on white scrub oak, June 15, 1915, 2 males, 2 females
(B. J. Narney) ; Little Tesugne Canyon, Santa Fe, N. Mex., 9,200 feet,
sweeping on Quercus gambcli, July 27, 1932, 1 female (dwarfed specimen,
11 mm.) (A. B. Klots) ; 4 males, Texas, without date and locality; 1 male
labeled reared from gall on Quercus nigra, Mobile, Ala., April (J. Ball) ;
long series of both sexes from galls on scrub oak in Alabama and Mis-
sissippi, May-June, 1922-1932 (Engelhardt) ; Baton Rouge, La., both
sexes, from oak galls, July 1932 (C. O. Hopkins) ; Crowley, La., May 27,
1922 ( W. W. Porter) ; Cedar Bluff, Miss., from gall on black oak ; Pensa-
cola, Fla., May 1928, from woody round galls on small-leaved scrub oak
(Engelhardt).
SYNANTHEDON DECIPIENS race RUBRISTIGMA (Kellicott)
Aegeria rubristigtna Kellicott, Can. Ent., vol. 24, p. 211, 1892; Insect Life, vol. 5,
p. 84, 1892.
Sesia riibristigma Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 141, 1896;
vol. 9, p. 220, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 301, 1901.
Synanthedon rubristigma McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8735, 1939.
Male. — Labial palpus with basal and second joints black, except the
tip of the latter, which is yellow like the third joint. Forewing trans-
parent with costa and outer margin very narrow and orange streaks
between the veins much shortened or absent.
Female. — Labial palpus yellow, black at the base. Forewing with costa
and outer margin broader and with the orange streaks more pronounced
than in the males.
Expanse : Male 13-18 mm., female 13-18 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern and Midwestern States, Canada (Ontario),
Appalachian system, in general following the red and black oak belts.
Type. — In the American Museum of Natural History. Type specimens
reared from cynipid galls on Quercus palustris, Central College and Sugar
Grove, Ohio.
Remarks. — Records for specimens in the United States National
Museum: Three males, 2 females, \^ong Island, N. Y., both from galls
of Andricus comigerus (Osten Sacken) on Quercus palustris, June-July
(Engelhardt) ; 1 male, Falls Church, Va., from oak gall, June 1, 1914
92 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
(C. Heinrich) ; 3 females, Cleveland, Ohio, from galls of Andricus
coniigerus. May 6, 1931 (F. DeGant) ; 3 females, Chickamauga, Tenn.,
from gall of A. cornigerus; 1 male, Iowa (C. P. Gillette) ; 1 male, Hope,
Ark., July, caught in light trap; 1 male from galls of Andricus seminator,
June 10, 1893 (Zabriskie).
Like the typical form, deciplens decipiens, the race rubristigma is a
borer in oak, attacking the bark but by preference living in cynipid galls,
which must be hard and woody in substance, not soft or spongy. Such
galls are occupied only after they have grown to near or full maturity but
still retain sufficient' living tissue to support the borers through their 1-year
cycle of life. Rearing from galls, collected during spring and early in
summer, is the easiest method of obtaining the adults. In the eastern
and midwestern States the favorite gall is Andricus cornigerus on black
oak. This gall is inhabited also by the far more common smaller species,
Thamnosphecia sciUila, and as emergence proceeds there is usually a great
preponderance of scitula and only an occasional specimen of decipiens.
This ratio is reversed along the coastal regions of the Southern States and
in the type habitat of decipiens in Colorado, where different species of
woody galls on different kinds of oaks are occupied. Cynipid galls on live
oak and on scrub oak at Pensacola, Fla., and Mobile, Ala., produced ex-
amples of decipiens only. There are no records of scitula from Colorado.
The recognition of rubristigma as a race of decipiens stands on color
differences alone. Intergradations along the range of the species interfere
with a clear-cut geographical division. In general the race rubristigma
represents the eastern and northern part of the range, differing from
typical decipiens by the nearly complete transparency of the forewings in
the male and by the only narrowly suffused tips of the forewings in the
female. Westward and southward there is a gradual intensification of the
scaling on the forewings, this reaching its greatest development along the
coastal regions of northern Florida and Alabama, where transparent areas
become nearly obscured. A narrow belt across Florida from Jacksonville
to the northern State line remains untouched by field investigations.
Within this belt lies the meeting place of decipiens and florid ensis. The
question is, Do these two forms remain apart or do they blend? We are
inclined to suspect a blending.
SYNANTHEDON SAXIFRAGAE (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria saxifragae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 190, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 91, 1894.
Aegeria henshawii Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 56, 1882.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 173, 1892.
Sesia saxifragae Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 135, 1896.
Synanthedon saxifragae McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8719, 1939.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 93
Male. — ^Antennae metallic black. Labial palpi heavily brushed with
orange beneath, above orange and black mixed and tips black. Head
black, frons with a stiff brush, blue-black. Collar blue-black. Thorax
black, a small orange patch at the sides ; metathorax tufted with long black
hair. Abdomen black with steel-blue reflections above and beneath ; anal
tuft short, fan-shaped, black. Legs orange, femora black outside, tibiae
rough throughout, tarsi smooth. Forewing transparent, costa, outer
margin, veins, and large discal mark shiny blue-black, very sparsely inter-
mixed with orange, a suffusion of rusty black scales between the veins at
outer margin, limbus and wing base shaded a deep orange ; fringes sordid
black. Hindwings transparent, narrowly margined with black. Fore-
wings and hindwings shaded with orange beneath.
Female. — Same as the male. Anal tuft narrow, straight with thin hair
pencils, two on each side (this condition possibly due to abrasion) ; none
of the few available examples is in perfect condition.
Expanse: Of saxijragae, male 22 mm., female 22 to 24 mm.; of hen-
shawii, male 18 mm.
Dufribufion. — Of sa.vifragae . Rocky Mountains. Colorado and Utah,
8,000 to 12,000 feet, and Alaska; of henshawii, Labrador, Hudson Bay.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — It is difficult to align this species satisfactorily. The few
worn specimens available have been collected singly over a long period
of years in widely separated sections of the continent, but all at high eleva-
tion, 8,000 to 12,000 feet, or in Arctic regions. If allowance is made for
excessive hairiness and roughness as due to a life in frigid zones, the species
fits best into the present genus. Structures of the male genitalia, especially
the strong, flat-scaled, outwardly recurved sacculus ridge, set it apart from
the other species. Nothing is known of the food plant, except tliat it is not
saxifrage.
Of the species described by Hy. Edwards as henshazvii only two
examples are known, the male type (American Museum of Natural
History) from Mingen Island, Labrador, 1882, and one male (U. S.
National Museum), Piquitenay River, Mile 214, Hudson Bay Railroad,
July 16—23. The two examples are smaller in expanse than saxifi'agae,
18 mm. against 22 mm., and they are dusted slightly more heavily with
orange on the primaries. The male genitalia are alike. For the present
it seems best to continue hcnshaieii as a synonym of saxijragae.
The following records of saxijragae are contained in the Utiitcd States
National Museum collection: One male. South Park, Colo., 12,000 feet,
June 25, 1917 (Oslar) ; one male, San Miguel, Colo., (Oslar) ; one male,
Silverton, San Juan Mountains, Colo., 12,000 feet, July 19, 1903 (C. P.
Gillette) ; one female, Rico, southwestern Colorado, 10,000 feet (Oslar) ;
one female, Uinta Mountains, Utah, June 26 (Truman Swallow) ; one
female, Fort Yukon, Alaska.
94: BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
SYNANTHEDON PICTIPES (Grote and Robinson)
Plate 23, Figures 138, 139
Aegcria pictipes Grote and Robinson, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, vol. 2, p. 182, pi. 2,
fig. 64, 1868.
Acgeria inusitata Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 201, 1881.
Synanthedon pictipes McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8720, 1939.
Male. — Antennae long, black, scarcely dilated toward tips ; pectinations
fine. Palpi beneath pale yellow, above black. Head, thorax, abdomen,
and legs black, with metallic reflections more often coppery than blue.
Head sprinkled with pale-yellow scales at the base. Collar black above,
pale yellow at the sides. Thorax with yellowish borders to the tegulae
and a yellowish spot at the side beneath and before the base of the
wing. Wings hyaline, sometimes stained yellowish. Forewing with
costa, transverse mark, and outer margins very narrowly scaled with
black. Fringes short, brown-black, Hindwing wholly pellucid, with
only a very narrow terminal border continued to the base. Wings be-
neath with inner and costal margins and discal mark scaled and edged
pale yellow. Tibiae with two pale yellow or whitish tufts at the spurs.
Tarsi banded with whitish at the joints. Abdomen with the second seg-
ment bordered with whitish above and beneath and the fourth segment
whitish beneath only (color markings on abdominal segments of imperfect
or old specimens often obscured) ; anal tuft distinctly hastate, sparsely
edged with whitish at the sides.
Female. — Very similar to the male. Antennae simple, anal tuft long,
narrow, not hastate.
Expanse: Male 18 to 23 mm., female 20 to 25 mm.
Distribution. — Chiefly eastern half of Canada and the United States
to the Mississippi and eastern Texas. Rocky Mountain and Pacific
coast records doubtful.
Type. — Lost. Type of Aegeria inusitata, female, in the American
Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Specimens of the two sexes of pictipes are very similar
and bear a striking resemblance to the male of Sanninoidea exitiosa,
except for their smaller size. Swellings and distortions caused by the
black-knot fungus on branches of wild black cherry often are inhabited
by the larvae. v9. pictipes is usually known as the "lesser peach borer,"
while exitiosa is called the "peachtree borer." As a pest of peach trees
and other kinds of stone fruits under cultivation, pictipes is far less im-
portant than exitiosa.
Wild cherry and wild plum are the principal native food plants. The
species has been reported from Juneberry, Amelanchier canadensis, prob-
ably erroneously, as my specimens reared from this plant turned out
to be Thamnosphecia pyri. The chestnut bark borer, often confused
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 95
with pictipes, is a distinct species, it is of interest to note that pictipes,
Hke exitiosa, exhibits the same tendency toward a gradual broadening of
the wing margins in specimens from the northeast to the south and from
the south to the west.
SYNANTHEDON CASTANEAE (Busck)
Plate 23, Figures 140, 141
Sesia castaneae Busck, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 15, p. 102, 1913.
Synanthedon castaneae McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8722, 1939.
Mode. — Antennae long, black, scarcely dilated toward tips, pectinations
fine, curved inward, shorter near the tips. Labial palpi beneath yellow
or whitish yellow ; above black, sparsely sprinkled with yellow scales ;
apical half of third joint all black. Face bluish black, broadly white
before the eyes. Head black, sparsely mixed with yellow scales at base.
General body color black. Thorax bluish or coppery black, with two
narrow, yellow, lateral stripes above and two broader, yellow marks on
the underside, before the wing base. Wings hyaline; veins and costa
scaled with bluish black, as are also the very narrow transverse mark
and the other margins on the forewings ; underside of wings yellower
on veins, costa, and margins ; fringes purplish or rusty black. Abdomen
black, with blue or coppery reflections and with segments 2, 3, and 4 very
narrowly banded with pale yellow above ; the band on segment 4 con-
tinuing onto the venter where it becomes broader (cabinet specimens
quickly become greasy ; only thoroughly cleaned individuals reveal the
exact body markings) ; anal tuft wedge-shaped, with the inner side
of the claspers dark ochreous. Legs blue or coppery black; tibia with
only one whitish band or tuft at the posterior spurs, an imporiant char-
acter for separating castaneae from pictipes, which has two pale yellow
bands, one each at the anterior and posterior spurs.
Female. — Very similar to the male. Average size larger. Antennae
simple. Transverse mark and outer wing margins slightly broader. The
banding on abdominal segments as in the male, but more pronounced ;
tuft straight, narrow.
Expanse: Male 17 to 20 mm., female 22 to 28 mm.
Distribution. — In general following the distribution of the American
chestnut, Castanea dentata, from Maine to Ontario and southward to
the Mississippi.
Type. — In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — This species was confused with pictipes until recognized by
Busck as distinct and described as castaneae in 1913. Superficially the
two species may be easily confused, but closer study reveals differences
calling for specific separation. In pictipes the collar is yellow and the
tibia is tufted with yellow at both the anterior and posterior spurs, whereas
96 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
in castaneae the collar is black and the tibia is tufted with yellow only
at the posterior spurs.
The United States National Museum has a fine representation of
castaneae, in large part obtained by rearing. This is fortunate, as the
species is threatened with early extinction following the extermination of
its food plant, the American chestnut, by the chestnut blight. Only com-
paratively few diseased and struggling trees remain.
6'. castaneae is a borer in the tree trunks, preferably attacking bruised
places. The life cycle is annual. Wintering in its burrow, the larva
constructs a rough, oblong cocoon of chips in spring. The moths emerge
late in May or in June or July. At the beginning of the twentieth century
the insect was fairly common in the eastern Atlantic Coast States, in the
Southern States, and inland, ranging north to Canada, wherever the
chestnut occurred. No records have been received in recent years. Quite
likely there are stray specimens in collections unrecognized and confused
with pictipes.
SYNANTHEDON VIBURNI Eneelhardt
Plate 23, Figure 142
Synanthedon vihurni Engelhardt, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. See, vol. 20, p. 65, 1925. —
McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepldoptera of Canada and the United States,
pt. 2, No. 8721, 1939.
Male. — Antennae blue-black, slightly dilated apically and with a few
pale scales before the tips, pectinations very short and fine. Tongue well
developed, spiral. Labial palpus with a smooth, even, pale-yellow brush ;
third joint pointed, black. Face black. Head black, with long hair, which
is yellow and black mixed on top. Collar pale yellow. Thorax blue-black,
narrowly banded with pale yellow laterally above and with a broad patch
of the same color beneath before base of wing. Wings lustrous hyaline ;
forewing with costa, transverse mark, and narrow outer margins blue-
black, underside shaded with pale yellow; hindwing with margins and
cilia very narrow, rusty black. Legs steel blue, tibia smooth, with a
whitish, short tuft at the spurs ; tarsi white at the joints. Abdomen bright
steel blue, second segment narrowly banded with white above, fourth
segment broadly marked with white at the sides, no bands beneath ; anal
tuft clearly wedge- or halberd-shaped, edged with white at the sides.
Female. — Similar to male. Antennae simple, broadly banded with pale
yellow or whitish before the tip ; outer wing margins broader than in the
male; anal tuft straight, narrow.
Expanse: Male 16 to 18 mm., female 18 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Recorded only from Long Island, N. Y.
Type. — Male, from Woodhaven, N. Y. In the United States National
Museum.
Remarks. — Biologically vihurni is not closely related to any of the
several species to which it bears a close superficial resemblance. When
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 97
specimens are rubbed and discolored it is difficult to avoid confusion, but
in doubtful cases the genitalia always will serve for definite conclusions.
Thus, pictipes, which most nearly resembles vihurni, has the tip of the
aedeagus distinctly forked while in viburni it is much swollen and triangu-
lar ; the antennae of pictipes are black in both sexes, whereas in the female
of vihurni they are well marked with white before the tips ; in pictipes the
body colors are black with bluish or coppery reflections, but in vihurni
they are bright steel blue. The rather recent discovery and recognition
of vihurni as a distinct species was made in an area where there had been
much entomological collection for generations. No examples were cap-
tured in flight ; all were reared from the cones and branches of Vihurnum
dentatimi obtained in swampy thickets of Vihurnum in the Brooklyn
Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y. 5". vihurni is an annual species, the
larva living under the bark and not in the solid wood, preferably in such
parts where abrasions or gall growths have caused distortions and swell-
ings. Pupation takes place early in May in an oblong cocoon constructed
within the larval gallery under the bark. The moth emerges late in May
and early in June. While locally not uncommon, the larvae are much
subjected to the attacks of a hymenopterous parasite, and rearing experi-
ments thus far have resulted in more parasites than moths.
The occurrence of viburni on horticultural varieties of Vihurnum as
well as native shrubs gave rise to a consideration of the possibility of an
introduced species, but this appears to be excluded as this form bears no
resemblance to Synanthedon andrenaeformis (Laspeyres) of Europe, the
only other aegeriid recorded as boring in Vihurnum. Further investiga-
tions should prove it an indigenous species of wider distribution than
present records indicate.
Genus PALMIA Beutenmiiller
Palutia Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 123, 1896. (Geno-
type, Sciapteron praecedens Hy. Edwards.)
Female antenna simple, thickened toward apex and with the usual
apical tuft. Tongue well developed, spiraled. Labial pulpus rather short,
porrect; second joint with a short, uneven brush; terminal joint shorter,
smooth. Head and thorax smooth. Wings long, narrow, bluntly pointed ;
forewing with 12 veins, 7 and 8 stalked to costa ; hindwing with 8 veins,
3 and 4 stalked. Posterior tibiae smooth with stiff scales at spurs ;
posterior first tarsal joint slightly thickened with rough scales above. Anal
tuft small.
The genus is known only from a single female specimen. It is for this
reason not included in the synoptic table of the genera, in which it would
fall with Synanthedon. Pending rediscovery and the acquisition of better
material, including males, the genus is treated as distinct.
98 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
PALMIA PRAECEDENS (Hy. Edwards)
Sciapteron praecedcus Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 3, p. 155, 1883 ; Ent. Amer., vol. 3,
p. 223, 1888.
Palmia praecedens Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 123, 1896 ;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 255, 1901.— McDunnough, Check-
list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No.
8767, 1939.
Female. — ^Antennae orange, black at the tips. Labial palpi orange, w^ith
bases sprinkled with black. Head and thorax dark brown, the latter with
a red stripe on each side. Abdomen dark brown, with the three last seg-
ments and anal tuft light lemon yellow. Posterior tibia red, with a broad,
black band at tip ; posterior tarsus light yellow. Forewing dark bronzy
brown, with only a narrow longitudinal streak from base to middle of cell
translucent ; base of internal margin stained with red. Hind wing bronzy
brown with translucent base. Underside of both pairs of wings mottled
with red.
Expanse : 30 mm.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum. From North
Carolina.
Known only from the unique female type specimen.
HYMENOCLEA, new genus
Genotype, Sesia palmii Beutenmiiller.
Sexes very dissimilar in size and coloration. Male antennae strongly
pectinate; female antennae simple. Tongue long, spiraled. Labial palpi
porrect, second joint with a short, uneven brush on the underside, smaller
in the female than in the male, terminal joint smooth, shorter than second.
Head and thorax smoothly scaled. Forewing with 11 veins; veins 10 and
11 coalescent; 7 and 8 stalked, 7 to apex; 4, 5, and 6 equidistant, parallel;
2 and 3 also parallel but farther apart froin 4. Hindwing with 8 veins;
3 and 4 connate or short-stalked ; 7 and 8 obscured in the costal fold. Pos-
terior tibiae roughly scaled above; first joint of posterior tarsus slightly
thickened with scales. Anal tuft of male large, fan-shaped ; of female,
short. Male genitalia of the Synanthedon type; harpe with cucullus
rounded; sacculus ridge nearly straight, covered with black bifurcate
scales on the upper (inner) half, outer half devoid of scales; aedeagus
long, straight, bulbous at base ; cornuti numerous, short, sharp thorns ;
vinculum long, slightly bifurcate at tip. Female genitalia with end of
ductus strongly sclerotized; bursa oval, without signum.
HYMENOCLEA PALMI (Beutenmiiller)
Plate 1, Figure 9; Plate 6, Figures 36, 36a; Plate 14, Figure 66; Plate 23,
Figures 143, 144
Sesia palmii Beutenmuller, Journ. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 10, p. 126, 1902.
Gaca palmi McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United
States of America, pt. 2, No. 8774, 1939.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 99
Male. — Antennae bluish black, brown beneath, stout, strongly pectinate.
Labial palpus with a heavy brush in a tawny or sordid-white mixture, third
joint smooth, grayish black. Head tufted, blackish brown and white
mixed, eyes brown. Collar tawny, sordid white at the sides. Thorax
brown-black, thinly clothed with whitish hair; anterior edge with black
and tawny scales, a short, tawny stripe in the center and two lateral stripes
of the same color ending in a broader tuft at metathorax, which is long-
tufted at the sides and hairy centrally, tawny or sordid white ; underside
of thorax shiny black shingled with sordid-white scales; the bases of the
primaries similarly shingled. Abdomen lustrous bronzy brown, with gray-
ish suffusions; segments not banded; anal tuft large, fan-shaped, dull
black, tawny at the sides and beneath. Forelegs with coxae shiny buff and
sordid white; posterior tibiae very rough throughout, in color a grayish
mixture; tarsi concolorous, black, spined beneath. Forewing opaque,
streaked with brownish and sordid black, except for a small, more or less
suffused buff-colored area before the large sordid black discal mark ; costa,
outer and inner margins of a darker shade, fringes brownish black ; under-
side more pronounced tawny in color than upper surface. Hindwing
opaque, bright tawny, sprinkled with darker scales outwardly, above and
beneath; veins and discal mark rusty black.
Female. — Antennae black, above and beneath. Labial palpus with short
brush, black throughout. Head black, face lustrous tawny. Collar black
with a few whitish hairs intermixed. Thorax violet-black, sometimes with
a faint central stripe and always with two broad, lateral stripes sordid
white; underside black. Abdomen shiny black, segment 2 banded with
white above; anal tuft short, black, with two white streaks, not reaching
to the end. Posterior tibiae rough, violaceous-black. Forewing opaque,
purplish black, thinly sprinkled with grayish scales on inner half to the
wing base and in a dense cluster before the black discal mark ; fringes
dull black; underside streaked with sordid white below the costa and
between the veins to inner margin. Hindwing opaque, wholly brownish
black, above and beneath.
Expanse : Male 20 to 28 mm., female 27 to 36 mm.
Distribution. — x\rid regions of western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona.
Type. — Lectotype female from Phoenix, Ariz. (Kuntze). In the
United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Beutenmiiller's description of this remarkable species is not
based on the male, as stated, but on the female. The identity of the very
dissimilar sexes was established many years after the description of the
female in 1902. The type specimens were collected by Kuntze, a well-
known botanist and collector of insects, of Phoenix, Ariz., and subsequently
acquired by Charles Palm, of New York, for whom the species was named.
Favorite haunts of the insect are arid regions along river embankments and
irrigation ditches, where the food plants, species of Hytnenoclea (burro-
brush), attain a heavy rank growth, sometimes 10 feet tall and with
100 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
enormous, tough-fibered roots penetrating the ground equally deep. The
larval galleries in the roots go down several feet. Excavating them is most
difficult. A fortunate opportunity to study the habits of the borer was
afforded on a visit to southern Arizona in the spring of 1935. One of the
so-called "dry washes," caused by a cloudburst, had recently cut ofi ver-
tically large parts of an embankment, exposing plants of Hymenodea in
their entirety. Many of the roots showed the extensive tunnels of the
larvae and their places of pupation nearer to the crown of the root. The
moths emerged during August and September. Whether this insect is an
annual or a biannual species could not be determined. There are long
periods of estivation. Of the three known female types from the original
lot collected by Kuntze at Phoenix, Ariz., one is in the collection of the
United States National Museum, bearing Beutenmiiller's label and designa-
tion as "type." It has been made the lectotype. Additional records in the
United States National Museum: 26 males, 7 females, Mohave County,
Ariz., September 1, 1930; 5 males, 3 females, Kingman, Mohave County,
Ariz., October 1-7; 3 males, 6 females, Marfa, Presidio County, Tex.,
October 1926 (O. C. Poling) ; 1 male, 2 females, Alpine, Brewster County,
Tex., 5,000 feet, September 5, 1926 (Engelhardt).
Genus ALCATHOE Hy. Edwards
Alcathoe Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 53, 1882. (Genotype, Aegeria caiidata
Harris.)
Tongue long, spiraled. Male antenna long, only slightly dilated before
tip, finely and shortly bipectinate; female antennae simple. Labial palpi
ascending, projecting beyond the head; second joint slightly thickened
with nearly smooth scales, third joint about half the length of second,
bluntly pointed. Posterior tibia rough-scaled to the middle spurs, smooth
to the last spur, where it is again tufted ; first tarsal joint heavily tufted
above. Eighth abdominal segment of the male with two short lateral tufts
and one central very long, soft, hairy appendage as long as, or longer tha.n,
the abdomen. Forewing with 11 veins, veins 10 and 11 coalescent; hind-
wing with veins 3 and 4 on short stalk. Male genitalia of the Synanthedon
type, sacculus ridge curved, densely covered with furcate scales a.nd
terminating in a recurved, convoluted, unsealed fold; aedeagus slightly
bent, with a somewhat bulbous base; cornuti prominent, stout, paired
spines; vinculum stout, blunt, moderately long. Female genitalia with
ductus rather short, strongly sclerotized on outer half ; bursa oval, finely
granulated, without signum.
The species of this genus form a singular unit, distinguished by the long,
delicate caudal appendage of the male and by the remarkable resemblance
of both sexes to members of the Psammocharidae, and in particular to
species of Pepsis, the so-called tarantula-killer wasps. The resemblance
between western species of the moths and wasps during flight is so decep-
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 101
live as to leave their identity doubtful until cautiously transferred from net
to cyanide jar. I refrain from speculating on the advantage of the mimick-
ing moths in escaping enemy attacks, but it is a fact that moths of some
species have never, or very rarely, been captured by entomologists ; the fine,
long series in the United States National Museum has been obtained by
rearing. The species are root and stem borers in Clematis, practically
confining their attacks to native, small, white-flowering plants known as
virgins-bovver, as Clematis virginiana and C. ligusticijolia. Cultivated varie-
ties seem to be avoided. A. caudata, ranging east from the Mississippi to
to Maine and Canada along the distribution of its food plant, appears to be
the only distinctly North American species. The several species and forms
west of the Mississippi to California suggest a Mexican and Central
American origin. Tropical Central America as yet is represented by only
a few captured specimens, specifically in confusion. However, as has
been noted by the larval work on vines of Clematis, the insects are not
uncommon, but even abtmdant, and should be easily obtained by rearing.
The life cycle of all the species is annual. The young larvae, emerging
from characteristically spherical, somewhat compressed, light-brown eggs
laid at the crown roots or on the vines, tunnel into the living plants, causing
scars and gall-like swelling of considerable size after wintering and resum-
ing feeding in spring. The change from larva to pupa takes place within
the swelling in a roughly constructed case of chips and frass. Large roots
may house a number of larvae in close proximity. On vines the swellings
usually are well separated, in temperate regions not far above the ground,
but in the Tropics they may extend well upward toward the tops of the
trees. Rearing the moths is easy from infested plant cuttings, obtained
in advance and near the time of emergence. Immature stages in such
cuttings do not survive. The moths upon emerging in a rearing cage must
be handled with care, as they will injure themselves by dropping quickly,
trying to escape or to hide.
COLOR KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES, RACES. AND VARIETIES OF THE
GENUS ALCATHOE
Forewing opaque, violaceous, except vitreous basal half ; hindwing transparent ;
antennae and caudal appendage orange caudata caudata (Harris)
Hindwing transparent, broadly margined, suffused between veins 5 and 6 to cell and
between veins lb and Ic irregularly inward caudata annettella, new race
Forewing black, hindwing transparent, margin narrow ; antennae, legs, and caudal
appendage black caudata walkeri Neuinoegcn
Wings opaque, orange with a small clear area on hindwing at base between veins la
and lb ; male antennae and caudal appendage black ; female antennae orange.
pepsioides Engelhardt
Body, wings, antennae, legs, and male caudal appendage ferruginous.
pepsioides ferrugata, new race
Wings, legs, male antennae, and caudal appendage deep black or rusty black ; female
antennae orange or rusty black pepsioides atra Engelhardt
102 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Wings deep orange; forewing black at base and on costa, streaked with black veins;
hindwing with 3 hyaline areas at wing base, divided by black veins ; legs black ;
male antennae and caudal appendage black ; female antennae orange.
autumnalis, new species
Wings opaque, bluish black; female antennae orange carolinensis Engelhardt
Wings opaque, dark orange ; hindwing lacking hyaline area at base ; antennae, legs,
and male caudal appendage black verrugo verrugo (Druce)
Wings opaque, lustrous black in bolh sexes verrugo corvinus, new variety
ALCATHOE CAUDATA CAUDATA (Harris)
Plate 2, Figure 10 ; Plate 6, Figures Zl , 37a ; Plate 14, Figure dl
Aegeria caudata Harris, Amer. Journ. Arts and Sci., vol. 36, p. 311, 1839. —
Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of
the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 42, 1856. — Packard, Guide to the study of
insects . . ., p. 278, 1869. — Lintner, 23d Ann. Rep. New York State Cabinet
Nat. Hist., 1869, p. 192, 1873. — Thomas, Seventh report of the State entomolo-
gist on the noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois, 1877, p. 172,
1878. — Marten, in Thomas, Tenth report of the State entomologist on the
noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois, p. 108, 1881.
Trochilium candatiim Fitch, Third report on the noxious, beneficial, and other
insects of the State of New York, 1856, p. 424, 1857. — Morris, Synopsis of
the described Lepidoptera of North America, p. 139, 1862. — Bethune, Can.
Ent., 1868, vol. 1, p. 18, 1869.— Hv. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 53, 1882.
Sesia caudata Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 437, 1874.
Alcatho'e caudatum Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 53, 1882. — Beutenmuller,
Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 204, 1890 ; Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 8, p. 116, 1896; vol. 9, p. 217, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1,
pt. 6, p. 240, pi. 29, figs. 7, 8, 1901.— Jack, Garden and Forest, vol. 4, p. 496,
fig. 77, 1891. — Riley and Howard, Insect Life, vol. 4, p. 219, 1891. — Kellicott,
Can. Ent., vol. 24, p. 44, 1892. — Engelhardt, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc., vol. 20,
p. 156, 1925. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8685, 1939.
Male. — Antennae long, very slightly dilated ; pectinations short and fine,
yellow or orange. Labial palpus nearly smooth ; second joint slightly
thickened, deep yellow. Head black, slightly mixed with brown on top
and on face. Collar black. Thorax black, shiny, patagia slightly touched
with reddish, metathorax with lateral light-brown tufts. Abdomen black,
violaceous or coppery, beneath reddish brown ; anal tuft black at base and
with a soft, hairy, yellow appendage as long as, or longer than, the abdo-
men. Forelegs with coxae brownish red ; posterior tibiae rough, red-
brown to the last spurs; first tarsal joints heavily tufted with yellow and
orange, posterior joints yellow. Forewing opaque black on outer half,
vitreous on basal half, streaked with black veins ; underside somewhat
rusty black. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined black.
Female. — Antennae pale yellow. Labial palpi yellow beneath, black
above. Head black. Collar orange. Thorax and abdomen purplish black ;
anal tuft long, narrow, black. Forelegs orange, shaded with black out-
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERITDAE 103
wardly, posterior tibia and first tarsal joint black, last tarsal joints yellow.
Forewings opaque, black throughout. Hindvvings transparent.
Type. — Male. In the Boston Society of Natural History.
ALCATHOE CAUDATA WALKERI Neumoegen
Alcathoe candatnm var. ivalkeri Neumoegen, Ent. News, vol. 5, p. 331, 1894.—
Beutenmuu^r, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 116, 1896. — Encelhardt,
Bull. Brooklyn Enl. Soc, vol. 20, p. 156, 1925. — McDunnough, Check list of
the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No.
8685, 1939.
This male color variety differs from the normal form in having labial
palpi, collar, legs, and anal appendage black. The antennae are black
above, rufous beneath. It has been recorded only very occasionally and
at long intervals. It shares the distribution of the normal species.
Expanse : Male 22 to 30 mm., female 23 to 33 mm.
Distribution. — General throughout eastern Atlantic and Midwestern
States to Nova Scotia and eastern Canada and through tlie Appalachian
regions to the South.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Records in the United States National Museum : Richmond
Hill, Long Island, N. Y., males and females, July 5, 1914 (Engelhardt) ;
New Jersey, males and females (J. Doll) ; Bronx Park, New York City,
males and females (L. Jontel) ; Greenville, N. Y., August 22, 1922, female
(Engelhardt) ; Monterey, Mass., August 11, 1927, male (Engelhardt) ;
Washington, D. C, male and female (H. G. Dyar) ; Hartsdale, West-
chester County, N. Y., August 12, 1939 (Engelhardt) ; Black Mountains,
N. C, 2,000 feet, August 21, 1929, males and females normal and male
walkeri ( Engelhardt ) .
ALCATHOE CAUDATA ANNETTELLA, new race
Plate 24, Figure 145
Forewing of male opaque, black, except for a very narrow space between
the veins at wing base. Hindwing, in both male and female, broadly
margined with irregular extensions between the veins inwardly.
Type.—\J.S.'H.U. No. 56838, male.
Remarks. — Represented in the United States National Museum by the
type, one male and two female paratypes collected and reared on Clematis
vines in the garden of Annette E. Braun, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 1, 1916.
In range it is expected this race should extend to regions in Tennessee and
Arkansas from where as yet no records of Clematis borers have been
obtained.
ALCATHOE PEPSIOIDES Engelhardt
Plate 24, Figure 146
Alcathoe pepsioides Engelhardt, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 20, p. 157, 1925.—
McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States
of America, pt. 2, No. 8687, 1939.
104 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Male. — Antennae bluish black when perfect, rufous when abraded, pec-
tinations dense but short. Labial palpi black, slightly touched with brown.
Head black, a coarse brush on top. Collar, thorax, abdomen, anal
appendage, and legs black with metallic reflections. Forewing opaque, dull
orange ; costa, vein 10, and cubitus shaded with dull black ; discal mark
and inner margin with reddish scales ; fringes brownish black. Hindwing
opaque, dull orange ; cubitus and veins 2, 3, and 4 shaded with dull black.
A vitreous, round or slightly oval area confined between veins la and lb
at base of wing. Wings similar above and beneath.
Female. — Antennae simple, orange. Labial palpi black, slightly mixed
with orange. Head black, a coarse brush on top, mixed black and orange
in color. Anal tuft black, narrow, centrally inverted and with a shorter
hair pencil at each side. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse : Male 30 to 32 mm., female 34 to 36 mm.
Distribution. — Rocky Mountain regions, 4,000 to 8,000 feet, Colorado,
Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona.
Type. — Male, in the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — This species, aside from its predominating normal orange
form, is subject to color variations in both sexes varying from orange
to deep black.
ALCATHOE PEPSIOIDES ATRA Engelhardt
Plate 24, Figure 147
Alcathoe pepsioides. atra Engelhardt, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 20, p. 158,
1925. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United
States of America, pt. 2, No. 8687, 1939.
That the color variety atra is conspecific with pepsioides has been
established from long series of specimens reared from material collected
in the same locality and at the same time. One lot from Jemez Springs,
Sandoval County, N. Mex., 6,000 feet, produced 50 or more examples
of both sexes composed of the normal orange- winged form and numerous
others displaying a gradual color transition from orange through brown
and brown-black to deep black and lustrous blue-black. Other series
with color variations of the same kind are from Fort Wingate, McKinley
County, N. Mex., 7,000 feet, July 1922 (John Woodgate) ; Escalante,
Carfield County, Utah, 4,000 feet, July 28, 1933 (Engelhardt) ; St.
George, Washington County, Utah, July 20, 1941 (Engelhardt) ; Grand
Junction, Mesa County, Colo., 5,000 feet, August 12, 1933 (Engelhardt) ;
Trinidad, Las Animas County, Colo., 5,000 feet, July 10, 1929 (Engel-
hardt) ; Oak Creek Canyon, Coconino County, Ariz., 6,000 feet, August
1898 (Snow) ; Alpine, Brewster County, Tex., 5,000 feet, July 20. 1929,
orange form only (Engelhardt).
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 105
ALCATHOE PEPSIOIDES FERRUGATA. new race
Plate 24, Figure 148
Male. — Antennae ferruginous, pectinations blackish, tips lemon yellow,
tufted. Labial palpi rusty brown. Head black mixed with rufous on
top ; face violaceous. Collar shiny, rufous. Thorax brown-black in
center, roughly covered with rufous hairs on the sides, sordid black
beneath. Abdomen bright chestnut, each segment thinly annulated with
black posteriorly ; anal tuft and a shorter hairy pencil on each side black ;
anal male appendage long, dull brown. Legs rufous, posterior tibiae
reddish brown between the spurs, shading into violaceous-black at lower
spurs; much thickened first tarsal joint dark brown, terminal joints
smooth, rufous. Wings opaque, golden brown; forewing metallic black
at base and hindwing w^ith the characteristic vitreous roundish area be-
tween veins la and lb at the base.
Female. — Antennae simple. Anal tuft long, narrow, dark brown. No
anal appendage, otherwise like the male.
Distribution. — Western slopes of Rocky Mountains only, Colorado,
New Mexico.
73,y,^^._U.S.N.M. No. 56839. From Rifle, Colo.
Remarks. — Described from the male type and 13 male and 15 female
paratypes.
This distinctive race of pepsioides has been reared in long, pure series
of both sexes at Rifle and Glenwood, Garfield County, Colo., 5,000 feet,
August 4, 1927, and July 22, 1931 (Engelhardt). A small number from
the canyon above Glenwood, 6,000 feet, included examples of typical
pepsioides and of the race ferrugata. One female of fcrrugata is labeled
Taos, Taos County, N. Mex., 7,000 feet, July 29, 1929 (Engelhardt).
ALCATHOE AUTUMNALIS, new species
Plate 25, Figure 149
Male. — Antennae black, orange between the pectinations and at tips.
Labial palpi all black. Head lustrous black, with a coarse brush on top.
Collar, thorax, abdomen, anal tuft, anal appendage, and legs all black
with metallic reflections. Forewing opaque, deep orange; costa, sub-
median and median veins, and inner margin heavily scaled with black
from wing base to beyond the cell, fringes brownish black ; on the under-
side the black shading reduced to near the wing base. Hindwing opaque,
deep orange, streaked with black veins ; three hyaline areas, divided by
black veins at wing base, the posterior one oval and largest, the others
narrow, straight.
Female. — Antennae bright orange, simple; anal appendage lacking;
otherwise like the male.
Expanse: Male 32 to 36 mm., female 34 to 38 mm.
Distribution. — Southeastern Texas, Mexico.
106 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Types.— U.S.N. M. No. 56840. From San Antonio, Tex.
Remarks. — Described from the male type and 31 male and 27 female
paratypes all from San Antonio, Tex.
This species escaped notice and capture on the part of collectors until
reared in long series from cuttings of Clematis ligusticifolia in southeastern
Texas. Rearing material obtained in June and July repeatedly resulted
in failure until after the emergence of one dwarfed specimen late in Sep-
tember. This solved the problem. A. autumnalis is a fall species with
the principal time of emergence in September and October as against
June, July, and August for other species in the genus. The three hyaline
areas at the base of the hindwing readily separate this species from
peps'wides, which has only one hyaline basal area. Long series of fine
specimens of both sexes as yet are contained only in the United States
National Museum. Locality records are : Austin, San Antonio, Del
Rio, and Brownsville, Tex. The range of autumnalis follows the food
plant into Mexico and very likely into Central America, where it is ex-
pected to prove conspecific with A. korites (Druce), when more and
better material becomes available. The examples from Texas run true
to type. There are no color variations.
ALCATHOE CAROLINENSIS Engelhardt
Alcathoe carolinensis Engelhardt, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 20, p. 156,
1925. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United
States of America, pt. 2, No. 8686, 1939.
The description of this form as a Nearctic species seeins likely to have
been incorrect. Erected on a single example, without locality label and
date, and contained in a miscellaneous lot of Lepidoptera at the American
Museum of Natural History, the specimen was recognized, at first doubt-
fully, then positively, by Beutenmiiller as having been collected by him
on flowers of Clematis in the Black Mountains of North Carolina, a sur-
prising record inasmuch as the moth exhibits much closer affinities to
western species than to the eastern A. caudata. Subsequent field investi-
gations in the Black Mountains of North Carolina have proved Beuten-
miiller's plant identification erroneous. Long series of reared examples
consisted of typical A. caudata, including several of the black male
variety, walkeri.
The collection of North American clematis borers has been extended
greatly in recent years, affording a clearer conception of the species and
their races and color varieties. The type of carolinensis lacks antennae
and the long anal appendage of the male. Reexamination shows it not
to be a male, as described, but a female with a short antennal stub which
is orange, characteristic of that sex. The male antennae are black. On
structure carolinensis could readily be placed as a black color variety
of autumnalis, but 100 or more reared specimens of autumnalis from
Texas show absolutely no color variations. This apparent uniformity
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 107
may yet be upset as it has been for other western species. However, at
present it would seem that the type of carolinensis was from Mexico or
Central America and is a black color variety of A. koritcs (Druce). The
tropical species still are much confused.
Type. — In the American Museum of Natural History.
ALCATHOE VERRUGO VERRUGO (Druoc)
Plate 25, Figure 150
Sarmina verruga Druce, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Lepidoptera, vol. 1, p. 34,
pi. 5, fig. 21, 1884.
Male. — Antennae black, brown at the tips and beneath the pectinations,
which are short and fine. Labial palpi, head, thorax, abdomen, anal
appendage, and legs shiny black with steel-blue reflections. Forewing
opaque, orange or orange-red, finely streaked with black veins ; costa black,
outer margins with broad dull-black fringes ; wing base black ; discal mark
usually not prominent, sometimes with black scales. Hindwing opaque,
orange or orange-red ; margins with broad dull-black fringes ; no hyaline
areas at the wing base.
Female. — Antennae simple. Anal appendage lacking. Otherwise like
the male.
Distribution. — Mexico, California.
Type. — Female. In the British Museum of Natural History. From
Esperanza, Pueblo, Mexico.
ALCATHOE VERRUGO CORVINUS, new variety
Plate 25, Figure 151
Male and jcmale. — Entirely black, with steel-blue reflections ; otherwise
like the typical form.
Expanse : Male 24 to 26 mm., female 26 to 30 mm.
Distribution. — Central America to southern and central California.
Type. — U.S.N. M. No. 56841. From Arroyo Seco, Los Angeles, Calif.
Remarks — Described from male type, 6 male and 5 female paratypes
from the type locality, and 2 female paratypes from San Juan Capistrano,
Calif.
Central American records of verruga Druce are scattered and too few
for a comprehensive survey of distribution in tropical and subtropical
countries. In the United States the species is confined to coastal regions
of southern and central California at elevations not above 2,000 feet. Santa
Barbara is still the northernmost record. In northern California, Oregon,
and Washington the abundantly present food plant has been found free
from attacks. The absence of hyaline areas at the base of the hindwing
readily separates verrugo from western species, which it otherwise
resembles.
108 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Reared in long series from Arroyo Seco, Los Angeles, July 1927 and
1928 (Engelhardt), the insect attracted other collectors and is now amply
represented by reared specimens, not captures. All the series exhibit two
distinctly separate color phases, approximately 75 percent being the nor-
mal orange and 25 percent a lustrous black. The lack of transitions caused
speculation. Could the dark form be accepted as evidence of a new species
or subspecies in the making? The answer has been supplied by Theodore
W. Hower, of Orange, Calif., whose rearings of several hundred specimens
from San Juan Capistrano have furnished the missing intergarding color
variations, although in only a few examples.
Along wooded river bottoms and gorges in California the food plant,
Clemalis ligustkifolia, attains maximum growth, huge vines, often dis-
playing the swollen infested parts, reaching the tree tops. Smaller, sprawl-
ing vines, usually sufficiently well represented, are more convenient for
collecting. Invariably such vines grow in a mixture of poison oak, which
calls for precaution.
The larvae pupate in the swollen part of their burrows late in June.
From plant cuttings obtained at that time the moths can be reared easily
during July. C. M. Dammers, of Riverside, Theodore W. Hower, of
Orange, and E. Henne, of South Pasadena, have contributed reared speci-
mens to the United States national collection.
Genus PODOSESIA Moschler
Podosesia MoscHLER, Ent. Zeit., Stettin, vol. 40, p. 246, 1879. (Genotype, Aegeria
syringae Harris = Grotea longipes (Moschler).)
Grotea Moschler (not Harris), Ent. Zeit., Stettin, vol. 37, p. 312, 1876. (Genotype,
Grotea longipes Moschler.)
Antennae of male bipectinate, of female simple. Tongue long, spiraled.
Labial palpus with a well-developed brush on second joint; terminal joint
shorter, smooth, blunt. Head and thorax smooth. Fore wing with 12
veins; 7 and 8 stalked to costa, 10 and 11 separate, 2 and 3 short-stalked.
Hindwing with 8 veins ; 3 and 4 short-stalked, 7 and 8 obscured in costal
fold. Abdomen slightly constricted at base. Posterior tibiae and first
tarsal joint much prolonged with rough scales above. Male genitalia of
the Synanthedon type ; vinculum short, blimt; sacculus ridge with a rather
short slightly cinwed row of heavy, black, flat scales near the edge of the
harpe ; aedeagus terminating in three prongs. Female genitalia with an
unsclerotized ductus ; bursa without signum.
PODOSESIA SYRINGAE SYRINGAE (Harris)
Plate 2, Figure 11 ; Plate 7, Figures 38-38b; Plate 14, Figure 68
Aegeria syringae Harris, Amer. Journ. Arts and Sci., vol. 36, p. 311, 1839. — Walker,
List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British
Museum, pt. 8, p. 41, 1856. — Thomas, Seventh report of the State entomologist
on the noxious and beneficial insects of the Stale of Illinois, 1877, p. 174, 1878. —
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 109
Marten, in Thomas, Tenth reixjit of the State entomologist on the noxious and
beneficial insects of the State of Illinois, 1880, p. lOQ, 1881. — French, PapiUo,
vol. 1, p. 106, 1881.
Trochilium syringac AIoRRis, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North Amer-
ica, p. 139, 1862.— Riley, Insect Life, vol. 6, p. 206, 1894.
Sesia syringae Boisduval, Histoire nalurelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 436, 1874. — Hulst, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc,
vol. 5, p. 17, figs., 1882.— Lugger, 2d Ann. Rep. Ent. State Exp. Slat. Univ.
Minnesota, 1896, p. 38, 1897.
Grotea longipes Moschler, Ent. Zeit., Stettin, vol. i7 , p. 313, 1876.
Podesesia syringae Moschler, Ent. Zeit., Stettin, vol. 40, p. 246, 1879. — Beuten-
muller, Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 204, 1890; Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., vol. 8, p. 125, 1896; vol. 9, p. 219, 1897; Mem. Amer. Alus. Nat. Hist., vol.
1, pt. 6, p. 244, pi. 30, fig. 14, pi. 32, fig. 10, 1901.— Packard, 5th Rep. U. S. Ent.
Comm., p. 542, 1890.— Kellicott, Can. Ent., vol'. 23, p. 250, 1891 ; Journ. Colum-
bus Hort. Soc, vol. 6, p. 62, 1891. — Osbokn, Rep. Iowa State Hort. Soc, Proc,
1892, p. 102, 1893.— Webster, Journ. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 5, p. 71, 1896.—
McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of
America, pt. 2, No. 8768, 1939.
Trochiliinn denudatmn Osborn, Trans. Iowa Hist. Soc, vol. 15, 1880, pp. 107-110,
1881 ; College Quart., vol. 2, p. 10, 1879 ; vol. 3, pp. 14-33, 1880.
Sciapteron syringae Hy. EowAitDs, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 184, 1881. — Packard, Insects
injurious to forest and shade trees, U. S. Ent. Comm. Bull. No. 7, p. 261, 1881.
Male. — Antennae strongly bipectinate, rufous, black above. Labial
palpus with a heavy brush, dark brown on second joint, terminal joint
short, blunt. Head dark brown, posteriorly with a rufous fringe. Collar
brown-black. Thorax brown-black marked with chestnut-red laterally
and posteriorly. Abdomen somewhat constricted at base, black or brown
ish black, not banded, but sometimes with a yellow lateral spot on segment
4; anal tuft short and pointed. Coxae of forelegs black, edged with red,
femora black, tibiae hairy, orange, tarsi yellow ; posterior tibiae smooth,
orange and black ; first tarsal joint very long, deep yellow, terminal joints
smooth, pale yellow. Forewing nearly opaque, hyaline between the veins
at base, dull black, more or less shaded with chestnut-red, paler beneath.
Hindwing transparent, yellowish opalescent, and with scale sufifusions be-
tween the veins, heaviest between veins lb and Ic, the veins black and the
fringes brown-black.
Female. — Antennae simple, reddish brown at base, at tip, and beneath,
black in the middle above. Posterior tarsus with first joint constrastingly
orange and black, terminal joints bright yellow. Otherwise like the male.
Color variations are increasingly conspicuous toward the southward
limits of the species' range. The thorax and abdominal segments 2 and 3
may become almost entirely chestnut-red, only narrowly edged with black.
Expanse : Male 26 to 32 mm., female 32 to 38.
Distribution. — Eastern half of United States and Canada. For detailed
distribution and host records see under the race jraxini.
Type. — Female. In the Boston Society of Natural History (T. W,
Harris, collector).
110 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
PODOSESIA SYRINGAE race FRAXINI (Lugger)
Trochiliiim fraxini Lugger, Psyche, vol. 6, p. 109, pi. 3, fig. 4, 1891 ; 1st Ann. Rep.
Ent. State Exp. Stat. Univ. Minnesota, 1895, p. 94 (1895). — Aldrich, Insect
Life, vol. 4, p. 68, 1891.
Aegeria fraxini Orcutt and Aldrich, South Dakota Agr. Coll. and Exp. Stat. Bull.
22, pp. 80-83, fig. 1, 1891.
Podosesia fraxini Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 88, 1894;
vol. 8, p. 125, 1896; vol. 9, p. 219, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt.
6, p. 245, pi. 30, fig. 15 (female), 1901.— McDunnough, Check list of the
Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8769, 1939.
Male. — Antennae pale rufous, with narrow black ambulations above.
Labial palpus with a heavy brush, rufous slightly mixed with black. Head
grizzly black on top, base fringed with orange. Collar brown and yellow.
Thorax brown-black, tufted with yellow at wing base and black and yellow
on metathorax laterally. Abdomen contracted at base, segment 1 black ;
segments 2 and 3 black, narrowly edged with yellow; segment 4 black,
broadly banded with yellow; segments 5, 6, and 7 and the short, pointed
anal tuft chestnut mixed with yellow. Coxae black, posterior tibiae deep
yellow or orange, black between the spurs. Tarsi with first joint very long,
sordid yellow. Forewing opaque, coppery brown to discal mark, hyaline
streaks between the veins to wing base ; costa and inner margin dull black,
red on basal parts; fringes dark brown. Hindwing transparent; veins
yellowish brown ; narrow margin edged with red ; fringes sordid brown,
darkening toward base.
Female. — Very similar to male. Abdomen less constricted at base.
Hindwing more broadly margined and with reddish suffusions between
veins lb and Ic.
Expanse : Male 28-32 mm., female 30-34 mm.
Distribution. — Northern Midwestern States to Manitoba, and Kansas,
Colorado, Rocky Mountain regions to Montana. Not recorded from the
Pacific coast.
Type. — Location not indicated.
Remarks. — In its western distribution the ash tree borer, Podosesia
syringae, is replaced by the pale ochreous color form fraxini. Heretofore
fraxini has been given specific rank, but it is conspecific with syringae as
shown in a series of examples from St. Paul, Minn., a, transition zone in
which the two color forms occur intermixed. In arid regions west of the
Mississippi fraxini runs true to type.
As examples of mimicry the Aegeriidae furnish many excellent illustra-
tions. It is of interest to note the similar response to climatic differences
in the insects which are mimicked. In the humid Atlantic coast regions,
Podosesia syringae resembles deceptively a common, black and chestnut
colored wasp of the genus Polistes; in the arid West, the race fraxini
mingles with a different Polistes of the sarne pale ochreous coloration.
Among insects injurious to forest and shade trees, the ash tree borer
has called for considerable attention. Young trees planted along streets,
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 111
in parks, and in gardens are attacked with preference and at times heavily,
sometimes causing death. Trees in wild woodlands suffer less seriously.
The larvae bore in the living wood, excavating galleries several inches long.
After wintering in its burrow, the larva prepares a thin cocoon giving
access to an exit covered thinly by the outer bark. The moths emerge in
June and July or in the South as early as March and April. Besides ash,
the borer is partial as well to other trees and shrubs of the family
Oleaceae, including European introductions, although Ligustrmn appears
to be the exception. In the Botanical Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y., 1910-1915,
the insect interfered seriously with the development of an extensive planta-
tion of Syringa, and fringetrees {ChionantJms) also were attacked. Para-
sites very largely are responsible for checking heavy infestations. Wood-
peckers also take a heavy toll. In recent years it appears the insect has
become far less abundant.
Records of syringae in the United States National Museum : Male and
females, Columbus, Ohio (W. N. Tallant) ; Decatur, 111. (Barnes);
Washington, D. C. (H. G. Dyar) ; Botanical Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y.,
June 5, 1914 (Engelhardt) ; Delchamps, Mobile, Ala., April 7, 1933
(Engelhardt) ; Staten Island, N. Y., June 25, 1927 (W. T. Davis) ;
College Station, Tex., March 31, 1928 (Engelhardt) ; Willard, Mo., June
1914 (A. E. Brower) ; State College, Pa., May 16 (Geo. C. Butz) ;
Pittsburgh. Pa., June 12; Biltmore, S. C, from European ash. May 15,
1915 (F. E. Brooks) ; Agricultural Experiment Station, St. Paul, Minn.,
May 1, 1890, and forced emergence, March 23, 1877.
The race fraxiiii has been reported as causing serious injury in Texas.
Colorado, South Dakota, Montana, and Manitoba, Canada, attacking with
preference young ash trees planted in public squares and parks. In
severe cases a tree may contain 50 or more of the borers, and the chance
of its survival is small.
Records of fraxini in the United States National Museum : Males
and females, Experiment Station, St. Paul, Minn., May 17, 1887; Ramsey
County, Minn. ; North Dakota from ash twigs (J. A. Munroe) ; Bozeman,
Mont. (Allen Mail) ; Denver, Colo. (Oslar) ; Miles City, Mont., on
ash, May 19, 1891 (Ch. A. Wiley) ; Akrow, Colo., on ash, July 17, 1916
(H. L. Shantz).
Kellicott (1891) reports rearing P. syringae from the trunks of
mountain-ash, Sorbiis americana, on the university campus, Columbus,
Ohio. I am unable to confirm this record. The only aegeriids I have
found partial to mountain-ash are Thamnosphecia scitula and pyri.
Genus THAMNOSPHECIA Spuler
Thamnosphecia Spuler, Die Schmetlerlinge Europas, vol. 2, p. 308, 1910. (Genotype,
Sphinx culiciformis Linnaeus.)
Tongue long, spiraled. Labial palpus with second joint having a
strong, uneven brush; third joint short, blunt. Antennae of male with
112 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
short, fine pectinations ; of female, simple. Forev/ing with 12 veins, 7
and 8 stalked to costa, 10 and 11 separate. Hindwing with veins 3 and
4 stalked, 5 nearer to 6 than to 4. Posterior tibiae nearly smooth, tufted
at spurs ; first tarsal joint not thickened. Male genitalia having sacculus
ridge with stifif spines, not bifid scales, in a slightly curved longitudinal
group ending before the margin of sacculus ; aedeagus straight, bulbous
at base ; cornuti short spined.
THAMNOSPHECIA CULICIFORMIS (Linnaeus)
Plate 2, Figure 12 ; Plate 7, Figures 39, 39a ; Plate 14, Figure 69
Sphinx culiciformis Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, p. 493, 1758. — Clerck, Icones
insectorum rariorium cum nominibus eorum trivialibus, pi. 9, fig. 3, 1759.
Sesia culiciformis Fabricius, Systema entomologiae, p. 549 (in part), 1775. —
Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 294, 1901.
Aegeria culiciformis Stephens, Illustrations of British entomology: Hanstellata, vol.
1, p. 143, pi. 10, fig. 3, 1828.
Synanthedon culiciformis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8725, 1939.
This European species is included on the basis of one male example re-
corded from Kukak Bay, Alaskan Peninsula, July 1, 1899 (Harriman Ex-
pedition, T. Kincaid, collector), in the United States National Museum
collection. The specimen is not perfect but conforms precisely with
culicifortnis on structures of the genitalia. Additional evidence of culici-
formis in Alaska is furnished by larvae and pupal cases obtained in and
under the bark of white birch at Anchorage and at Palmer (July 1938,
Engelhardt). The infested trees had been abused, showing bruises and
healing wounds ; at Anchorage they were near a baseball field and at
Palmer adjacent to the administration buildings for the Matanusca agri-
cultural developments. The borers had concentrated on the injured
places of the tree trunks. None could be found on the abundant birches,
or on alder, growing under natural, undisturbed conditions.
In Europe culiciforinis ranges to Lapland, Finland, and along the
northern borders into Siberia. There is good reason for accepting it
as a circumpolar species. There are no structural, and only slight color,
diflferences between culiciformis and americana. The forewings of culici-
formis have orange scales at the bases and are almost entirely golden
yellow beneath, and the tibiae and tarsi are prominently marked yellowish
brown, whereas the forewings of americana are entirely black, with
orange scales only at the bases beneath, and the tibiae and tarsi are only
slightly marked with yellowish brown. Rearing records of omcricanu are
all from alder ; there are none from birch.
THAMNOSPHECIA AMERICANA (Bentenmailer)
Aegeria culiciformis Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 93, 1894.
Sesia culiciformis var. americana Beutenmiiller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol.
8, p. 136, 1896; vol. 9, p. 219, 1897.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 113
Sesia anicricana Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Miis. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, p. 6, p. 2W,
1901.
Synanthedon americana McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8724, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, moderately dilated, pectinations short and fine.
Labial palpi blue-black above, orange beneath. Head blue-black, orbits
silvery white. Thorax blue-black, with an orange patch on each side
beneath. Abdomen blue-black, the fourth segment entirely orange, the
sides orange from the base to segment 4 and sometimes segment 2 nar-
rowly edged with orange above; anal tuft wedge-shaped, black. Legs
metallic black, posterior tibia shaded with brown on upper half and at
the union with tarsus. Forewing transparent opalescent; veins, strong
costa and discal mark, and broad outer margin shiny black; fringes lus-
trous brown ; underside pale orange at the base. Hindwing with narrow
margin and small discal mark.
Female. — Like the male except : antennae simple ; anal tuft narrow,
blunt at tip.
Expanse: Male 23 to 26 mm., female 24 to 27 mm.
Distribution. — Nevada, northern California, Oregon, Utah, Idaho,
Montana, Washington, British Columbia.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Trees rather than shrubs of alders are attacked. The
larvae bore under the bark in shallow, winding channels of the wood,
causing the bark to blister and die. Such places may have as many as
a dozen orifices from which moths have escaped. Alders exposed along
roadsides and streain beds are preferred. The injury to alder trees very
much resembles that caused to maples by Sylvora acerni. The moths re-
corded from White River Camp, Mount Rainier, Wash., were captured
on the flowers of pearly-everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea.
A long series of reared specimens of both sexes is labeled Riggins,
Idaho (Alnus rhombifolia) , June 4, 1914 (Hopkins U. S. 11590). Other
records are Burns, Oreg., June 1926 (B. G. Thompson) ; Almata, Wash.,
May 11, 1901, one male (C. V. Piper) ; Uinta Mountains, Utah, one
male (D. E. Beck) ; White River Camp, Mount Rainier, Wash.,
August 8, 1935, 2 males (Joseph Wilcox).
THAMNOSPHECIA FULVIPES (Harris)
Aegeria fulvipes Harris, Amer. Journ. Arts and Sci., vol. 36, p. 312, 1839.
.Sesia fulvipes Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 439, 1874. — Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer.
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 135, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 290, pi. 31, fig. 28, 1901.
Synantliedon fulvipes McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8718, 1939.
Male. — Antennae slender, pectinations short, whitish before tips. Labial
palpi orange beneath, black above. Head and thorax coppery black, the
114 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
latter with an orange lateral patch beneath the wing bases. Abdomen
slender, lustrous coppery, segments 2 and 3 orange at the sides, segment 4
orange above and beneath ; anal tuft wedge-shaped, narrow and long, light
brown at tip beneath. Legs with coxae black ; tibiae bright orange through-
out ; first joint of posterior tarsus orange, the other joints black. Forewing
hyaline; veins, costa, and very narrow outer margin black, discal mark
narrow, outwardly edged with orange, wing base and costa dusted with
orange; underside pale yellow along costa to wing base. Hindwing with
very small black discal mark, costa pale yellow to wing base, above and
beneath, fringes brownish black.
Female. — Similar to male. Antenna simple, apical one-third pale yellow.
Anal tuft straight, blunt.
Expanse : Male 23 to 24 mm., female 18 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Northern New Jersey ; New York, in the Catskill and
Adirondack Mountains ; New Hampshire ; Massachusetts ; Vermont ;
Maine ; Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
Type. — Female. In the Boston Society of Natural History. From
Massachusetts (May 25, 1826).
Remarks. — All records for this species, the only one indigenous to
eastern North America with the food plant still unknown, are captured
specimens taken one at a time, usually on flowers or herbage. The geni-
talia unite it so closely with ainericana, the western bark borer on alder,
that it would not be surprising if jiilvipes should prove to be a bark borer
on alder in the East.
THAMNOSPHECIA SCITULA SCITULA (Harris)
Plate 8, Figures 41, 41a; Plate 14, Figure 71 ; Plate 25, Figure 152
Aegeria scitula Harris, Amer. Journ. Arts and Sci., vol. 36, p. 313, 1839. — Walker,
List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British
Museum, pt. 8, p. 45, 1856. — Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol.
6, p. 94, 1894.
Trochilium galUvorum Westwood, Gard. Chron., vol. — , p. 757, 1854; Proc. Ent.
Soc. London, ser. 2, vol. 3, p. 21, 1854.— Hy. Fdvvards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 96, 1882.
Trochilium scitula Morris, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North America,
p. 141, 1862.
Trochilium hospes Walsh, Proc. Ent. Soc. Philadelphia, vol. 6, p. 270, 1866.
Sesia scitula Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 439, 1874. — Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist, vol. 8, p. 139, 1896; vol. 9, p. 200, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 298, 1901.
Aegeria gallivora Grote, New check list of North American moths, p. 12, 1882. —
Kellicott, Can. Ent., vol. 24, p. 45, 1892.
Aegeria aemiila Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 3, p. 155, 1883; Ent. Amer., vol. 3, p.
224, 1888.
Sesia hospes Packard, 5th Rep. U. S. Ent. Comm., pp. 217, 328, 596, 1890.
Synanthedon scitula McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8731, 1939.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 115
Alalc. — Antennae steel-blue-black, with a golden spot at the base beneath.
Palpus yellow, the third joint often, but not always, tipped black. Head
black, orbits shining white. Collar yellow above, white at the sides and
beneath. Thorax black, lustrous steel blue or coppery, with a narrow,
long, yellow stripe on the patagia and a small yellow transverse patch
posteriorly. Abdomen steel blue or violaceous-black, segment 2 narrowly
banded with yellow above; segment 4 above also with a narrow yellow
band, which broadens on underside; segments 5, 6, and 7 yellow beneath;
a thin yellow stripe below on the side from base of abdomen to segment
2; anal tuft nicely fan-shaped, black, edged vvith yellow at the sides.
Anterior coxae bright golden yellow ; femora blue-black ; tibiae yellow,
banded with purplish black between the spurs ; tarsi yellow, with narrow
blackish bands at the joints. Forewing transparent, veins, discal spot and
narrow, outer border blue-black ; golden-yellow rays between the veins
from the margin inward ; costa blue-black, intermixed with yellow ; under-
side yellower than upper. Hindwing transparent, margins very narrowly
blue-black. Genitalia having sacculus with strong spines in a straight line.
Female. — Like the male but larger and stouter ; the yellow shading on
forewings heavier; abdominal segment 2 edged with yellow posteriorly,
sometimes with a yellow stripe on the side to the base of abdomen ; seg-
ment 4 broadly banded with yellow above and beneath ; segments 5 and 6
yellow beneath ; anal tuft short, inverted from the sides, center black, edged
broadly with yellow.
Expanse : Male 14 to 18 mm., female 16 to 20 mm.
Distribution. — Southeastern Canada and New England, westward to
Ohio, Illinois, and Minnesota and southward to the Mississippi Valley and
into Texas. Not known from the Rocky Mountain regions and the Pa.cific
coast.
Type. — Female ( T. W. Harris) . In Boston Society of Natural History.
Remarks. — No other species in the family Aegeriidae exhibits so great
an adaptability to dififerent unrelated food plants as scitiila. Normally a
bark borer on oaks, it has been found to attack all sorts of deciduous trees
and shrubs and even pine, provided there are physiological conditions to
attract the insects. These are abnormal growths such as woody galls,
excrescences due to fungi, rusts, and blights, bruises, and healing wounds.
Under favorable conditions extremely heav)' infestations result. The
cynipid gall, Andricus cornigerus, often occurring in thousands on single
trees of black and pin oaks, may be heavily attacked, nearly every gall
serving the clearwing borer as a habitation. A similar condition has been
observed in the case of hickory trees in Texas that were laden with hard,
woody galls. A larger, bulging growth on the trunk of a beach near
Mobile, Ala., produced hundreds of the moths, judged by the protruding
pupal exuviae. Likewise in pecan groves in northern Florida and in
Alabama distortions at the bases of tree trunks due to a fungus were
116 BULLETIN 190. UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
honeycombed by larval galleries, and higher up on the tree trunks the
larvae were boring under the bark to an extent calling for control
measures.
The young saplings of the American chestnut, periodically produced
as sprouts from underground roots and representing about all that re-
mains of a formerly magnificent forest tree, invariably succumb in a few
years to the fatal attacks of the chestnut blight. From cuttings of parts
distorted by this disease I have reared scitula but never any of the original
chestnut bark borer, Synanthedon castaneae (Busck). On dogwood,
Cornus florida, scitula is common on scarred tree trunks. From cherry,
apple, mountain-ash, hickory, willow, and birch there are occasional records,
usually associated with injured or diseased places on the tree trunks.
Wounds and scars started by other insects also serve as abodes, regardless
of the kind of tree or shrub on which they occur.
Rearings have been obtained from bayberry (Myrica carolinensis)
and from Japanese dwarf pine at Mobile, Ala. ; from hazelnut in Con-
necticut ; from white oak, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; from bark of Physocarpa,
Chicago, 111., and from rattan-vines {Berchemia scandens), Jacksonville,
Fla. This should suffice to indicate the variety of trees and shrubs sub-
jected to attacks when suitable ecological conditions are present. As'
may be expected, scitula is the commonest of the North American species
of Aegeriidae. Economically the most serious damage is caused to pecan
in the Southern States. Otherwise the species is not of great importance.
The principal time of emergence is spring and early in summer, as
early as March in the South, but occasional adults issue through July
and August, and even as late as September. Whether this signifies two
broods in one year is difficult to prove. The change from larva to pupa
takes place in an oblong cocoon within the larval gallery.
THAMNOSPHECIA SCITULA race CORUSCA (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 25, Figure 153
Aegeria coimca Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 193, 1881.
Sesia corusca Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 140, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 299, 1901.
Synanthedon corusca McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8733, 1939.
Field investigations over a number of years have established beyond
doubt that corusca represents the southern extension in the range of
scitula, and hence it can be recognized only as a race. In structure and
in habits it agrees perfectly with typical scitula. It differs in having
coppery rays on the wing margins and orange abdominal bands instead
of yellow as in scitula. The change in coloration is gradual from the
coastal regions of Virginia southward into Texas. Inland, in hilly and
mountainous country, the color changes are less pronounced.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 117
THAMNOSPHECIA GELIFORMIS (Walker)
Aegeria geliformis Walker. List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 46, 1856. — Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol.
1, pp. 208, 244, pi. 4, fig. 7, 1881.— Druce, Biologia Centrali-Americana,
Lepidoptera, vol. 1, p. 32, pi. 5, figs. 12, 17, 1883.
Trochilium geliformis MoRRis, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North
America, p. 333, 1862.
Sesia geliformis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 441, 1874. — Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 309, 1901.
Fyrrhotaenia geliformis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 3, p. 157, 1883. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 145, 1896.
Sciapteron geliformis Hampson, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist, vol. 16, p. 349, 1895.
Synanthedon geliformis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8752, 1939.
Male. — Antennae, palpi, head, and thorax wholly black with a greenish
or bluish metalHc luster. Abdomen with first segment above blue-black,
red beneath ; all other segments red above and beneath ; anal tuft fan-
shaped, red, broadly edged with black. Legs shiny blue-black, tibial spurs
tawny. Forewing opaque, blue-black above and beneath. Hindwing
transparent, broadly margined with dull black ; cilia dull black. Genitalia,
sacculus ridge strongly spined in a straight line.
Female. — Slightly larger, anal tuft inverted, rounded, all red or red
edged with black. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse: Male 15 to 16 mm., female 16 to 20 mm.
Distribution. — Florida and Gulf coast regions. West Indies, Mexico.
Type. — Male. In the British Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Druce (Biologia Centrali-Americana, vol. 1, p. 32, pi. 5,
color fig. 12 [male] and fig. 17 [female], 1883) corrects the illustration
by Hy. Edwards as having the forewings too opaque in contrast to his
examples from Jalapa, Mexico, which show distinct transparent areas
before and behind the discal mark. This is not true of a long series of
specimens from Florida, which have the forewings wholly opaque; in
fact, even denser than illustrated by Hy. Edwards. A specimen in the
United States National Museum from Orizaba, Mexico, conforms exactly
with Florida examples. Hence, the figures by Druce must apply to a race,
if not a different species.
The male type in the British Museum, said to be in very poor condition,
is labeled U. S. A. (E. Doubleday) and is most likely a Florida specimen.
T. geliformis is a species of tropical and subtropical origin, ranging from
Mexico through the West Indies into Florida, reaching the northern sec-
tions of the State. So strikingly different in coloration, it is surprising
to find that structurally it is closely related to the preceding species,
scitula, with which also it agrees in habits and a propensity to attack
various kinds of unrelated food plants. As a bark borer on pecan it is
establishing itself increasingly in central and southern Florida. Dog-
118 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
wood, adjacent to the university campus at Gainesville, badly infested
by a bark borer, produced only gelijormis instead of scitiila which had
been expected. The much-abused tree trunk of a hickory gave the same
results. From Andricus galls on oak at Monticello both gelijormis and
scitula emerged. Several examples in the United States National
Museum collection bear this label : "Cocoa, Fla., April 28, 1939. Larvae
in callus tissue formed where rabbits had gnawed the bark of Australian
pine, Casiiarina equiseti folia, A. S. Rhoads, collector."
The moths are most numerous in March and April but continue to
issue until July.
THAMNOSPHECIA PYRI (Harris)
Plate 26, Figure 154
Aegeria pyri Harris, New England Farmer, vol. 9, p. 2, 1830; Amer. Journ. Arts and
Sci., vol. 36, p. 313, 1839; A report on the insects of Massachusetts injurious to
vegetation . . ., p. 235, 1842; ed. 2, p. 256, 1852; ed. 3, p. 335, 1863; Entomological
correspondence of Thaddeus William Harris, M. D., edited by Samuel H.
Scudder, p. 361, 1869. — Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects
in the collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 45, 1856. — Packard, Guide
to the study of insects . . ., p. 278, 1869. — Thomas, Sixth report of the State
entomologist on the noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois, 1876,
p. 40, 1877; Seventh report (1. c), 1877, p. 170, 1878.— Stout, Kansas Hort.
Soc. Rep., vol. 9, 1879, p. 89, 1880. — Marten, in Thomas, Tenth report of the
State entomologist on the noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois,
1880, p. 107, 1881.— Kellicott, Can. Ent, vol. 13, p. 8, 1881.— Saunders, Insects
injurious to fruits, p. 140, fig. 146, 1883; ed. 2, p. 140, 1889.— Riley, Proc. Ent.
Soc. Washington, vol. 1, p. 85, 1888.— Weed, Amer. Nat., vol. 23, p. 1108, pi. 43,
fig. 3, 1889; Insect Life, vol. 4, p. 34, 1892.— Beutenmuller, Ann. New York
Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 204, 1890.
Trochilium pyri Fitch, Third report on the noxious, beneficial, and other insects of
the State of New York, 1856, p. 349, 1857. — Morris, Synopsis of the described
Lepidoptera of North America, p. 141, 1862.
Sesia pyri Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 440, 1874. — Smith, Catalogue of insects
found in New Jersey, vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 289, 1890. — BEUTENMtJLLER, Bull. Amer.
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 139, 1896; vol. 9, p. 220, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist. vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 297, 1901.
Aegeria koebelei Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 196, 1881.
Synanthedon pyri McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8729, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, sometimes slightly marked whitish before the
tips; palpi yellow beneath, black above. Head violaceous-black, strongly
hairy, orbits narrowly white. Collar black, mixed with white at the sides
and white beneath. Thorax lustrous blue-black above and with yellow
patches beneath at the sides. Abdomen lustrous blue-black, with a very
narrow yellow band on segment 2 above and also one on segment 4, the
latter broadening at the sides, covering the whole segment in the middle
beneath; segments 5 and 6 also yellow in the middle and segments 2
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGEKIIDAE 119
and 3 with yellow scales mixed with the darker scales on the underside;
the anal tuft fan-shaped, rarely expanded, black above, yellow beneath
and at the sides. Coxa, trochanter, and femur pale yellow ; tibia yellow
beneath, broadly banded with blue-black above, tarsus yellow beneath,
black above, narrowly ringed with yellow at the joints. Forewing trans-
parent, veins, narrow border, and oblong discal mark black ; outer margin
broad, dull cupreous between the veins ; underside golden yellow at the
outer margin and along the veins. Hindwing transparent, discal mark
faint; border narrow, black; cilia dull black. Genitalia with sacculus
spined in a straight line curved at the tip.
Female. — Antennae clear pale yellow on the outside for nearly half
their length. Abdomen with segment 4 more broadly banded with yellow
above than in the male, on underside the band broadening over the whole
segment, connecting with segment 5, which also is yellow beneath; seg-
ments 1 and 2 striped with yellow at the sides, the stripe continuing in
a thin band posteriorly on dorsum of segment 2 ; anal tuft short and
blunt, black with yellow edges.
Expanse: Male 15 to 18 mm., female 16 to 20 mm.
Distribution. — Canada to Mississippi. Western records doubtful.
Types. — Male. In the Boston Society of Natural History. The type
of Aegeria koehelei, a male, is in the American Museum of Natural
History. A specimen in the United States National Museum labeled
"Aegeria koehelei Hy. Edwards, male, type, Arizona," is a female and
not pyri. There are no records of pyri from Arizona. The specimen is
in very poor condition.
Rejfiarks. — T. pyri and scitula are easily confused when not in good
condition or if discolored by grease. The outstanding dififerences are
as follows : pyri with thorax wholly black above, tibiae black, tufted
with yellow at the spurs, tarsi black, narrowly banded with yellow at
the joints, antennae of the female well marked with white before the
tips ; scitula with antennae black in both sexes, thorax with a yellow stripe
on the patagia, tibiae yellow, black between the spurs, tarsi yellow.
As a bark borer on apple, pyri has received considerable attention
from orchardists and economic entomologists. Healthy, well-cared-for
trees, however, are fairly immune to attack. Trees suffering from neglect,
injured by storms, and weakened by disease are subjected to heavy in-
festations, the borer hastening the decline of the tree. Aside from apple,
hawthorn {Crataegus) is another food plant, presumably the original
one. The borer also has been reported from mountain-ash (Sorhiis) and
from Juneberry (Anielenchier) , but there are no records from pear. The
larvae live in shallow, tortuous channels in and beneath the bark, which
they cause to blister and peel. The moths emerge from late in May
to July.
120 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
THAMNOSPHECIA REFULGENS REFULGENS (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 7, Figxjres 40, 40a ; Plate 14, Figure 72
Aegeria refulgens Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 199, 1881.
Sesia refulgens Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 132, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 283, fig. 21, pi. 32, 1901.
Synantliedon refulgens McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8703, 1939.
Male. — Antennae metallic black, strongly pectinate. Labial palpi
yellow. Head black, striped with white at the eyes inwardly. Collar,
a yellow circle. Thorax shiny black, the patagia with a yellow stripe
and a transverse yellow band at the base; beneath banded with yellow
at the sides. Abdomen shiny black, with segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 con-
trastingly banded posteriorly with yellow above and beneath ; segments
3 and 5 also sometimes banded, but only faintly; anal tuft short, rounded,
not wedge-shaped, black above, yellow beneath at the tip. Legs yellow
and black ; femora black ; posterior tibia black before the anterior spurs,
then yellow to a black band at the posterior spurs ; spurs and tarsi yellow.
Forewing transparent, lustrous black marked with orange between the
veins at outer margin, discal mark black toward base, red toward apex,
lower costa streaked with orange, fringes coppery ; underside with orange
shadings more pronounced. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined
and fringed with coppery black.
Female. — Similar to the male but much more heavily shaded with
orange along the costa and between the veins at outer margin, giving
a deep golden luster to all shaded portions of the wing, above and be-
neath; abdominal segments 2, 4, and 6 with yellow bands posteriorly,
the anal tuft short, inverted, black, yellow at the sides.
Expanse: Male 20 to 24 mm., female 20 to 22 mm.
Distribution. — Coastal regions of the Southern States, South Carolina
to Mississippi.
Type. — Female. In Michigan Agricultural College. From Georgia
(Morrison).
Remarks. — Represented in the United States National Museum col-
lection by only a small series of captured specimens, all more or less worn.
A precise definition of the species on external characteristics has been
difficult.
Records in the United States National Museum : Spring Creek,
Decatur County, Ga., July 16-29, 1912, 1 male, 1 female; Chickasaw
(Mobile), Ala., April 13, 1930, 2 males, 1 female; September 13, 1931,
4 females (Engclhardt) ; Southern Pines, N. C, August 24, 1930, 1
female.
The habitat, as observed at Mobile, Ala., was open woodland on a
sandy ridge. Specimens were captured in a low, hovering flight or rest-
ing on foliage.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 121
THAMNOSPHECIA REFULGENS race SEMINOLE (Bentenmttller)
Sesia seminole Beutenmuller, Journ. New York Ent. Soc., vol. 7, p. 255, 1899;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1. pt. 6, p. 305, pi. 2,2>, figs. 18, 20, 1901.
Synunthedon seminole McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8743, 1939.
Male. — The unique type was figured by Beutenniiiller. Through the
courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History it was possible to
prepare a slide of the genitalia of the type. On the evidence offered by
these structures seminole is conspecific with refulgens. It appears to differ
only in its smaller average size and in the slightly heavier scaling on the
forewings. Until the food plant is known and a sufficient number of ex-
atnples have been obtained by rearing, the name seminole is retained to
designate a race of rejulgens. Forewing narrow, transparent areas inside
and outside discal mark reduced, smaller than in rejulgens. Costa, veins,
and narrow border dull black; dull-orange rays between the veins from
outer margin to near discal mark, which is a conspicuous orange-red and
only narrowly edged with black inside ; fringes brown-black ; underside of
forewing shaded with golden yellow. Hindwing transparent, crossvein
on upper part scaled with orange. The color markings and their arrange-
ment on the body and on the appendages agree exactly with those of
rejulgens.
The United States National Museum collection contains two Florida
examples, which may be considered authentic. One from Lake Worth
bears the label "type" ; the other from De Funiak Springs, May 20, 1921,
is an exact replica. Two female types are at the American Museum of
Natural History. In addition, two females occur in my representation of
rejulgens, one from Spring Creek, Ga., July 16, 1929, and the other from
Chickasaw, Ala., April 7, 1930, which, if labeled from Florida, would be
designated as seminole without hesitation. This further supports the view
that the two names apply to a single variable species.
Female. — Forewing heavily scaled, suffusing the clear space before and
greatly reducing the clear space behind the discal mark, which is orange
outwardly and well marked with black inwardly. In general the colors are
a blending of orange and dull black, less contrasting than in rejulgens.
The thorax and abdomen are dull black with coppery rather than bluish
reflections. Otherwise like rejulgens.
Expanse : Male 17 mm., female 15 to 18 mm.
Distribution. — Central and northern Florida.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History. From
Lake Worth, Fla.
The type and paratypes were collected by Mrs. A. T. Slosson and are
not dated, but according to Beutenmiiller they were taken in February.
122 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
THAMNOSPHECIA MARICA (Beutenmuller)
Sesia marica Beutenmuller, Journ. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 7, p. 254, 1899;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 305, 1901.
Synanthedon niarcia McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8744, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, with fine pectinations. Labial palpi smooth,
orange. Head black, eyes narrowly edged with white inwardly. Collar
orange. Thorax lustrous blue-black, patagia striped with orange to a
transverse basal band of the same color; beneath a large orange patch at
the sides. Abdomen blue-black, narrowly banded with orange on seg-
ments 2, 4, 6, and 7 above and beneath; anal tuft short, rounded, black
above, orange beneath. Femora of middle legs and hindlegs blue-black;
tibiae of hindlegs orange, banded with black at posterior spurs; tarsi
orange. Forewing transparent, costa heavily scaled with black and with
a thin orange edge on inner margin ; apex narrowly bordered and fringed
with brownish black ; orange rays between veins 7 and 8 to stalk and veins
8 and 9 to discal mark, which is red ; orange rays between veins 7 and 4,
or thin orange streaks on inner, lower wing margin to near the wing base ;
underside similar, more heavily shaded with orange on basal half of the
wing. Hindwing transparent, narrowly bordered and fringed with brown-
ish black.
Female. — Only one fragmentary specimen, lacking left forewing, abdo-
men, and hindlegs, is available. Nevertheless its identity is hardly in doubt.
Antennae, palpi, and thorax agree with those of the male.
The main sexual difference is in the forewing, which is nearly opaque,
blue-black at the costa and violaceous a,t the margin and the inner space ;
only two narrow, clear streaks, extending from the wing base between the
veins to near the discal mark, remain. The discal mark is lustrous black
above and on the underside bears an orange spot. Beneath, the forewing
is shaded more heavily with orange on the costa and at the base. The
borders of the hindwings are violaceous, the fringes brown-black, and both
are broader than those of the male.
Expanse : Male 22 to 24 mm., female 28 mm.
Disfribiition. — Central and northern Florida.
Type. — Male (Jacksonville, Fla.). In American Museum of Natural
History.
Remarks. — Judged by its greater size and the opaque forewing of the
female, marica should prove to be a valid species when its food plant and
habits become known. At present it is very rare in collections.
The United States National Museum collection contains three males, all
from Jacksonville, Fla., but not dated. These were collected by Mrs. A. T.
Slosson during her winter and spring sojourns in Florida years ago.
Hence, the dates should be in the spring. The female example at the
United States National Museum came from Gainesville, Fla., September
13, 1914, captured in fiat, open woods.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AF.GERIIDAE 123
THAMNOSPHECIA SUBAEREA (Hy. Edwards)
Pyrrhotaenia subaerea Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 3, p. 156, 1883; Ent. Amer., vol.
3, p. 224, 1888 ; Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 146, 1896.
Sesia subaerea Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 312,
pi. 32, fig. 3 (male), 1901.
Synanthedon subaerea McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8758, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, marked with whitish on apical third. Labial
palpi sordid white, third joint black. Head and thorax lustrous deep brown.
Abdomen of the same color, annulations, if any, not discernible; anal
tuft narrowly fan-shaped, brown, edged with sordid white at the sides
and beneath. Legs deep brown. Forewing with veins 10 and 11 very
close together, parallel ; opaque brown sprinkled with pale-yellow scales.
Hindwing brown, transparent between the veins at base. Underside of
wings shaded more pale yellow.
Female. — Not known.
Expanse: Male 14 mm.
Distribution. — Arizona.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — A very distinct species of which only the type and another
male, labeled Cochise County, Ariz., both in faulty condition, are available
for description. The food plant and habits are unknown.
THAMNOSPHECIA RUBROFASCIA (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 8, Figures 42, 42a; Plate 14, Figure 70; Plate 26, Figures 155, 156
Aegeria rubrofascia Hv. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 191, 1881.
Sesia rubrofascia F. M. Jones, Ent. News, vol. 23, p. 122, 1912.
Synanthedon rubrofascia McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8715, 1939.
Male. — Labial palpi, antennae, head and thorax black, slightly metallic
lustrous. Abdomen purplish black with segments 4 and 5 deep orange
above and beneath, the orange scales sometimes extending over part of
segment 6 ; anal tuft wedge shaped, black, edged with whitish to the tip.
Legs black, except for the tibial spurs and posterior tarsi, which are straw-
colored ; posterior tibia roughly scaled above ; first tarsal joint thickened
with scales. Forewing transparent with veins, costa, and very broad outer
margin purplish black, the discal mark long, narrow, nearly straight-edged ;
the outer transparent area reduced, subquadrate ; basal transparent area
broad and long; underside of forewing slightly shaded with straw color.
Hindwing narrowly margined and fringed with dull black.
Female. — Forewings opaque, violaceous-black ; hindwings more broadly
margined than in the male. Tibial spurs and tarsi black. Otherwise like
the male.
Expanse: Male 26 to 34 mm., female 28 to 36 mm.
124 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Distribution. — Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Virginia, and Maryland
coastal regions.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History. From
Georgia.
Remarks. — Nearly a hundred years before Hy. Edwards's description
was published this species was well illustrated by an original water-color
drawing, accompanied by field notes, in John Abbot's "Georgia Insects"
(vol. 7, p. 34, 1792), but it was not named. The figure is that of a male.
The dissimilarity of the sexes was not recognized until the capture of a
pair in coitus by Frank M. Jones, at Summerville, Ga., in April 1907.
Since then the following specimens have been obtained : Jacksonville,
Fla., 1 female, Mrs. A.'T. Slosson (no date) ; vicinity of Mobile, Ala.,
males and females, March 25, 1925, May 15, 1934, June 19, 1928, Sep-
tember 29, 1929 (Thomas Van Allen and G. P. Engelhardt). These
records show a long period of emergence. The moths are attracted to
flowers, particularly those of chinquapin, along the edges of swamps.
The food plant of the larva is sour-gum (Nyssa). The task of collecting
larvae and pupae has proved difficult, for the species, although widely dis-
tributed, does not occur in heavy infestations. Large, well-matured trees
having places of injury and healing wounds are preferred for attack.
Otherwise there is little outside evidence of the larval work under the
thick bark. The tunnels are long and sinuous, moist with sap, scraping
the surface of the solid wood but not entering it. The pupa is within an
oblong cocoon of chips, very much like those of the peach borer, San-
ninoidea exitiosa, with the exit facing a crevice in the bark. Rearing
efforts produced only three examples, two females and one male. The
females, collected as larvae in woodlands near Boiling Field, D. C, early
in May, transformed successfully, the adults emerging on June 5 and 6.
The male, collected as a pupa in the bark of a huge sour-gum at Solomons
Island, Md., on June 15, emerged on June 18; several pupal exuviae
observed on this tree indicate that emergence normally occurs earlier.
THAMNOSPUECIA ALLERI. new species
Plate 26, Figure 157
Male. — Antennae long, slender, moderately dilated toward the tips,
rusty black. Labial palpi golden yellow throughout. Head black, coarsely
tufted on top. Collar golden yellow. Thorax rusty black, striped with
yellow at the sides above and beneath and with broad yellow patches
anterior to wing base. Abdomen dull black, slightly lustrous; fourth
segment on posterior half above deep yellow and fifth segment with a
mixture of yellow and black scales; segments 4, 5, 6, and 7 deep yellow
beneath; the wedge-shaped anal tuft black, edged with white to the tip.
Legs golden yellow ; tibiae broadly banded with black above posterior
spurs. Forewing nearly opaque, rusty black with a partly obscured,
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 125
small, transparent quadrangle before the discal mark and a long, narrow
clear space between the veins near the wing base ; underside shaded with
yellow scales. Hindwing transparent, narrowly edged with dull black
above and beneath.
Female. — Same as the male except anal tuft narrow, blunt; antennae
simple.
Expanse : Male 20 to 23 mm., female 22 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Alabama, coastal regions.
Type. — U.S.N.M. No. 56842, male. Also female allotype and 5 male
and 3 female paratypes in the United States National Museum. From
Chickasaw, Ala.
Remarks. — External structures and genitalia associate this species most
closely with T. americatta. Its food plant and earlv stages are not known.
I have a series of 10 specimens, 7 males and 3 females, all collected by
Thomas S. Van Aller at Chickasaw and other localities in the vicinity of
Mobile. Ala., late in August. September, and October 1931-1932. The
habitat is open woodlands bordering on swamps. The moths are at-
tracted to flowers such as Eupatoriuni and other late-blooming composites,
but none of these is the food plant of the larva. No clue to the early
stages of the insect could be found.
My good friend Thomas S. Van Aller has been of great assistance on
field investigations in regions near his home at Mobile, Ala. His contri-
butions to the United States National Museum collection have been large
and important. It is a pleasure to name the present species for him.
THAMNOSPHECIA SIGMOIDEA (Bentenmuller)
Plate 8, Figures 43, 43a ; Plate 14, Figure 7Z
Aegeria asiliformis Hy. Edwards (not Rottemburg), Papilio, vol. 2, p. 56, 1882.
Sesia stgmoidea Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 9, pp. 214, 220,
1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 303, pi. 31, fig. 20, 1901.
Synanthedon sigmoidea McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8740, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, dilated to tips, pectinations short and fine.
Labial palpi yellow, scales appressed. Head black. Collar yellow.
Thorax black, with a narrow, yellow mark at each side, continuing and
broadening beneath ; posterior edge above yellow. Forewing transparent,
costa and veins black, intermixed slightly with orange; discal mark
orange, edged with black on inner side ; outer margins broad ; underside
shaded heavily with yellow to wing base and light orange on outer
margins. Hindwing with narrow margins and fringes black above and
beneath. Tibia lustrous black, spurs and a band at anterior spurs yellow ;
first tarsal joint yellow. Abdomen steel or cupreous black, segments 2,
4, 6, and 7 narrowly banded with yellow, the band on fourth segment
broader beneath than above ; anal tuft broadly wedge-shaped, edged with
yellow to tip.
12G BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Female. — Same as the male, but with only three yellow abdominal
bands on segments 2, 4, and 6; anal tuft blunt, black, yellow in the
middle above.
Expanse: Male 18 to 24 mm., female 22 to 26 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern Atlantic Coast States, Maine to Maryland, the
Appalachian region of Virginia and the Carolinas, the Midwestern States
northward to Canada, New Mexico, and the Rocky Mountains.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — T. sigmoidea is a borer in low-growing willows in bays,
along streams, and in depressions among sand dunes of coastal or lake
regions. The species is rather local, but when found infestations are apt
to be very heavy, swellings being produced on branches and canes, with
a number of larvae often in one branch. The moths, emerging late in
August and during September, do not visit flowers, and captures of
adults have been few. However, a good series can be obtained easily
by rearing from sections of branches collected in August, when the
larvae have pupated or are about to pupate in their galleries. Many
examples in the United States National Museum collection were reared
from sage willow, Salix tristis, growing in low places among sand dunes
at Amaganset, Long Island, N. Y., August and September 1913. Lake
Waccabuc, Conn., also furnished numerous rearing records. Another
good series has been reared from willow cuttings obtained along springs
in an open canyon near Estancia, N. Mex. The moths emerged late in
July and during August 1929. They are shaded a deeper orange on the
costa and outer wing margins but otherwise run true to the eastern type.
Captured moths are recorded from Manassas, Va., August 9, 1936
(Guerney) ; Black Mountains, N. C, August 25, 1929 (Engelhardt) ;
West Point, N. Y., September 11, 1926 (Col. Robinson). Hy. Edwards
confused this species with Syuanthcdon asiliforuiis Rottemburg from
Europe, based on specimens from Walpole, Winchester, and Cambridge,
Mass., in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History.
5*. asiliformis is a borer in oak.
THAMNOSPHECIA ARCTICA (Beutenmuller)
Scsia arctica Beutenmuller, Can. Ent., vol. 32, p. 208, 1900; Mem. Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 283, 1901.
Synanthedon arctica McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8699, 1939.
Male. — Antennae, palpi, head, and thorax entirely black. Abdomen
black, segments 2 and 4 narrowly banded with white posteriorly ; anal
tuft black. Legs black, hind tarsi whitish. Forewing transparent, borders
and discal mark very broad, black; underside shaded a golden yellow
basally. Hindwing transparent with a narrow black margin.
Expanse: Male 20 mm.
Distribution. — Kodiak, Alaska.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 127
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum. This is the
only known specimen.
Genus VESPAMIMA Beutenmuller
Vespaminia Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 87, 1894. (Geno-
type, Bembecia sequoiae Hy. Edwards.)
Tongue long, spiraled. Antennae of male bipectinate ; of female, simple.
Labial palpi nearly erect, reaching vertex ; second joint thickened, rough ;
third joint shorter with scaling protruding beyond apex. Forewing with
12 veins, 7 and 8 stalked to costa; 10 and 11 narrowly separated. Hind-
wing with veins 3 and 4 short-stalked. Posterior tibiae roughly scaled
above ; first tarsal joint smooth, not thickened. Anal tuft fan-shaped.
Male genitalia very similar to those of Carnienta, but harpes and vinculum
shorter and blunter and the cornuti with fine granulations, no stout thorns
as in Carmenta. The sacculus ridge terminates, as in that genus, in a
curved pocketlike flap on the edge of the harpe, clothed with light-colored
flat scales and connected with the basal costal area by a broad oblique
streak of black, furcate scales. Female genitalia with ductus bursae
strongly sclerotized below ostium.
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF VESPAMIMA
Wings transparent, abdomen yellow banded sequoiae (Hy. Edwards)
Wings transparent, abdomen orange banded novaroensis (Hy. Edwards)
Wings translucent, abdomen black and orange pini (Kellicott)
In this genus have been assembled the three North American species
confined in host association to coniferous trees. In coloration they ap-
pear quite distinct, but in structure they conform so closely as to permit
this natural biological grouping. A description of the habits of one of
the species serves as well for the other two.
VESPAMIMA SEQUOIAE (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 2, Figure 13 ; Plate 9, Figures 4-}-44a ; Plate 15, Figure 74
Bemhecia sequoiae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 181, 1881. — Packard, Insects
injurious to forest and shade trees, U. S. Ent. Comm. Bull. No. 7, pp. 258, 261,
1881 ; 5th Rep. U. S. Ent. Comm.. pp. 733, 922, 1890.
Bembecia superha Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 181, 1881.
Aegeria pinormn Behrens, in French, Can. Ent., vol. 21, p. 163, 1889. — Packard, 5th
Rep. U. S. Ent. Comm., p. 731, 1890.
Vespaminia sequoiae Bexttenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 87, 1894;
vol. 8, p. 119, 1896; vol. 9, p. 218, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt.
6, p. 263, pi. 30, fig. 23 (male), 1901.— Williams, Ent. News, vol. 20, p. 58,
1909. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United
States of America, pt. 2, No. 8766, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, pectinations strong. Labial palpus with a
rough brush, yellow, black at the sides, terminal joint short, blackish.
Head black, posteriorly with a yellow fringe. Collar black, yellow at the
128 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
sides. Thorax black, a narrow yellow line at the sides, yellow at the wing
base and beneath ; metathorax with grizzly tufts at the sides and a trans-
verse yellow line. Abdomen black and all segments except 1 and 3
bordered with bright yellow above and beneath; anal tuft short, semi-
circular, black above, yellow beneath. Coxae of forelegs bright yellow ;
posterior tibiae rough, bright yellow, black at lower spurs ; tarsi smooth,
black above, touched with yellow beneath. Forewing transparent ; costa
and narrowly bordered outer and inner margins lustrous blue-black ; veins
and discal mark black. Hindwings transparent, narrowly margined with
black, touched with yellow on costa. Both wings beneath yellowish at bases.
Female. — More robust than male. Antennae simple, black. Abdominal
segments more broadly banded with bright yellow, 4, 5, and 6 nearly all
yellow; anal tuft short, blunt, yellow, mixed with a little black.
Expanse : Male 26 to 28 mm., female 26 to 32 mm.
Distribution. — California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — This species is charged with serious injury to pine and to
redwood {Sequoia sempervirens ) . However, we have failed to hiid evi-
dence that redwood is attacked. Favorites among many pines on the Pacific
cost and northwestern Rockies are Pinus ponderosa, contorfa, radiata, and
lambertiana. The moths have an extended season, emerging from March
to September, but principally during June. Indications of the presence of
larvae are resinous nodules, small and soft at first, but growing in size
and becoming firmer in substance on exposure. In their moist tunnels in
the cambium and solid wood the larvae can move unmolested. Removed
and exposed to air they do not survive. For purposes of rearing, pupae
serve best. These are found in silk-lined chambers within the growing
nodules, the exits well concealed under thin covers of the harder crust.
Collecting calls for utmost caution, as a slight prick or direct contact with
the gum is fatal. Even at best the percentage of moths emerging from
collections of pupae is frequently disappointing. The life cycle, not defi-
nitely known, most likely covers two years. Only well-set seasoned
nodules appear to be suitable for pupation. Young trees are stunted in
growth or killed ; large trees may be scarred badly, but not injured
seriously.
Heavy infestations have been reported by F. X. Williams on Monterey
pine at Carmel, Monterey County, Calif. At Walpole, on the coastal
border of Oregon and Washington, B. G. Thompson and I collected 60
or more pupae on Pinus contorfa after hard, grimy work, when one of
those cold, wet coastal fogs drove us to seek shelter in a cabin. The box
of pupae was placed on the stove and forgotten when a fire was lighted.
When next examined, the pupae were baked hard. Long series of reared
examples in the United States National Museum have been supplied by the
Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine from American River,
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERllDAE 129
Calif., on Pinus ponderosa; Pacific Grove, Calif., from P. radiata; Rogue
River, Oreg., Scookmuchuck Creek, Idaho, and Missoula, Mont., from
P. ponderosa; Clear Water, Mont., from P. contorta; and Butte Falls,
Oreg., from Douglas fir.
VESPAMIMA NOVAROENSIS (Hy. Edwards)
Aegeria novaroensis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 199, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892; vol. 8, p. 133, 1896.
Sesia novaroensis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p.
289, pi. 31, fig. 14 (female), 1901.
Parharmonia piceae Dyar, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 6, p. 106, 1904. —
McDuNNouGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States
of America, pt. 2, No. 8764, 1939.
Sesia hrunneri BuscK, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 16, p. 143, 1914.
Synanthedon novaroensis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8713, 1939.
Synanthedon brunneri McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8714, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, pectinations fine. Labial palpus with a short
brush, orange, black at the upper sides and on tip. Head black, face and
posterior fringe orange. Collar blue-black. Thorax black, patagia and a
large spot on the posterior edge orange-red, at wing base and beneath
orange. Abdomen lustrous blue-black, segment 1 orange at the sides, seg-
ments 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 contrastingly banded with orange posteriorly and
abdomen beneath wholly orange ; anal tuft broad, fan-shaped, black above,
orange beneath. Forelegs with coxae orange, femora yellow, tibiae yellow
and black ; posterior tibiae rough, orange, black at lower spurs ; tarsi
smooth, sordid yellow, Forewing transparent, costa, conspicuous discal
mark, veins, and margins lustrous blue-black ; fringes dull black : under-
side with costa and margins flushed with orange. Hindwing transparent,
margins narrowly black, mixed with orange at base.
Female. — Antennae simple, black, between middle and terminal part
orange. Abdomen black, but broadly banded with deep orange on seg-
ments 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6. wholly deep orange beneath ; anal tuft short, blunt,
black at base above, orange at tip and beneath.
Expanse : Male 24 to 30 nmi., female 30 to 34 mm.
Distribution. — Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Mon-
tana, British Columbia.
Type. — Female, in the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Parharmonia piceae Dyar and Sesia hrunneri Busck fall as
synonyms under Vespamima novaroensis. S. hrunneri proves conspecific
in all details and Dyar's type of piceae, described as having the abdomen
black, has been restored to its original coloration through immersion in
benzol and exhibits the normal orange annulations. V. novaroensis is
primarily a borer in spruce, but pines also are attacked, especially when
they occur in association with spruce. Its habits are like those of
130 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
seqnoiae. When the two species dwell in one tree their resinous nodules
cannot be distinguished until the moths emerge. Adults are rarely cap-
tured. The numerous examples in the collection at the United States
National Museum, with few exceptions, were obtained by rearing. The
collection data for this material are as follows : Ashland and Rogue River,
Oreg., on Douglas spruce, Pseudotsuga taxifolia, May -June, 1914 (Miller
and Brunner) ; Butte Falls, Oreg., and Riggins, Idaho, on Pinus pon-
derosa, May-June 1914 (L. O. Swartz and Brunner) ; Corvallis, Oreg..
on pine and spruce, July 15, 1924 (B. G. Thompson) ; Hoquiam, Wash.,
on Picea sitchensis (Burke) ; Big Hole County, Mont., on Pinus contorta
(Brunner) ; Missoula, Mont., on Pinus ponderosa and Picea engelmannii,
May-June 1914 (Brunner) ; and Victoria, British Columbia, on spruce
(E. H. Blackmore).
VESPAMIMA PINI (Kellicott)
Aegeria pini Kellicott, Can. Ent., vol. 13, pp. 5, 157, 1881. — Packard, Insects in-
jurious to forest and shade trees, U. S. Ent. Comm. Bull. No. 7, p. 180, 1881.
Harmonia pini Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 54, 1882. — Packard, 5th Rep. U. S.
Ent. Comm., p. 727, 1890. — Comstock, Manual for the study of insects, p. 261,
1895.
Parharmonia pini Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 124, 1896 ;
vol. 9, p. 219, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 264, pi. 30,
fig. 13, 1901. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8763, 1939.
Male. — Antennae long, nearly filiform, black above, rusty black beneath,
pectinations short and fine. Labial palpus with a short brush, black,
orange at base. Head black, a brush on top and an encircling posterior
fringe, orange. Collar blue-black. Thorax blue-black, slightly touched
with orange at wing base beneath. Abdomen blue-black, segment 4 broadly
banded with orange, sides and venter wholly orange ; anal tuft long, slen-
der, black above, orange at the sides and beneath. Legs wholly blue or
violaceous-black. Forewing densely suffused between the veins, nearly
opaque, smoky black, Hindwing semitransparent, less densely sufifused
between the veins; narrow margins, conspicuous discal mark and veins
dull black.
Expanse : Male 28 to 32 mm,, female 32 to 34 mm.
Distribution. — Atlantic Coast and New England States ; Midwestern
States and eastern Canada ; Appalachian regions southward.
Type. — Male, In the collection of D, S, Kellicott,
Remarks. — In general this species follows the distribution of its prin-
cipal food plant, white pine, Pinus strobus. Because of the hemispherical
masses of resin formed over the larval burrows on tree trunks, the abun-
dance or scarcity of the insect can be readily estimated. Heavy infestations
resulting in ugly scars no doubt reduce the timber value. Well-grown trees
are attacked with preference, and as these usually survive the actual loss
is not great. The moths are very poorly represented in most collections.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 131
They seem to elude capture. D. S. KelHcott, author of the species, gives
an excellent account of the habits and the difficulties in rearing the insect.
Briefly, it is an aggravating and dirty job. In the vicinity of New York
City well-established colonies are found in parks, cemeteries, gardens, and
lanes in suburban districts. Aside from white pine the insect is partial to
Norway spruce, Picea abies, the nodules of resin often being most numer-
ous on such trees. A thriving colonization followed the planting of white
pine along the shores of the reservoir at Pensico and Croton, N. Y., 20
to 25 years ago. The trees now are of a size to be attractive. Hundreds
of the resinous masses have been noted here in recent years, many within
reach and others beyond. Small and soft, year-old masses and those three
years old or older, which are large and hardened, can be disregarded.
Immature larvae removed from their burrows invariably perish. Only
2-year old masses of firm, but still sticky, consistency hold promise of
containing pupae late in June or early in July. The exact location of
the pupal chamber is well concealed. Cautious probing is necessary,
and losses are unavoidable as the slightest prick or contact with the sticky
resin is fatal to the pupa. My method has been to prepare tubes of soft
paper to receive the pupae upon uncovering the chambers. Ten healthy
pupae from 100 selected masses is a fair average. Parasites of the hymen-
opterous family Eulopliidae and a species of larvaevorid fly take a very
large toll.
Records in the United States National Museum : Hudson, N. Y., July
1902, male and female (Engelhardt) ; Hartsdale, Westchester County,
N. Y., July 12, 1935, males and females (Engelhardt) ; Sunbury, Pa.,
July 1912, female (Hopkins U. S. No. 9410) ; Buffalo, N. Y., 1880, male
(D. S. KeUicott).
THE SIGNAPHORA GROUP
SIGNAPHORA, new genus
Genotype, Carmenta ruficornis Hy. Edwards.
Tongue well developed, spiraled. Antenna strong, dilated ; tufted at
apex ; smooth in both sexes ; in the male with minute ciliae between the
joints, no pectinations. Labial palpus upcurved, nearly reaching vertex;
second joint with a well-developed, short, rough brush ; terminal joint
roughly scaled beyond apex. Thorax smooth. Anal tuft short, rounded.
Hindtibia loosely scaled above with projecting, stiff scales at spurs; first
tarsal joint not thickened. Forewing with veins 2 and 3 approximate,
3 and 5 connate or short-stalked ; 7 and 8 long-stalked to costa ; 10 and
11 separate, 11 not reaching costa. Hindwing with veins 3 and 4
stalked. Male genitalia with uncus elongate, spoon-shaped, clothed
laterally with simple undivided hairs ; extreme tip furcate ; gnathos
long, thin, bluntly pointed, slightly deflected, svipporting the alimentary
canal, as the ventral plate does in other aegeriid genera; annellus with
132 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
long lateral processes, supporting aedeagus ; harpe hairy, rather nar-
row elongate with cucullus upturned ; sacculus without special armed
ridge; vinculum short, broad, bluntly rounded at tip; aedeagus slightly
curved, bulbous on basal half. Female genitalia with ductus short,
sclerotized only around the heart-shaped ostium ; bursa very long, elongate
ovate with a strong, sharp, thornlike signum, a very unusual character
in the family.
Only the type species is known.
SIGNAPHORA RUFICORNIS (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 2, Figure 14; Plate 9, FiGuiiEs 45, 45a ; Plate 15, Figure 75
Carmenla ruficornis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 184, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892; vol. 8, p. 147, 1896.
Carmenta mimUa Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 185, 1881.
Sesia ruficornis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mu.s. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 311,
pi. 32, fig. 35, 1901.
Synanthedon ruficornis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8757, 1939.
Male. — Antennae coppery black above, rufous beneath. Labial palpi
yellow, dusky above. Head black, with a rough brush, black and yellow
on top ; occipital fringe yellow. Thorax rusty black, smooth ; a yellow dash
on posterior half at the sides and a yellow mark anterior to wing base and
beneath; prescutum with appressed golden metallic scales; abdomen vio-
laceous-black, segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 banded with yellow, 7 above and
beneath ; anal tuft short, rounded, black above, black and yellow beneath.
Forelegs with coxae yellow ; tibiae of hindlegs black, broadly banded with
yellow at anterior spurs ; tarsi annulated with black and yellow. Forewing
opaque, lustrous violaceous brown-black, streaked with red before and
behind the discal mark. Hindwing transparent; margins narrow, lus-
trous coppery ; fringe broad, sordid black. Wings beneath same as above.
Female. — Very similar to male.
Expanse: Male 12 to 14 mm., female 14 to 16 mm.
Distribution. — Atlantic Coast States, Virginia to Gulf of Mexico.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — One of the smallest and structurally most distinct species in
the North American fauna. The moths frequent flowers and during late
summer and early in fall may be collected in numbers in dry, open or
wooded regions from Virginia southward to the Gulf of Mexico. Thomas
S. Van Aller and the author captured hundreds of specimens near Mobile,
Ala., yet persistent search for the food plant and early stages failed
completely. It should prove to be a borer in an herbaceous plant, but
this problem remains unsolved.
Records in the United States National Museum : Long series of both
sexes, vicinity of Mobile, Ala., August-September 1927-1929 (Aller and
Engelhardt) ; males and females, Raleigh, N. C., August 16, 1906;
Southern Pines, N. C., August 1-7 ; Falls Church, Va., July 1901.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 133
THE CALASESIA GROUP
Genus CALASESIA Beutenmiiller
Calasesia Beutenmuller, Journ. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 7, p. 256, 1899. (Genotype,
Pyrrhoiaenia coccinea Beutenmuller.)
Tongue well developed, spiraled. Antenna strong, thickened toward
apex, with apical tuft smooth in both sexes. Labial palpus curved up-
ward, reaching vertex, second joint with a short, rough, even brush,
terminal joint thickened with scales which protrude beyond apex. Thorax
smooth. Anal tuft short, blunt; hindtibia smooth with few spinelike
scales above spurs; first tarsal joint not thickened. Forewing with 11
veins. 7 and 8 coincident to costa: rest separate; 9, 10, and 11 parallel.
Hindwing with veins 3 and 4 closely approximate; 5 parallel to 4 and
nearer to 4 than to 6. Male genitalia with uncus hood-shaped; gnathos
well developed, strong; harpe short, nearly rectangular, cucullus armed
with heavy spines ; vinculum with medium anterior process ; aedeagus
stout, straight. Female genitalia with very long ductus, greatly enlarged,
bulgy on posterior third, then sclerotized for a short space and continued
as a narrow tube to the elongate ovate bursa, which contains a small nar-
row sclerotization at the entrance of the ductus.
Only the type species is known.
CALASESIA COCCINEA (Beutenmuller)
Plate 2, Figure 15 ; Plate 9, Figures 46, 46a; Plate 15, Figure 76
Pyrrhotaenia coccinea Beutenmuller, Journ. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 6, p. 241,
1898.
Calasesia coccinea Beutenmuller, Journ. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 7, p. 256, 1899 ;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 314, pi. 32, fig. 20, 1901.—
McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States
of America, pt. 2, No. 8788, 1939.
Male. — Antennae dusky black, strongly dilated, not pectinate. Labial
palpus sordid pale yellow, terminal joint black. Head black with stiff
black and white mixed hair on top ; occipital fringe sordid white. Thorax
lustrous blue-black, bright orange or red at the sides, anterior to wing
base and beneath ; metathorax laterally tufted with sordid white. Ab-
domen lustrous blue-black above and beneath ; anal tuft a fringe of short,
stiff black hairs. Legs violaceous-black. Forewing opaque, scarlet ; discal
mark conspicuous, round, blue-black ; outer part of costa and broad margin
dull black, fringes sordid white; underside dull orange, margin shaded
with black scales. Hindwing reddish brown, profusely sprinkled with
blackish scales above and beneath, fringes sordid white.
Female. — Very similar to the male and difficult to determine without
dissection. The female appears to lack the sordid white lateral tufts
which occur on the metathorax of the male, but more and better examples
are needed to prove this difference.
134 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Expanse : Male 14 to 16 mm., female 16 to 18 mm.
Distrihution. — Kansas. Oklahoma, Texas. New Mexico.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum. From Al-
buquerque, N. Mex. (Cockerell).
Remarks. — Critical study confirms Beutenmiiller's conclusions that
this species must be placed in a genus by itself. It is unique among all
North American species. Field notes of F. H. Snow connect the insect
with the leguminous plant Hoffmannseggia Jakarta, on which he cap-
tured numbers of the moths, Cimarron River, Clark County, Kans., 1,962
feet, June, but rearing was not attempted. Otherwise, only scattered
records of the species are available. The type comes from Albuquerque,
N. Mex. (Cockerell). Specimens other than the type are one male, Lucy,
N. Mex., July 18, 1932 (C. W. Sabrosky) ; and one male, Marfa, Tex.,
June 5, 1908 (Mitchell and Cushman).
THE CISSUVORA GROUP
CISSUVORA, new genus
Genotype, Cissuvora ampelopsis, new species.
Tongue developed, spiraled. Antenna stout, with an apical tuft,
stronp-ly dilated ; that of the male broadly pectinate, of the female sim-
ple. Labial palpus reaching vertex, second joint rough, terminal joint
bluntly pointed. Hindtibia smooth, tufted at distal end; first tarsal joint
slightly thickened, coarsely hairy. Forewing with 12 veins, 7 and 8
stalked, 9 from the stalk of 7 and 8, 7 to termen ; 4, 5, and 6 slightly
bent downward. Hind\\'ing with veins 3 and 4 connate. Male genitalia
with socii erect ; alimentary canal supported ventrally by a slightly sclero-
tized plate ; gnathos stout, straight, ending in small triangular, flattened
apex. Aedeagus sti-aight with a downward pointed hook at tip. Harpes
elongate-ovate with pointed apices ; costal area covered witli palmate
scales, dorsal area without scales ; vinculum long, tip rounded, central
part compressed. Female genitalia with ductus bursae long ; bursa elon-
gnte-ovate. finely wrinkled transversely.
Represented only by the type species.
CISSUVORA AMPELOPSIS, new species
Plate 2, Figure 16; Plate 9, Figures 47, 47a; Plate 15, Figure 77;
Plate 26, Figure 158
Male. — Antennae robust, pectinate, fuscous-brown, suffused with black
scales above. Labial palpi rough, pale yellow, edged with orange at the
sides. Head chestnut-red on top, face pale yellow, occipital fringe pale
yellow, mixed with brown. Collar prominent, pale yellow, anterior parts
touched with chestnut-brown. Thorax smooth, chestnut-red, with two
dorsal yellow stripes broadening posteriorly ; between the stripes a sprink-
ling of round, pearly scales; metathorax fringed and tufted at the sides
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 135
with yellow ; ventral parts with patches of yellow scales. Abdomen chest-
nut-red ; segment 1 yellow ; segments 2 and 3 chestnut-red with posterior
edge black ; segment 4 yellow, posterior edge chestnut ; segments 5. 6, and
7 chestnut-red with anterior edge yellow, narrowly so on 6 and 7 ; beneath
as above ; anal tuft short, blunt, chestnut-red dorsally and ventrally, yellow
at the sides. Front legs with coxae bright yellow ; femora, tibiae, and
tarsi mixed chestnut and yellow ; posterior tibiae chestnut and yellow,
tuft at discal end mixed with black ; tarsi stout, deep yellow, chestnut at
the joints. Forewing semitransparent, brownish ; costa and discal mark
dark brown ; between the veins on anterior parts a heavy suffusion of
brownish scales ; posterior part distad to discal mark vitreous and narrow,
vitreous streaks between the veins to a yellow patch on wing base ; narrow
margins and fringes pale brown ; beneath as above. Hindwing transpar-
ent, narrow margins and broad fringes pale brown.
Female. — Very similar to the male. Vitreous spaces on forewing re-
duced. Antennae simple, heavily shaded with black centrally.
Expanse: Male 28 to 32 mm., female 34 to 40 mm.
Distribution. — Southeastern Texas.
Type.—U.^.'N.U.. No. 56843. From Victoria, Tex.
Remarks. — Described from male type, female allotype. 3 male and 3
female paratypes from the type locality; 4 male and 10 female paratypes
from San Antonio. Tex.
Credit for the discovery of this very aberrant species is due the late
J. C. Mitchell. Southern Field Crop Investigations, U. S. Bureau of Ento-
mology, San Antonio, Tex., who submitted to the United States National
Museum three males and three females in 1920 together with notes on the
food plant and habits. Subsequent field investigations by H. B. Parks,
State apiculturist, and the author have added biological information
and have considerably extended the series of specimens. Records as
yet are confined to San Antonio, Tex., and its environs. The food
plant is Ampelopsis (Cissus) incisa, a vine v.'ith thick, succulent foliage,
climbing over fences and hedgerows and to considerable heights on trees.
The vines are thickly barked and soft, except for a central brittle woody
core, and rarely exceed 1 inch in diameter. Usually they are well exposed
on fencerows, and it is readily observed that they are subject to peculiar
swellings which are more or less separated and vary in number. These
gall-like swellings, always on the vines, not on the roots, are caused by
the larvae of Cissnvora ampelopsis. Examination will show many of the
swellings to be old or to have been deserted by the larvae, which are
voracious feeders and leave weakened plants to start fresh burrows in
healthier parts of the same or other plants. Cuttings of the vine collected
for purposes of rearing, if containing immature larvae, are abandoned
shortly by the caterpillars. If placed in one box the larvae will become
cannibalistic or if the container is of cardboard or soft wood they bore
136 BULLETIN 190. UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
through and escape. On maturity they drop out of their burrows and
construct tough, leathery, oval cocoons in the soil, 1 or 2 inches below
the surface. The principal season for the moths is May and June. In
rearing experiments emergence records are given for nearly every month
of the year. Mitchell accepted late emergences, September and October,
as indicating a double-brooded species. This is difficult to confirm.
Larvae maturing late in the season spin their cocoons and the great ma-
jority winter as larvae', transforming to pupae during the following spring.
As far as known moths have never been captured in the field, all having
been obtained by rearing. They are perfect mimics of a species of Polistes
common in the region. While records as yet are confined to San Antonio
and vicinity, evidence of the larval work at various places from San An-
tonio to Del Rio indicates a distribution following the food plant, which
is common across the border in Mexico.
A general resemblance of the moths to species in the genus Paranthrene
is deceptive. The male antennae are pectinate, not bipectinate. Veins 7
and 8 of the forewings are stalked and vein 9 arises from this stalk. Most
surprising and unique are the harpes of the male genitalia. They are
elongate-ovate and have pointed apices, the costal area is covered with
palmate scales, and the dorsal area is without scales. Such structural dif-
ferences set the species apart from all others in the family. It stands
alone, representing a distinct genus.
THE PARANTHRENE GROUP
Genus PARANTHRENE Hubner
Paranthrene Hubner, Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, p. 128, 1819. (Geno-
type, Sphinx asiliformis Schiffermtiller, synonym of Sphinx tabaniformis
Rottemburg.)
Tongue long, spiraled. Antennae stout, dilated, with apices tufted, in
the male bipectinate, in the female simple. Labial palpi erect, reaching
vertex; second joint roughly scaled, terminal joint short, with scales
projecting beyond apex. Forewing with 12 veins, 7 and 8 long-stalked
to costa, 9 approximate to stalk of 7 and 8, 10 and 11 separate, parallel.
Hindwing with 8 veins, 3 and 4 well separated, but 3 much closer to 4
than to 2. Posterior tibiae roughly scaled above; first joint of posterior
tarsus smooth. Male genitalia with elongate, erect socii clothed with long,
soft hairs, which are not bifurcate as in the Synanthedon group ; a narrow,
straight ventral plate supporting the anal tube; harpe elongate-ovate,
clothed on the edges with inwardly directed hairs and scales, leaving a
naked place in the middle ; the scales on the costa tri furcate, not bifurcate,
as in the Synanthedon group; the cucullus clothed with a row of long
single hairs, terminating in the succulus ridge, which is clothed with strong
spines ; vinculum moderately long, slender ; aedeagus bulbous at the base,
slightly curved and with a downward-pointed hook just below apex.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 137
Female genitalia with a rather long ductus ; bursa elongate ovate, finely
transversely wrinkled; signum a straight longitudinal row of dots, which
are thickened spots of the tranverse wrinkles.
The genotype is figured on plate 2, figure 17; plate 10, figures 48, 48a;
and plate 15, figure 78.
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES AND FORMS OF PARANTHRENE
Forewing opaque, violet-black; hindwing transparent; abdomen of male with 4,
of female with 3, yellow bands tricincta tricincta (Harris)
Abdomen with 4 broad and 2 narrow yellow bands.
tricincta form denotata (Hy. Edwards)
.\bdomen nearly all yellow tricincta oslari, new form
Hindwing opaque except at base; abdomen brown doUii dollii (Neumoegen)
Abdomen chestnut-brown dollii form castanea (Beutenmiiller)
Abdomen brown, banded with yellow dollii f asciventris, new form
Forewing ochreous-yellow; abdomen yellow, 3 basal segments black.
robiniae robiniae (Hy. Edwards).
Forewing fuscous, abdomen deep ochreous. . .robiniae form perlucida (Busck)
Forewing and abdomen pale yellow robiniae form palescens, new form
Forewing black, vitreous at base; abdomen yellow and black.
simulans simulans (Grote)
Abdomen jellow with narrow black annulations.
simulans form luggeri (Hy. Edwards)
Forewing and abdomen orange palmii (Hy. Edwards)
Forewing of male transparent, of female opaque, except for lower margin; ab-
domen brown with yellow bands asilipennis (Boisduval)
Forewing and hindwing orange; abdomen black, .fenestrata Barnes and Lindsey
PARANTHRENE TRICINCTA (Harris)
Acgcria tricincta H.A.RRIS, Amer. Journ. Arts and Sci., vol. 36, p. 310, 1839. —
Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the
British Museum, pt. 8, p. 41, 1856. — Kellicott, Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci.,
vol. 4, p. 62, 1882. — Packard, Insects injurious to forest and shade trees, U. S.
Ent. Comm. Bull. 7, p. 121, 1881; 5th Rep. U. S. Ent. Comm., p. 444, 1890.—
Kellicott, Can. Ent., vol. 13, p. 3, 1881.— Fyles, Can. Ent., vol. 16, p. 220, 1881 ;
Rep. Ent. Soc. Ontario for 1884, p. 24, 1885.
Trochiliuni tricincta Morris, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North
America, p. 436, 1862.
Scsia tricincta Bolsduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 436, 1874.
Sciapteron tricincta Grote, New check list of North American moths, p. 11, 1882. —
D.wis, Insect Life, vol. 4, p. 66, 1891.— Kellicott, Can. Ent., vol. 24, p. 209,
1892; Insect Life, vol. 5, p. 82, 1892.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., vol. 8, p. 120, 1896; vol. 9, pp. 213, 218, 1897.
Memythnts tricinctus Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 247, pi. 33, fig. 9 (female), 1901.
Paranthrene tricincta McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8792, 1939.
Male. — Antennae strong, broadly bipectinate, violaceous-black above;
ferruginous beneath and at the tips. Labial palpus very rough, yellow on
the inner side toward tip, black on the outer side and at base ; terminal
138 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
joint pointed, yellow beneath, black above. Head blue-black, roughened
with coarse hairy scales on top ; inner eyelashes white ; occipital fringe
bright yellow. Thorax smooth, black ; collar of prothorax with broad
scales, blue-black; a yellow spot at base of forewing; tegula spotted with
yellow on posterior parts ; prothorax at the sides and beneath and fore-
wing at base beneath with yellow patches. Abdomen lustrous black, seg-
ment 2 broadly and segments 4, 6, and 7 narrowly, banded with yellow
above ; beneath, segments 2, 3, and 4 with yellow bands ; anal tuft short,
broadly rounded, black. Front legs black, coxae anteriorly at the sides
yellow, tarsi sand color; hindlegs black, tibiae rough above, chestnut-red
shading into orange ; first tarsal joint orange, terminal joints mostly black.
Forewing opaque, blue-black along costa, dull black inwardly, sparsely
mixed with reddish scales, heaviest along inner margin ; short, translu-
cent streaks before wing base ; discal mark not prominent ; outer margin
narrow, coppery brown, fringes dull brown ; underside dull brown, discal
mark reddish. Hindwing transparent, discal mark prominent, obliquely
elongate, brown black ; outer margin narrow, coppery brown, edged in-
wardly with dull brown scales ; fringes dull brown ; underside as above.
Female. — Antennae simple. Abdomen banded with yellow only on
segments 2, 4, and 6; on the underside segments 3 and 6 narrowly edged
and segment 4 broadly banded with yellow ; anal tuft black, faintly
streaked with yellow above. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse : Male 24 to 28 mm., female 26 to 32 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern and Midwestern States ; Rocky Mountain
States ; Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, Canada ; Alaska.
Type. — Male. In the Harrison collection, Boston Society of Natural
History (type and female paratype caught in copulation, Massachusetts,
June 20, 1829).
Remarks. — The principal food plants of this species are willows, pre-
ferably shrubby, low-growing kinds. The larvae excavate long tunnels in
exposed roots, in canes and in branches, sometimes several occurring in
one cane or branch, but in separate burrows. Another favorite breeding
place is the galls and swellings produced by the larvae of cerambycid
beetles of the genus Saperda on willow, poplar, and aspen. On maturing
in the fall the larvae utilizes the upper part of its tunnel as a pupal
chamber, which is capped above and below and gives access to a circular
exit concealed under a flimsy cover of silk and bark. After wintering in
such chambers the larvae transforms to pupae late in May and during
June, and the adults emerge in June and July. The life cycle is two years.
Immature larA^ae winter in their tunnels, only mature lar\^ae in their
second year construct pupal chambers before hibernation.
The European tabaniformis is identical practically with the North
American tricincta and would be considered conspecific but for some
slight structural differences in the male genitalia. Easily observable dif-
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 139
fereiices are the more elongated harpe and ihe deeper excavation below
the aedeagus hook in iahaniformis against the shorter harpe and shal-
lower excavation below the aedeagus hook in triciiicta. Nevertheless the
Old and New World species are so closely related as to form a natural
biological group with similar food plants and habits and a Holarctic
distribution.
Beutemniiller's "Monograph of the North American Sesiidae" (Mem.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1. pt. 6. pi. 33. fig. 9. 1901). well illustrates a
typical example of the female of triciiicta. The sexes are easily separated
by the heavily bipectinated antennae and the yellow banding of abdominal
segments 2, 4. 6, and 7 in the male ; the female has simple antennae, and
only abdominal segments 2, 4, and 6 are banded with yellow.
Distribution records for specimens in the United States National
Museum: Toronto, Ontario; Long Island, N. Y., Plainfield, N. J.; Vir-
ginia ; Bufifalo, N. Y. ; Montana ; Colorado.
PARANTHRENE TRICINCTA form DENOTATA (Hy. Edwards)
Albima denotata Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 55, 1882.
Sciapteron denotata Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892;
vol. 5, p. 24, 1893 ; vol. 8, p. 119, 1896.
Memylhrus denotatiis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 248, pi. 30, fig. 1 (female), 1901.
Paranthrene denotata McDunnough, Check list of tlie Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8793, 1939.
Male. — Forewing rusty dark bro^^•n, edged with reddish orange on costa
and inner margin. Abdomen with segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 conspicuously
banded with yellow and segments 3 and 5 narrowly edged with yellow ;
anal tuft black and yellow mixed. Otherwise like typical male of tricincta.
Female. — Like the male, but conspicuously banded with yellow only on
abdominal segments 2, 4, and 6 and with faint indications of yellow bands
on segments 3 and 5.
Distribution. — Rocky Mountain regions, Colorado to Montana; Alaska.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — The form denotata can be considered only as a transition
color phase connecting tricincta with the extreme color form "oslari,"
hereafter described. It is found in mixed colonies in the Rocky Mountain
regions of Colorado and Montana, and one male is recorded from Fort
Yukon, Alaska. I question the accuracy of Beutenmiiller's figure (loc.
cit., pi. 30, fig. 1) illustrating a female with abdominal segments 2. 3, 4,
6, and 7 broadly banded with yellow. All the many female examples
examined are conspicuously banded with yellow only on .segments 2, 4,
and 6, with a few scattered yellow scales on 3 and 5.
Records in the United States National Museum : Denver, Colo., males
and females (Oslar) ; Williston, Williams County, N. Dak., male, June
9, 1923 (H. Notman) ; Montana^ female; Fort Yukon, Alaska, male.
140 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
PARANTHRENE TRICINCTA OSLARI, new form
Plate 26, Figure 159
Male. — Antennae ochreous, shaded with black on upper parts. Labial
palpi pale yellow, black at bases and on sides. Thorax violaceous-black,
contrastingly marked yellow at sides posteriorly. Abdomen shiny black
with segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 broadly, and 3 and 5 narrowly, banded with
yellow. Legs dull yellow, touched with orange. Forewing brown-black
mixed with yellow and orange scales, densest on inner margin and basal
half.
Female. — Antennae orange-red, with bluish-black scales above. Ab-
domen mostly yellow above and beneath; segments 1, 3, 4, and 5 black
anteriorly, segments 2 and 6 all yellow; anal tuft yellow and black mixed,
more yellow than black.
Type.— U.S.N. M. No. 26844. Described from female from Bear
Creek, Morrison County, Colo. (Oslar) ; parat)^pe female, San Juan
Mountains, Colo. (Oslar) ; and two male paratypes. Chimney Gulch,
Golden, Colo. (Oslar).
Remarks. — The similarity between the North American form tricincta
oslari and the form of western Europe, tabaniformis rhingiaeformis
Hiibner, points to parallelism in response to comparable climatic condi-
tions of two closely related species on widely separated continents.
The form oslari has been named for Ernest J. Oslar, of Denver, Colo.,
a pioneer collector who, during a long span of life, has made many con-
tributions to our knowledge of the Rocky Mountain insect fauna.
PARANTHRENE DOLLII DOLLII (Neumoesren)
Sciapteron dollii Neumoegen, Ent. News, vol. 5, p. 330, 1894. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8. p. 122, 1896; vol. 9, p. 218, 1897.
Memythrtis dollii Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 252,
pi. 30, fig. 4 (female), 1901.
Paranfhrene dollii McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8802, 1939.
Male. — Antennae robust, broadly bipectinate and strongly dilated at
tips, dark ochreous, shaded with black above. Labial palpi rough, rusty
red, black at bases and on the sides. Head black, top reddish with a stiff
bru.sh black ; face shiny sordid white ; occipital fringe rusty red. Thorax
black, prothorax with a collar of flat scales, black, edged with rusty red ;
tegula and sides dull brown ; metathorax at the sides with buff and red-
dish tufts. Abdomen with segments 1, 2, and 3 black; 4, 5, 6, and 7
rufous ; segments 2 and 4 narrowly ringed with pale yellow, segment 3
shaded with yellow at lower margin before a very narrow black edge ;
segments 5, 6, and 7 also narrowly edged with black; on the underside
the banding of all segments more pronounced ; anal tuft short, narrow,
sordid brown. Legs pale rufous, femora black. Forewing opaque, dark
brown with violaceous and coppery reflections ; a short vitreous streak
near wing base above inner margin, which is shaded with red ; underside
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 141
dull orange-brown; costa, veins, and very narrow margin black, fringes
brown-black. Hindwing semitransparent. reddish brown; discal mark
conspicuous, with clear areas before and behind; an irregular suffusion
between the veins from outer margin inward to and beyond the discal
mark, basal parts of wing remaining transparent; underside Itistrous red-
dish.
Female.- — Like the male. Antennae simple, body heavier, anal tuft very
short, blunt.
Expanse: Male 30 to 34 mm., female 30 to 40 mm.
Distribution. — Atlantic Coast States, Massachusetts to Appalachian
regions of Virginia.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Paranthrene dollii is a wood borer in poplars and willows.
In natural, undisturbed regions along streams and the borders of swamps
the species is found rather scatteringly, evidently held in check by para-
sites, woodpeckers, and other enemies. The best places for collecting
are suburban districts of cities and towns where real-estate developments
are interfering with plant growth, leaving trees and shrubs in a weakened
and mutilated condition. Such struggling trees and shrubs are especially
attractive to boring insects, as are also young poplars planted along road-
sides. From a young poplar section several feet in length as many as
15 moths have been reared. On willows, preferably low-growing shrubby
kinds, the larvae are found in the main trunks and in branches, not in
the roots, and often in association with wood-boring Coleoptera, Saperda
and Cryptorhynchus, which stuff their galleries with long, excelsiorlike
shavings, whereas the burrows of the aegeriid larvae are filled with small,
round, reddish pellets of frass and woody fragments. The larvae attain
maturity in the fall of the second year. At that time, if in normal condi-
tion, they prepare pupal chambers, capped but without cocoons, in the
upper part of their burrows. Here they winter and transform to pupae
late in May and during June. The moths emerge two or three weeks later.
Larvae affected with parasites generally fail to prepare pupal chambers.
They linger through winter and spring, dying as the parasites issue to fill
the burrow with their little white cocoons.
Heavy infestations, as have been recorded by very long series of moths,
from Long Island and the vicinity of New York City 30 and more years
ago, have not been encountered since. Recent records are of individuals
or small numbers. This also is true of the color form castanea in its
southern habitat, with one exception. A fine series was reared from
willow cuttings obtained on the Tamiami Trail to Miami, Fla. (Engel-
hardt). Among material of the color form jasciventris are two long,
reared series, one from Humboldt Park, Chicago, 111., May 1897 (U. S.
Bur. Ent. No. 6295) ; the other from Cicero, Chicago, ill., June 1920
(A. Wyatt and E. Beer).
142 BULLETIN 100, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
PARANTHRENE DOLLII form CASTANEA (Beutenmuller)
Sciapteron dollii var. castanemn Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol.
9, p. 213, 1897.
Memythrus dollii var. castaneus Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol.
1, pt. 6, p. 253, pi. 30, fig. 5 (male), fig. 6 (female), 1901.
Paranthrene castaneum McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8802a, 1939.
This is a color variation in both sexes, the black and brown on thorax
and abdomen of typical dollii being replaced with bright chestnut and red-
brown. The suffusions between the veins of the hindwings are denser
and in most of the available specimens extend nearer to the wing base.
With Virginia as a transition zone the colors intensify southward to
Florida and along the Gulf States into Texas and inland along the
Mississippi Valley to Missouri.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
PARANTHRENE DOLLII FASCIVENTRIS, new form
Plate 26, Figure 160
In contrast to the intensified coloration of the form castanea, which
represents the southern extension in the range of dollii, the form jasci-
ventrls, in which the coloration is moderated, represents the northern
extension in the range of the species. Wings of both sexes pale rufous.
Collar black, edged with pale yellow. Thorax black, posterior half of
tegula and the metathorax narrowly striped with yellow, the yellow mark
being continuous and in the form of a semicircle. Abdomen pale brown,
all segments ringed with pale yellow.
Distribution. — Midwestern States, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michi-
gan. Specimens comprising a long series from the dune regions of Lake
Michigan in Illinois and Indiana are consistently of this form.
Type.— U.S.N. M. No. 56845.
Described from male type, female allotype, four male and three female
paratypes from Chicago (May and June), and three male and three
female paratypes from Cicero, 111.
PARANTHRENE ROBINIAE ROBINIAE (Hy. Edwards)
Sciapteron robiniae Hy. Edwards, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 3, p. 72, 1880. —
Packard, Insects injurious to forest and shade trees, U. S. Ent. Comm. Bull. No.
7, pp. 103, 127, 261, 1881; Fifth Rep. U. S. Ent. Comm., p. 360, 1890.— Rilev,
Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 1, p. 85, 1888; Insect Life, vol. 2, p. 18, 1889.—
Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892; vol. 8, p. 120,
1896; vol.9, p. 218, 1897.
Memythrus robiniae Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p.
248, pi. 29, fig. 15 (female), 1901.
Paranthrene robiniae McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8794, 1939.
Male. — Antennae strong, broadly bipectinate, ochreous. Labial palpi
rough, yellow, slightly touched with black at the sides. Head black, a
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 143
brush on top black and yellow mixed, face yellow, occipital fringe yellow.
Collar covered with depressed scales, black above and yellow below.
Thorax metallic black ; a yellow patch at wing base above and beneath :
tegula yellow, posteriorly uniting with a transverse yellow band on meta-
thorax to form a semicircular mark. Abdomen mostly yellow ; segment
1 all black, segment 2 ringed with black and yellow ; segment 3 banded
with black and yellow above and entirely black beneath ; segments 4, 5,
6, and 7 entirely yellow : the black on segments 2 and 3 sometimes blending
into chestnut or red ; anal tuft short, narrow, yellow. Legs with coxae
and femora black ; tibiae yellow, touched with black beneath ; tarsi deeper
yellow. Forewing suffused, ochreous or luteous, with or without vitreous
streaks between the veins before and behind the more densely scaled discal
mark; a yellow spot at wing base; the costa, veins, lower margin and
fringes blackish brown ; underside brighter and discal mark light yellow.
Hindwing transparent, discal mark conspicuous, deep yellow ; veins and
narrow margin ochreous, fringes dark brown.
Female. — Considerably larger than the male in average size ; antennae
simple, deep yellow or orange, darkening before the tips. Forewing more
reddish. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse: Male 26 to 30 mm., female 30 to 36 mm.
Distribution. — West of the Mississippi Valley ; Rocky Mountain and
Pacific Coast States.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — In the western half of the United States and Canada.
Paranthrene robiniae replaces Paranthrene dollii, which represents the
eastern parts. The two species are closely related, structurally and bio-
logically, sharing the same food plants and having similar habits. Their
chief difference lies in the consistently transparent hindwings of robiniae
and the equally consistently suffused hindwings of dollii. Transitions
are not known. Both species respond to climatic changes in about the
same degree. The color form perlucida, from INTontana, Alberta, and
British Columbia, expresses the northern range of robiniae and palescens,
from extreme desert regions in California, the southern range. P. robiniae
prevails throughout the Western States from the Rocky Mountains to
the Pacific coast and from sea level to near timber line. The insect has
proved injurious to .shade trees, principally poplars and less so to willows.
Many young poplars were reported killed at vSacramento, Calif. (B. G.
Thompson, 1921"). Long series have been obtained at San Bernardino
and the Arroyo Seco. Los Angeles, reared from willow sections small
enough to cut with a pocket knife. A series from the Grand Canyon.
Ariz., is of interest because of the color variations displa^^ed, specimens
from the rim, at an elevation of 7.000 feet, being darker and having the
abdomen banded with black, while specimens from the inner canyon, 4.000
feet above sea level, are lighter and have reddish-brown abdominal bands.
Heavv infestations were encountered at Salt Lake Citv and Provo. Utah
144 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
(1917 and 1936, Engelhardt) ; on the Snake River near Pullman, Wash,
(1935, J. F. G. Clarke). Specimens from Bowman, N. Dak., June 24,
1935 (Geiszler), and from Hamilton County, Kans., 3,350 feet (F. H.
Snow), are typical examples.
PARANTHRENE ROBINIAE form PERLUCIDA (Busck)
Plate 27, Figure 161
Memythrus perlucida Busck, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 17, p. 80, 1915.
Paranthrene perlucida McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8803, 1939.
Male. — Antennae reddish brown, bipectinations blackish. Labial palpi
bright yellow, shaded with red at bases. Head on top, face, and occipital
fringe reddish brown. Collar transversely banded with black and yellow.
Thorax dark chestnut-brown, edged transversely with yellow posteriorly.
Abdomen reddish brown, with narrow and broad yellow annulations,
subject to variation ; segment 2 narrowly edged with yellow above, broader
beneath ; segment 4 yellow, slightly reddish anteriorly ; segments 5, 6,
and 7 usually exhibiting a tendency to lighter colors and yellow edges ;
segments 3, 5, and 6 narrowly ringed with black at posterior edge; anal
tuft short, narrow, yellowish. Legs chestnut-red, tarsi reddish yellow.
Forewing brown, suffused with red ; short vitreous streaks before reddish
discal mark and toward apex ; costa and veins bluish black, fringes dull
black; underside of a lighter tone. Hindwing transparent, glassy blue;
narrow margin reddish brown, fringes dull black ; discal mark and veins
red, touched with black.
Female. — Abdomen reddish brown, except segment 2, which is nar-
rowly edged with yellow and segment 4, which is yellow, barely touched
with reddish on anterior edge. Otherwise like the male.
Food plant.— Popuhts trichocarpa.
Distribution. — Northern Rocky Mountains, Montana, Alberta, British
Columbia.
Type.—V.S.'^.M. No. 19223. Female.
Remarks. — The color form perlucida is represented by a large series
from Missoula, Mont., June 1914, reared from Populus trichocarpa
(Joseph Brunner) ; a female from Seton Lake, Lillooet, British Columbia.
June 30, 1906; a male and a female from Victoria, British Columbia (E.
H. Blackmore) ; and a small series from Calgary, Alberta, June 1923
(George Salt).
PARANTHRENE ROBINIAE PALESCENS. new form
Plate 27, Figure 162
Male and female very pale, straw colored. Thorax light reddish brown,
transversely and at the sides posteriorly marked with pale yellow. Ab-
domen with segment 1 pale brown ; segment 2 pale brown and yellow in
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 145
rings of equal width ; segment 3 pale brown, narrowly edged with yellow,
remaining segments entirely pale yellow. Forewing pale, straw colored,
touched with red at base, along costa and inner margin.
Distribution. — Extreme desert regions of southern California.
Type.— U. S.N. M. No. 56846. From Palm Springs, Calif.
Described from female type and female paratype from the type locality.
PARANTHRENE SIMULANS SIMULANS (Grote)
Plate 27, Figure 163
Trochiliuni (Sciapteron) simulans Grote, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 3, p. 78, 1881 ,
Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geogr. Surv. Terr., vol. 6, p. 257, 1881.
Sciapteron simulans Grote, Rep. Ent. Soc. Ontario for 1887, p. 81, 1888.— Beuten-
MULLER, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 121, 1896; vol. 9, pp. 214, 218, 1897.
Paranthrene simulans AIcDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8798, 1939.
Male. — Antennae strong, bipectinate, black, brown at apices. Labial
palpi rough, yellow, black at bases and on the sides. Head black, eyes
margined broadly with yellow in front. Collar yellow behind, black in
front. Thorax deep black, a yellow spot on each side immediately below
the collar and a yellow spot in front of and another beneath the f orewings ;
tegulae prominently striped with yellow on lower half to a black-and-
yellow tuft on metathorax, which is marked with yellow transversely.
Abdomen yellow ; segment 1 entirely black ; segment 2 black with a short
transverse yellow band ; segment 3 slightly yellow on lower edge ; segment
4 broadly black dorsally but the yellow band broadening on the sides
below ; segments 5, 6, and 7 yellow with a subobsolete row of black spots
along the dorsum ; beneath the segtnents more equally banded with yellow
and black ; anal tuft short, compact, yellow mixed with black. Coxae
yellow, femora black, posterior tibiae yellow, shaded with rust}' and black ;
tarsi orange. Forewing with brownish-black scales on and below the
costa and on inner margin, pellucid at internal angle and with pellucid
streaks to wing base ; discal mark indicated by denser, brownish scales.
Hindwing transparent, opalescent, narrow margin and fringes brown.
Beneath, wings more yellow and lustrous.
Female. — Very much like the male. Larger in size. Forewings more
heavily shaded. Antenna siinple, touched with yellow at inner base.
Expanse : Male 27 to 30 mm., female 30 to 33 mm.
Distribution. — Atlantic coast from Maryland to Nova Scotia ; Illinois ;
Wisconsin ; Minnesota ; eastern Canada.
Remarks. — This species occurs in mixed colonies, composed of the two
named forms and in addition color variations ranging from yellow to
orange. The predominating color is yellow, orange occasionally only.
Orange narrowly banded examples very closely resemble the nearly re-
lated, southern species, P. palmii, and as the ranges of the two species
overlap in New York and in New Jersey, confusion is likely. Normal
146 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
specimens differ chiefly in the stripe on the tegulae. In simulans it is short,
confined to the lower half ; in palmii it extends over the whole length from
the collar to the metathorax. Intermediate phases suggest the possibility
of hybridization, but this has not been proved. Numerous experiments
in exposing virgin females to attract males have not been successful.
The capture of a moth is a rare and interesting experience. During
flight the adults are almost indistinguishable from queens of species of
Vespa, which they simulate, even when at rest on tree trunks, by nervous
movements of the abdomen. One would hesitate to attempt capture one by
hand. The fine, long series in the United States National Museum and
in the writer's collection have been obtained by rearing. In a natural
undisturbed habitat the larval burrows, easy to recognize, are scattered and
oftener than not are empty, the larvae having been extracted by wood-
peckers. For collecting in numbers favorable conditions have been pro-
vided by the clearing of woodlands near cities and towns, followed by
the growth of young shoots and saplings, which are particularly attractive
to the insect. The life cycle is two years, and curiously this has remained
so fixed that in the Eastern States it is almost useless to hunt for wood
cuttings containing mature larvae or pupae in years of uneven numbers ;
in the even years they are abundant. The young larva begins a shallow
excavation under bulging bark, which it enlarges in the spring before
tunneling into the solid wood to a depth of about 2 inches. In prepara-
tion for a pupal chamber the tunnel is capped at the outer end in the fall ;
the transformation to pupa does not take place until late in the spring
of the second year.
In distribution the species may be said to follow its food plants, which
are black, red, and pin oaks, north to Nova Scotia and eastern Canada,
south to Virginia and west to Minnesota. Records of capture and rearing
are most numerous from Long Island, the vicinity of New York City, and
New Jersey. Several specimens in the collection of the Boston Society of
Natural History are from Maine (Johnson).
The male type of luggeri was bred from red oak at St. Paul, Minn., by
Professor Lugger, who states that the insect is injurious to the trees.
His description and figure clearly apply to an example narrowly banded
with black on the abdomen. In the Eastern States, this variation is re-
placed largely by a color form marked much more broadly with black on
the anterior abdominal segments. Among hundreds of specimens exam-
ined four of the darker form occur to one of the paler. The former is
regarded as simulans. Grote's description of the female type of simulans
from Algonquin, 111., indicates an example intermediate between the two.
There is one rearing record from chestnut, Castanea dentata, a female
from Brooklyn, N. Y., June 22, 1903 (Engelhardt). This specimen is
normal for simulans, except that the body color is not yellow but deep
orange.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 147
PARANTHRENE SIMULANS form LUGGER! (Hy. Edw«rd«)
Plate 27, Figure 164
Trochiliwn liiggeri Hy. Edwards, Psyche, vol. 6, p. 108, pi. 3, fig. 3, 1891.
Paranthrene simulans McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8798, 1939.
Male and fevmle. — Abdominal segments yellow, narrowly ringed black,
excepting basal segment, which is all black.
Type. — Female. In the American Museum of Natural History.
PARANTHRENE PALMII (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 27, Figure 165
Fatua palmii Hy. Edwards, Can. Ent., vol. 19, p. 145, 1887; Ent. Amer., vol. 3, p.
224, 1888.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892.
Sciapieron palmii Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 366, 1894;
vol. 8, p. 122, 1896.
Paranthrcne pal mi McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8799, 1939.
Male. — Antennae black, orange at tips; bipectinations broad, dark
brown. Labial palpus rough, bright yellow, black at base and slightly edged
with black at the sides. Head above with stiff black-and-yellow hairs ; face
black ; eyes with yellow lashes ; occipital fringe black. Collar deep yellow,
upper edge black. Thorax black, tegulae black, broadly and evenly
striped with yellow from prothorax to metathorax, which has a lateral
orange brush and a transverse orange patch; a deep yellow, nearly
triangular patch just anterior to wing base and a small yellow patch
beneath the wing. Abdomen orange ; segment 1 black ; all other segments
each with a small black spot at lower edge centrally ; a narrow posterior
black edge on each segment visible when the abdomen is extended, ob-
scured when abdomen is contracted, but always present on underside ;
anal tuft short, blunt, sordid orange. Legs orange, posterior tibia touched
with brown on outer side; tarsi brownish orange. Forewing heavily
scaled with black and brown-black, chestnut-brown at base; pellucid at
internal angle and with pellucid streaks to wing base ; underside dusted
with orange basally. Hindwings transparent, opalescent, with narrow
margins and fringes dull black.
Female. — Differs from the male only in its larger size, heavier body,
and simple antennae. Both sexes consistently exhibit the same color
pattern but differ slightly with respect to shades of orange and yellow.
Expanse : JMale 34 to 36 mm., female 3S to 40 mm.
Distribution. — Coastal regions from Mississippi to New York.
Type. — Female. In the American Museum of Natural History. From
Florida.
Remarks. — Known for many years only from the type, this species
now has been proved to be widely distributed from the coastal regions
of the Gulf of Mexico northward to New York State. In structure,
148 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
habits, and food plants it closely resembles simulans. The genitalia of
the two species are much alike. Normal examples of palmii are orange,
striped with yellow laterally the whole length of the thorax, whereas
simulans normally is yellow with only a short, blunt, lateral stripe on
the posterior part of the thorax. Intermediate specimens occur, and
these may be placed with equal satisfaction in either of the two species.
In general palmii develops in trees of the white-oak group and simulans
in the black oaks. There is overlapping in this host association, but
palmii has not been reared from black oak, nor has simulans been ob-
tained from white oak. This discrimination has been observed even where
the two species occur in mixed association as they do on Long Island.
Larval burrows on tree trunks are indicated by swollen places, covered
with blistered bark. On small growths, saplings and branches, the in-
jury is more serious, causing gall-like swellings and often the dying of
the parts above the burrow. After emergence of the moths pupal skins
protrude from the burrows, often remaining exposed for long periods.
With experience the identity of the borer can be determined by the
character of its work. Burrows characteristic of palmii have been found
on white scrub oak in a canyon near Salt Lake City, Utah ; at Jemez
Springs, Sandoval County, N. Mex., and at Yosemite Park, Calif. How-
ever, this western distribution of the species still awaits substantiation
through specimens of the moths.
Throughout Florida palmii is fairly common in areas of scrubby oak
growth, both deciduous and evergreen species being attacked. Fine
series were reared at Gainesville, Daytona, and Jacksonville. At Mobile,
Ala., several females were captured in flight, but not nearly so many
as of the queens of Vespa carolinensis, which are so deceptive in behavior
and in appearance that they cannot be readily distinguished from the
moths until they are collected. In its southern range palmii emerges from
April to June ; in its northern range in June and July, as does simulans.
Records in the United States National Museum: Woodhaven and
other localities on Long Island, N. Y. ; Washington, D. C. (Engelhardt).
PARANTHRENE ASILIPENNIS (Boisduval)
Scsia asilil'cnnis Boisduval, in Guerin-Meneville, Cuvier's Iconographie du regne
animal, vol. 3 (b) (Insects), p. 496, pi. 84, fig. 3 (male), 1829; Histoire naturelle
des insectes: Species general des lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 391, 1874. —
Wilson, Encyclopedia Britannica, ed. 7, p. 244, pi. 236, 1835.
Trochilium demidatum Harris, Amer. Journ. Arts and Sci., vol. 36, p. 310 (female),
1839 ; A report on the insects of Alassachusetts injurious to vegetation . . ., p. 232,
1842; ed. 2, p. 252, 1852; ed. 3, p. 330, 1863.— Kellicott, Can. Ent., vol. 13, p. 8,
1881.— Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 97, 1882.
Trochilium vespipenne Herrich-Schaffer, Sammlung neuer oder wenig bekannter
aussereuropaischer Schmetterlinge, p. 57, fig. 217 (female), 1854.
Tarsa bombyciformis Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 61 (male) , 1856.— Boisduval, Histoire
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 149
naturelle des insectes: Species general des lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p.
463, 1874.
Sesia denudata Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 435, 1874.
Aegeria asilipennis Marten, in Thomas, Tenth report of the State entomologist on
the noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois, 1880, p. 109, 1881. —
Hy. Edwards, Ent. Amer., vol. 3, p. 224, 1888.
Aegeria denndatum Packard, Insects injurious to forest and shade trees, U. S. Ent.
Comm. Bull. No. 7, p. 138, 1881.
Fatna denudata Grote, New check list of North American moths, p. 11, 1882. —
Beutenmuller, Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 204, 1890.— Smith,
Catalogue of insects found in New Terse}', p. 288, 1890.— Packard, 5th Rep.
U. S. Ent. Comm., p. 540, 1890.
Sphecia championi Druce, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Lepidoptera, vol. 1, p. 29,
pi. 5, figs. 3, 5, 1883. — ZuKOWSKY, in Seitz, The Macrolepidoptera of the world,
vol. 6, p. 1245, pi. 178b, 1936.
Tarsa denudata Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, p. 22, 1893;
vol. 8, p. 124, 1896; vol. 9, p. 219, 1897.— Lugger, 1st Ann. Rep. Ent. State Agr.
Exp Stat. Univ. Minnesota, 1895, p. 96, pi. 5, fig. 51, 1896.
Memythrus asilipennis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 252, pi. 30, fig. 10 (male), fig. 11 (female), 1901.
Paranthrene asilipennis Zukowsky, in Seitz, The Macrolepidoptera of the world,
vol. 6, p. 1255, pi. 180b (female), 180c (male), 1936.— McDunnough, Check list
of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No.
8800, 1939.
Male. — Antennae strong, broadly bipectinate, rufous-brovv^n, orange at
tips. Labial palpus moderately rough, buff and sordid white, dark brown
at base and the sides, rufous above. Head black, face rufous, occipital
fringe rufous. Collar black, lower edge yellow or buiT. Thorax brown-
black; tegulae edged with yellow, shoulder chestnut- red, yellow at wing
base ; metathorax with a yellow transverse line curved upward. Abdomen
blackish on upper and brownish on lower half ; segment 1 black ; segments
2, 3, and 4 black with pale yellow bands, the bands narrowing laterally ;
segments 5, 6, and 7 brownish, narrowly banded with pale yellow above
and beneath ; anal tuft short, blunt, brown. Legs rufous, touched with
black and chestnut-red on femora and tibiae. Forewing transparent, costa
and inner margin brownish black, shaded with red ; discal mark irregularly
oblique, mostly red with dark edges ; outer margin narrow, dull black and
red mixed, fringes brownish black. Hindwing transparent, margins and
fringes narrow, brownish black; discal mark narrow, orange. Under-
neath, wings shaded with yellow and orange on opaque parts.
Female. — Antennae simple, rufous, darkening to tips. Thorax on shoul-
der mostly chestnut-brown. Abdomen chestnut-brown on lower half and
with chestnut-brown shadings on upper half above the yellow bands.
Forewing opaque, except a triangular area above the hind angle. Hind-
wing transparent, with costa and discal mark heavily suffused with brown
and red ; discal mark deep orange.
Expanse : Male 28 to 38 mm., female 36 to 46 mm.
150 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Distribution. — United States ; temperate and subtropical zones of Mex-
ico and Central America.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum. From Ober-
thiir collection.
Remarks. — This species is a borer in the solid wood of oaks. Apparently
it does not discriminate as to the species of oak, and so it is found widely
distributed in the United States, in Mexico, and in Central America.
Color variations are insignificant. In warm or subtropical climates the
average size is larger. Under normal conditions oaks are attacked at
their bases and surface roots. The larvae in a 2-year life cycle produce
ugly wounds, tunneling inches deep in the solid wood and causing serious
injury to young trees, which are preferred. Until the habits and food
plants of the species were known, only a few moths had been captured in
widely separated regions and at long intervals. Now the species is rep-
resented abundantly in many collections, largely owing to concentrations
of the insect in woodlands with recently cut and removed timber where
the remaining oak stumps prove the attraction. Eggs are laid on the
bark and outer edge of the raw wood, the young larvae boring downward
to a depth of about 6 inches. The change to pupa in the spring of the
second year occurs in a chamber capped below and above, the exit being
well concealed by minute particles of wood. The moth, emerging in May
or June, leaves an upstanding half of the pupal shell protruding from
the stump's surface. On one stump as many as 50 of the shells were
counted. No such heavy infestations are likely on growing trees. The
stumps continue to serve as breeding places even when the upper part of
the trees are dead, the larvae tunneling deeper and deeper to the still living
tissue. Often the tunnels become partly filled with a white, spongy fungus,
which is not. however, a serious obstacle to the larva. Parasitism is
heavy. Virgin females attract males quickly after emergence and, enclosed
in a screened cage, they have been used successfully in the collection of
males.
Records in United States National Museum: Long Island, N. Y., long
series, May-June 1908-1915 (G. P. Engelhardt) ; Framingham, Mass.,
female. May 23. 1934 (C. A. Frost) ; Laurel, Md., male. May 14, 1911
(E. B. Marshall) ; Washington, D. C, female (Bur. Ent.) ; Ice Mountain,
W. Va., female, May 7, 1939 (Austin Clark) ; Hessville, Ind., long series,
May- June 1915 (Alex. Wyatt and E. Beer) ; Southern Pines, N. C,
males, females, April 1-7; Texas (Oberthiir collection), males and fe-
males; Dento and Dallas. Tex., males and females, March-April 1909 (F.
C. Bishopp) ; Jacksonville, Fla., female, March (A. T. Slosson) ; Talla-
hassee, Fla., male, February 28; Cincinnati, Ohio, male and female, May
2, 1902 (A. Braun).
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE -j^g^
PARANTHRENE FENESTRATA Barnes and Lindsey
Plate 28, Figui^ 166
Paranthrene fenestratus Barnes and Lindsey, Brooklyn Ent. Soc. Bull., vol. 17,
p. 122, 1922. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8805, 1939.
Female. — Antennae, labial palpi, head, thorax, abdomen, and legs black.
Apical portion of antenna orange. Forewing opaque, orange; costa to
end of cell, base, radial and cubital stems, and inner margin to cell black ;
apical margin very narrowly black, fringes gray-brown. Hindwing
orange, with transparent areas between veins 4, 3, and 2 to cell; between
veins 2 and Ic, Ic to lb, and lb to la clear to base.
Male. — Not known.
Expanse : Female 40 to 45 mm.
Distribution. — Arizona.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — This species is represented by three known females, two
in the United States Museum and one in the California Academy of
Sciences, collected in Chiricahua Mountains, Cochise County, Ariz., June
8-15 and June 27, 1916 (V. Owen). The male is not yet known, and
nothing is known of the food plant and habits. Presumably the species
is Mexican, ranging across the border into Arizona.
VITACEA, new genus
Genotype, Aegeria polistiformis Harris.
This genus forms a natural group closely allied to Paranthrene, hav-
ing the same venational, palpal, and genitalic characters, differing only
as follows: Hindwing with vein Ic heavily scaled; male abdomen with
four long anal appendages not found in Paranthrene ; genitalia without
the downward spine at apex of aedeagus, characteristic of Paranthrene.
Biologically the two groups dififer in that the larva of Vitacca constructs
a cocoon before pupation, attached to the burrow or separate in the ad-
joining soil, whereas in species of Paranthrene, as now defined, the
larvae transform to pupae in their galleries without making cocoons.
The Japanese species Sciapteron regale Butler belongs to this genus,
and there are doubtless other Old World species to be added when
better known. The larvae of the Japanese species, commonly called
"gun work of grape," are in demand for feeding insectivorous cage
birds. The larvae are common and can be extracted from root sections
in numbers as needed for feeding. A lot of such root cuttings was
brought to the United States but were fortunately confiscated by custom
inspectors and referred to the State Commissioner of Horticulture at
Sacramento, Calif. Moths reared from this material were identified as
Sciapteron regale in the U. S. Bureau of Entomology. If established
in California this insect might become a menace to grape culture there.
152 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF VITACEA
Forewings opaque, brown-black; hindwings transparent; abdomen with seg-
ments 2 and 4 narrowly banded with yellow.
polistiformis polistiformis (Harris)
Forewings and abdomen chestnut-brown.
polistiformis form seminole (Neumoegen)
Abdomen conspicuously banded with yellow, black, and brown.
polistiformis Huron, new form
Forewings buff or light brown; abdomen posteriorly pale yellow.
cupressi (Hy. Edwards)
Abdomen with the segments red and yellow admiranda (Hy. Edwards)
Forewings brown-black, hindwings broadly margined and suffused between
veins; antennae tipped with orange scepsiformis (Hy. Edwards)
VITACEA POLISTIFORMIS POLISTIFORMIS (Harris)
Plate 2, Figure 18 ; Plate 10, Figures 49, 49a ; Plate 15, Figure 79
Aegeria polistiformis Harris, Proc. Amer. Pomol. See, 1854, p. 216.— Glover, Rep.
U. S. Comm. Pat., 1854, p. 80, pi. 6, figs., 1855 ; Rep. U. S. Comm. Agr., 1867, p.
72, figs., 1868; 1873, p. 59, 1874; Monthly Rep. [U. S.] Dept. Agr., Oct. 1873, p.
496. — Walsh, First report of the State entomologist on the noxious and bene-
ficial insects of the State of Illinois, p. 24, 1868. — Packard, Guide to the study of
insects . . ., p. 278, and other editions, 1869. — Riley, Third report on the noxious
and other insects of the State of Missouri, p. 75, figs., 1871.— Bethune, Can.
Ent., vol. 5. p. 218, 1873. — Thomas, Seventh report of the State entomologist on
the noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois, 1877, p. 171, 1878. —
Perkins, 5th Rep. Vermont Board Agr., p. 261, 1878. — Stout, Rep. Kansas Hort.
Soc, 1879, p. 88, 1880.— Marten, Tenth report of the State entomologist on the
noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois, 1880, p. 108, 1881.—
Saunders, Insects injurious to fruits, p. 229, 1883; ed. 2, p. 229, 1889.
Trochilium polistiformis FiTCH, Third report on the noxious insects of the State of
New York, 1856, p. 387, 1857.
Aegeria polistaeformis Glover, Monthly Rep. [U. S.] Dept. Agr., Oct. 1867, p. 329.
Sciapteron polistiformis Beutenmuller, Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 204,
1890 ; vol. 8, p. 22, 1896 ; vol. 9, p. 218, 1897.— Davis, Proc. Michigan State Hort.
Soc, 1894, p. 78, 1895.— Lugger, 4th Ann. Rep. Ent. Agr. Exp. Stat. Minnesota,
1898, p. 55, figs., 1899.
Memythrtis polistiformis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 249, pi. 30, figs. 7, 8, 1901.— Brooks, Bull. West Virginia Agr. Exp. Stat., vol.
110, pp. 19-30, 1907.
Paranlhrene polistiformis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8796, 1939.
Male. — Antennae bipectinate, brown-black, fuscous at tips and beneath.
Labial palpus rough, red-brown, black at base and at the sides, third
joint pointed. Head brown, grizzly on top; face shiny whitish, occipital
fringe deep orange. Collar black, pale yellow at the sides. Thorax brown-
black, more or less touched with rufous before wing base, on lower tegulae
and on metathorax. Abdomen black shaded with brown, segments 2 and
4 narrowly banded with pale yellow, very faintly so beneath; anal tuft
short, blunt, brown-black, anteriorly with four orange-brown pencils,
the dorsal two long, the two on sides shorter. Legs orange-brown,
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 153
femora black. Forewing opaque, brown-black, with vitreous streaks
before wing base ; underside shaded with orange. Hindwing transparent,
opalescent; margin lustrous brown-black, broadened by scales between
the veins; inner margin before and at base orange-red.
Female. — Antennae simple, blue-black, rufous at bases, at tips, and be-
neath. Thorax with yellow stripes laterally and transversely on meta-
thorax. Abdomen dark chestnut-brown; much larger than that of the
male. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse: Male 26 to 30 mm., female 36 to 42 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern half of United States and southeastern Canada,
extending from Vermont to the Mississippi Valley.
Type. — Male. In the Boston Society of Natural History.
Remarks. — As a species of considerable economic importance the grape-
vine root borer has been the subject of numerous investigations and
publications since reported by Thaddeus W. Harris in 1854. However,
these investigations almost entirely were confined to vineyards and to
grapes under cultivation. Outstanding among published accounts of this
species is the one by Fred E. Brooks (West Virginia Agr. Exp. Stat.
Bull. 110, Nov. 1907). Aly own attempts to associate the borer with
native wild grapes have been successful in only one instance. An old
well-established stand of fox grape, Vitis labrusca, sprawling over open,
sandy soil near Stapleton at the southern end of Staten Island, N. Y.,
was found infested. Early in August 1927 moths of the borer, invariably
males, were observed in rapid flight searching for the more sluggish
females, mostly at rest on the foliage. As usual the moths in their
flight were associated with a common wasp of the genus Polistes, to which
they bear a striking resemblance in appearance and action. About 30
specimens of the moths, including both sexes, were netted on repeated
visits to the locality. Examination of the main, central root showed
no larval attacks, but on outgrowing, horizontal roots, the attacks were
or had been serious. Fully grown larvae 1^^ to 2 inches long were
few, but half-grown larvae, 1 inch or less in length, were numerous during
August. Tough-fibered, elongated, and outwardly soil-covered cocoons
were found by sifting the surface sand near the roots. A few still con-
tained living pupae, but from greater numbers the moths had emerged,
in each case leaving half of the pupal shell protruding from the upper
end. Persistent search on other native wild grapes growing in thickets
or climbing trees has given no evidence of the borer's attack. Low-
growing vines in open country are preferred. To obtain material suitable
for rearing involves much labor. It is easier to collect the moths at
known colonies on sunny days.
The life cycle is two years. A female lays 300 to 400 eggs, singly or
in small numbers on foliage and stems, or on the ground. The eggs
are oval, flattened at the sides, light brown and about 1 mm. long. The
154 BULLETIN 100, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
larva hatches in 2 or 3 weeks, burrows down to the roots, and starts
a gallery beneath the bark, which is gradually enlarged and serves as
a domicile until maturity in early summer of the second year. The change
to pupa takes place in a tough cocoon constructed in the soil and near
the surface, apart from the gallery. The moths emerge three to four
weeks after pupation, in temperate zones late in July or in August, in
warmer climates late in May and in June. The insidious work of this
borer often is not recognized as the cause of serious injury and loss in
vineyards.
VITACEA POLISTIFORMIS form SEMINOLE (Neumoegen)
Sciapteron seminole Neumoegen, Ent. News, vol. 5, p. 330, 1894.
Memythrus seminole Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 253, pi. 30, fig. 22 (female), 1901.
Paranthrene seminole McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8801, 1939.
Female. — A specimen from Florida (the type) differs from typical
poUstiformis only in the lighter brown on the forewings, the thorax,
and abdomen. Another female, from Dallas, Tex. (March 24, 1909, F. C.
Bishopp), is chestnut-red on head, thorax, abdomen, and posterior
tibiae; the forewings are brown-black and the discal mark on the hind-
wing is broader. The early date of emergence, March 24, is unusual.
The type from Florida is not dated, but the usual dates for polistijormi'!
are late July and August.
The name seminole is recognized in this paper for an extreme color
form within the range of poUstiformis, as has been done in the case of
Paranthrene dollii form castanea. It is not a well-defined segregate, how-
ever, intergradations connecting it with the typical form. The geo
graphical limits of the two are elastic.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum. From Florida.
VITACEA POLISTIFORMIS HURON, new form
Plate 28, Figure 167
Male and female. — Forewings opaque, pale rufous, streaked dark with
brown and buflf, beneath shaded with pale yellow. Hind wings trans-
parent, margins rufous. Abdomen with conspicuous annulations, segment
2 narrowly and segment 4 broadly ringed with pale yellow posteriorly ;
all segments shaded transversely with black, chestnut-brown, and buff,
this being most pronounced on the basal segments, at the sides and be-
neath. Posterior tibiae light brown.
Distribution. — Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana.
Type. — U.S.N.M. No. 56847. Described from male type from Pent-
water, Mich., and female paratype from Miller, Ind.
Remarks. — This form has been collected in numbers by Alexander
Wyatt and Emil Beer of Chicago, 111., who generously have shared their
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 155
captures with the United States National Museum, the Chicago Natural
History Museum, and other institutions. All specimens examined are
uniform in appearance and were collected during August. It is of inter-
est to mention the very similar color variety of the poplar borer, Paran-
threne dollii jasciventris, apparently also restricted to the same habitat.
The dates of capture of the form huron are all during August.'"*
VITACEA CUPRESSI (Hy. Edwards)
Sciapteron cupressi Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 183, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 121, 1896.
Memythnis cupressi Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. ]\Ius. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 249, pi. 30, fig. 2 (male), 1901.
Paranthrene cupressi McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8795, 1939.
Male. — Antennae orange-brown, touched with black above. Labial palpi
yellow, deep orange at bases. Head with vertex, face, and occipital fringe
orange-brown. Collar deep yellow, orange at the sides. Thorax deep
brown ; tegulae marked with yellow on posterior half ; a transverse, up-
ward curved yellow band and a lateral tuft, yellow and orange mixed,
on metathorax ; shoulders to wing base chestnut-red. Abdomen with
segment 1 black ; segment 2 black and brown and posterior edge black ;
segments 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 straw-colored, with paler annulations at posterior
edges ; anal tuft with orange-brown pencils. Legs yellow and orange,
femora shaded with black. Forewing opaque, purplish brown, yellow
and orange at the base and streaked with yellow and orange to and
beyond the indistinct discal mark ; underside shaded with golden yellow,
darkening outward. Hindwing transparent, veins purplish brown, vein
Ic thickened with scales, discal mark prominent, margin and fringe
violet-brown with an orange line along the inner margin to the angle.
Underside strongly shaded with deep yellow.
Female. — Allotype tawnier in color than the male type ; antennae simple,
abdomen without anal pencils.
Expanse: Male (type) 35 mm., female (allotype) 30 mm.
Distribution. — Colorado ; Utah ; Arizona ; Long Island, N. Y.
Type. — Male. In ihe American Museum of Natural History. Female
allotype in United States National Museum.
Remarks. — The statement by BeutenmiJUer regarding cupressi, "closely
allied to Memythrus robiniae," should be corrected to read, "closely re-
sembling robiniae," for the two species are not related biologically,
robiniae being a borer in willow and poplar and cupressi a root borer
in grape. The males of cupressi are distinguished by having four anal
pencils, not found in robiniae, and both sexes have vein Ic of the hind-
wing twice as broadly scaled as it is in robiniae. These structures are
2 The manuscriDt reads "August." but the type and paratype are labeled, respectively, "VII-
20-20" and "VII-11-14." These are the only specimens of huron in the National Museum,
and if they are correctly labeled the month should be July rather than August. — C. H.
156 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
characteristic of all the grapevine root borers 1 have examined from the
United States, Mexico {Tirista prasilla Druce), and Japan {Sciapteron
regale Butler). I regard cupressi as a western race of polistijormis but
refrain from relegating it to subspecific rank until sufficient and better
material has been obtained. The male type is in fine condition and well
illustrated by Beutenmiiller ; the allotype is a dwarfed, imperfect speci-
men. One more imperfect female from the Grand Canyon of Arizona
completes the available representation.
In the West, cupressi has not yet been reported injurious to cultivated
grapes or otherwise. It occurs there, however, and as a possible menace
to grape culture in the West it should be given serious attention.
VITACEA SCEPSIFORMIS (Hy. Edwards)
Sciapteron scepsiformis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 183, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 121, 1896.
Memythrus scepsiformis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 250, 1901.
Paranthrene scepsiformis McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada
and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8797, 1939.
Male. — Antennae broadly bipectinate, black, orange at tips and be-
neath. Labial palpus rough, chestnut-red, black mixed with brown at
base and on the sides, mentum pale buff. Head purplish brown, occipital
fringe chestnut-red. Collar black-brown, grizzly at lower edge and yel-
low beneath. Thorax purplish black-brown, tegulae touched with red-
brown, metathorax marked transversely with pale yellow and a yellow
spot at wing base above and one beneath. Abdomen shiny black on
segments 1 and 2 ; reddish black on segments 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 ; segment
2 narrowly banded with pale yellow above and at the sides; underside
not banded; anal tuft with four pencils, the two lateral ones short, the
two dorsal ones long, rusty black with brown edges. Coxae and femora
black touched with red-brown, posterior tibiae black, yellow and red-
brown mixed anteriorly, black edged with red-brown between the spurs ;
tarsi yellow. Forewing opaque, purplish black, yellow at base and
streaked faintly with red-brown to the indistinct discal mark; fringes
broad, brownish black ; underside shaded with yellow on basal half. Hind-
wing transparent, veins, narrow discal mark, and broad margin brownish
black; between veins 2 and 3 a heavy suffusion of scales to beyond the
discal mark and vein Ic progressively broadening from base to outer
margin ; inner margin to wing base touched with yellow.
Female. — Differs only by its larger size, heavier body, and simple an-
tennae. One female, the only available specimen from Florida (Alachua
County), has the hindwings densely suffused from the outer margin to
beyond the discal mark, leaving only the basal part transparent. Another
female, a dwarfed specimen from Mobile, Ala., August 19, 1928, has the
hindwings broadly margined, but otherwise transparent.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 157
Expanse: Male 20 to 30 mm., female 22 to 36 mm.
Distribution. — Atlantic and Gulf Coast States, New York to Texas.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum. From Texas.
Remarks. — This species, since it was described in 1881, has been col-
lected only rarely at long intervals and in widely separated regions until
it was discovered in the writer's own garden at Hartsdale, Westchester
County, N. Y., in 1936. Removal of vines of Parthenocissus quinquefolia
and P. tricuspidata veitchii in poor weakened condition disclosed in the
roots the larvae of an aegeriid borer, which subsequently proved to be
V. scepsiformis, the first and only food plant and rearing record for the
species and the first record of the occurrence of the insect in New York
State.
Very closely related to the grape root borer, V. polistiformis, this
species also has similar habits. Its life cycle is two years. The larvae
attack the upper main and branching horizontal roots, which are not ex-
posed but are near the surface, feeding under the bark on the soft, suc-
culent fibers, rather than on the hard central core. For pupation, late
in June and during July of the second year, they construct elongated
cocoons of silk, chips, and earth, more often under bark at the upper
end of the galleries than in the soil adjoining. The moths issue in from
three to four weeks.
This species has been found established in gardens, but search on the
common Virginia-creeper in nearby woodlands and many other places
has shown no signs of attack. As with V. polistiformis, it is most diffi-
cult to trace this species to its original habitat. Thriving on plants under
cultivation, it apparently has abandoned its original wild food plants. No
moths were captured at Hartsdale until after the identity of the insect
became established by rearing. Even with experience it is difficult for
one to distinguish the moths in flight from the much commoner wasp,
Polistcs juscatus (Fabricius). They are more easily recognized when
resting. Not many adults have been captured in the writer's garden.
Long series have been obtained by rearing.
Records of captures: Males and females, Cecil County, Md., June 29,
1921 (F. M. Jones) ; one male, Ogdensburg, N. J., July 10, 1922 (E. L.
Bell) ; male, Holly Beach, N. J., August 2, 1908 (Haimbach) ; Biscayne
Bay, Fla., female (A. T. Slosson) ; Mobile, Ala., August 19, 1928, female
(T. Van Aller) ; North Carolina, female; Texas, two females (types).
VITACEA ADMIRANDA (Hy. Edwards)
Sciapteron admirandus Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 54, 1882. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892.
Tirista admirandus Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 88, 1894.
Tirista admiranda Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 123, 1896.
Memythrus admirandus Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 254, 1901.
158 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Paranthretig admiranda McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8804, 1939.
Male. — Antennae broadly bipectinate, fuscous, chestnut-red at bases.
Head brown-black, vertex strongly tufted, light brown ; face sordid white,
occipital fringe yellow, reddish black beneath. Collar sordid black, lower
edge yellow at the sides. Thorax brown-black, chestnut-brown at the
sides above wing base, tegulae touched with yellow on posterior part,
metathorax marked with yellow transversely ; yellow patches at wing base
beneath. Abdomen with basal segment brownish black; segment 2 nar-
rowly banded with black and chestnut anteriorly, broadly banded with
orange-yellow touched with blue-black posteriorly; segment 3 chestnut-
red, narrowly edged with black and shiny blue-black ; segment 4 orange-
yellow above and beneath, edged with black and shiny blue-black above ;
segments 5, 6, and 7 in the male type orange-red, edged with yellow, in
a second male brownish black ; anal tuft with four short blackish pencils,
the upper two twice as long as the lateral two. Legs orange-brown.
Forewing opaque, dull brownish black, with a slight mixture of yellow,
pale yellow at base ; underside flushed with yellow toward apex, hind-
wing transparent, veins and margin dull brown-black; between veins 3
and 4 a partial suffusion of brown-black scales, vein Ic much thickened
to apex ; wing base and inner margin basally orange-red.
Female. — Very much like the male but larger. Antennae simple,
orange dusted with black above. Anal tuft elongate, rounded, dull
brown-black. Hindwing densely suft'used between veins 2 and 3 beyond
discal mark.
Expanse : Male 25 to 30 mm., female 34 mm.
Distribution. — Texas.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Known from only three specimens, the male type col-
lected by J. Ball, presumably near his home at Dallas, Tex., and a male
and a female (United States National Museum) collected by H. B. Parks
at San Antonio, Bexar County, Tex., July 3, 1931, and June 4, 1924,
respectively. Mr. Parks captured his examples along open roadside
hedges composed principally of wild grape and Ampelopsis, the most
probable food plants. Search for larvae and their work by Mr. Parks
and the writer has not been successful. Excavating in such hedgerows
among cacti, poison-ivy, and other obnoxious plants is a hazardous job,
especially since such thickets are notorious hiding places for the Texas
diamondback rattlesnake. Structural characters definitely place admir-
anda in the genus Vitacea. It is apparently more closely related to scepsi-
formis than to polistijormis.
Genus GAEA Beutenmiiller
Larunda Hy. Edwards, PapiHo, vol. 1, p. 182, 1881. (Preoccupied.) (Genotype,
Larunda solituda Hy. Edwards.)
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERITDAE 159
Gaea Beutenmuixer, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 115, 1896; Mem. Amer.
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 236, fig. 9, 1901.
Pterogostic and genitalic characters as in Paranthrene. Hindwing sub-
triangular, inner margin very long and oblique. Labial palpus more por-
rect, with a long, stiff brush. Tongue aborted, nonfunctional. Anal tuft
short, spatulate. Harpe rounded at apex.
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF GAEA
Wings light brown and yellow solituda (Hy. Edwards)
Wings brown-black, streaked with orange and red emphytiformis (Walker)
GAfiA SOLITUDA (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 2, Figure 19; Plate 10, Figures 50, 50a; Plate 16, Figure 81
Larunda solituda Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 182, 1881. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4. p. 171, 1892.
Gaea solituda Beutenmijller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, pt. 115, 1896;
Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 238, pi. 29, fig. 6 (male), 1901.
— McDuNNOUGH, Check Hst of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States
of America, pt. 2, No. 8772, 1939.
Male. — Antennae reddish brown shaded with black scales, bipectina-
tions long, somewhat appressed. Labial palpus with a long, stiff brush,
orange and yellow mixed with black at the sides on basal and middle joint ;
third joint bare, yellow. Head with vertex black; face pale yellow; oc-
cipital fringe rough, yellow. Collar bluish black and reddish brown above,
yellow beneath. Thorax brown-black, hairy ; tegulae chestnut-red on
anterior half and yellow on posterior half ; shoulders chestnut-red and
yellow at wing bases, above and beneath ; metathorax broadly marked with
yellow transversely. Abdomen with all segments banded with yellow, the
bands touched with chestnut-red on upper edge and narrowly ringed with
blue-black on lower edge ; beneath the shading with chestnut-red more
noticeable, except on segment 3, which is entirely yellow above and be-
neath; anal tuft short, compressed at the sides, black, red, and yellow
mixed. Legs yellow; tibiae rough, chestnut-red on posterior half. Fore-
wing opaque, brown, yellow, and red ; costa, cubitus, and outer veins
sordid black ; between costa and outer veins sordid black ; between costa
and cubitus and inner margin to the red discal mark, pale yellow ; pale
yellow rays between the veins from discal mark to almost the outer red-
dish-brown margin ; fringes broad, brown-black ; underside with a heavy
shading of yellow and orange, discal mark red. Hindwing transparent
basally to discal mark from costa to vein Ic ; beyond the discal mark to the
outer margin a heavy suffusion of reddish brown between black veins, the
inner margin broadly shaded with red basally ; fringes brown black ;
underside yellow and orange, streaked with black veins.
Female. — Antennae simple, orange-red. Labial palpi orange. Head
with a deep yellow brush on vertex, face shiny white. Thorax and ab-
IGO BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
domen more conspicuously marked with chestnut-red ; segments 2, 3, 4,
and 6 broadly banded with yellow, segment 5 chestnut-red ; anal tuft, short,
rounded, yellow, and red, black at the sides. Wings are flushed more
brightly with yellow and red. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse : Male 24 to 26 mm., female 28 to 30 mm.
Distribution. — Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — With the exception of one adequate series of both sexes,
collected by E. J. Oslar, of Denver, Colo., at Turkey Creek, Jefferson
County, Colo., 6,000 feet, August 2-6, 1923, only a few individual speci-
mens of this species have been collected. The type specimens are simply
labeled "Texas" ; other specimens examined are one male, Pecos, N. Mex.,
July 22 (Cockerell) ; one male, Wilson County, Kans., 1916 (Beamer),
and one female, Graham County, Kans., 2,130 feet, August 16, 1912 (F. F.
Williams), in the University of Kansas collection. When its food plants
and habits are better known, solituda should prove to be conspecific with
emphytifonnis, the only other species in the genus. The only difference
between them appears to be in coloration, solituda being characteristically
light colored in its dry western environment and einphytijormis dark
colored in the humid climate of the South.
GAEA EMPHYTIFORMIS (Walker)
Plate 28, Figure 168 >
Aegeria emphytifonnis Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in
the collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 43, 1856. — Butler, Ann. Mag.
Nat. Hist., ser. 4, vol. 14, p. 408, 1874.— Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 206, pi. 4,
fig. 1 (male), 1881.
Trochilium emphytiformis Morris, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North
America, p. 332, 1862.
Sesia emphytiformis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general
des lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 438, 1874.
Bemhecia emphytiformis Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, p. 23,
1893.
Gaea emphytiformis Beutenmijller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 115,
1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 237, pi. 31, f^g. 31 (female).
1901. — McDuNNOUCH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United
States of America, pt. 2, No. 8771, 1939.
Male. — Antennae bipectinate, broad, but appressed, orange-brown with
black scales above. Labial palpus very rough, black at base, second and
third joints orange. Head rusty, black and chestnut-brown mixed on
vertex ; face whitish ; occipital fringe deep yellow. Collar black, yellow at
sides below. Thorax grizzly, brown-black centrally, mixed with yellow
and reddish hair laterally; tegulae red-brown, shading into deep yellow-
posteriorly; metathorax edged with yellow transversely; a chestnut-red
and yellow spot at the base of the forewing. Abdomen brown-black, seg-
ments 2, 4, 6, and 7 banded with yellow, the band on segment 4 encircling
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 161
the body ; a row of blue-black appressed scales at posterior edge of each of
segments 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 on dorsum and at the sides; anal tuft short,
compressed at the sides, black mixed with orange and red. Coxae of front
legs with a broad brush, orange and red ; femora of middle legs and hind-
legs clothed with long grayish-white hair ; posterior tibiae rough, orange-
brown, slightly mixed with black; tarsi sordid yellow. Wings purplish
cupreous. Forewing opaque, streaked with red in the cell and between
the veins beyond the black discal mark ; a short red streak also at the base
of inner margin ; costa, veins, and broad outer margin violaceous-black ;
broad fringes of a lighter tint ; underside with a heavier shading of red,
and costa yellow on basal half. Hindwing slightly touched with red ; inner
margin red at base ; vitreous on basal half between veins Ic and 2 and
partly so in the cell.
Female. — Labial palpi yellow inwardly and orange outwardly. Head
with an orange brush on vertex. Thorax more strongly edged with red
and yellow than in the male. Abdomen banded with yellow on segments
2, 4, and 6, the band on 4 encircling segment 3 and segment 5 banded with
chestnut-red; anal tuft short, blunt, orange, black at the sides. Posterior
tibiae deep orange, yellow between the spurs. Wings streaked more con-
spicuously with orange and red than in the male ; vitreous areas on basal
half of hindwing larger and slightly indicated before the discal mark.
Otherwise like the male.
Expanse: Male 20 to 26 mm., female 20 to 30 mm.
Distribution. — South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi.
Type. — Male. In the British Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Described in England in 1856 from examples labeled
"United States," this species remained practically unknown until F. M.
Jones, of Wilmington, Del., collected a specimen at Freeport, Walton
County, Fla., in 1921, and F. E. Watson, of the American Museum of
Natural History, captured several in South Carolina. Two females were
received from my good friend Thomas S. Van Aller, of Mobile, Ala., in
1927, and on subsequent visits to his southern home, 1930 and 1938, the
species was collected in numbers. A favorable habitat proved a sandy
ridge among pines and oaks at Chickasaw, a suburban district near Mobile.
The moths were found in flight or resting on foliage during August and
September and were easily captured. Search for the food plant proved
far more difficult. Persistent observation connected the insect most in-
timately with a plant of the evening-primrose family, Gaura inichauxii.
After untold numbers of the flowering stalks of this plant were pulled up
without evidence of larval work, a pupal shell protruding at the surface
from a silk-lined tube 2 inches long disclosed a deeper, vertical tunnel
leading down to the perennial, main root, with a larval burrow extending
at least a foot underground. Efforts to connect solituda with a species of
Gaura in Colorado have not been successful.
162 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Genus ALBUNA Hy. Edwards
Albuna Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 186, 1881. (Genotype, Aegeria hylotomi-
formis Walker = Albuna pyramidalis (Walker).)
Harmonia Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 54, 1882. (Genotype, Harmonia morrisoni
Hy. Edwards ^= Albuna fraxini (Hy. Edwards).)
Parharmonia Beutenmuller (new name for Harmonia Hy. Edwards, preoccupied),
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 89, 1894.
This genus has been maintained distinct from Paranthrene on the basis
of the close proximity of veins 3 and 4 of the hindwing, which are nearly
connate, and on the less conspicuous transverse wrinkHng of the bursa
without pronounced thickenings forming the signa of the bursa. Tongue
well developed. Biologically also the species involved appear to be distinct
from Paranthrene.
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF ALBUNA
Forewing transparent, broadly margined, slightly touched with red ; legs black with
yellow bands, abdomen yellow and black pyramidalis pyramidalis (Walker)
Red on forewing more pronounced pyramidalis form montana Hy. Edwards
Forewing with black margins, abdomen and legs black.
pyramidalis form coloradensis Hy. Edwards
Forewing and hindwing heavily touched with red.
pyramidalis form rubescens (Hulst)
Forewing and hindwing broadly marked and suffused with red, labial palpi black.
pyramidalis form beutenmijlleri Skinner
Forewing opaque, black, discal mark red fraxini fraxini (Hy. Edwards)
Forewing transparent, margins and discal mark broadly black (male only).
fraxini vitriosa, new male form
ALBUNA PYRAMIDALIS (Walker)
Plate 2, Figure 20; Plate 11, Figures 51, 51a; Plate 15, Figure 80
Aegeria pyramidalis Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 40, 1856. — Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol.
1, p. 206, 1881.
Aegeria hylotomiformis Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in
the collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 43, 1856. — Hy. Edwards, Papilio,
vol. 1, p. 207, 1881 ; Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, p. 23, 1893.
Trochilium pyramidalis Morris, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North
America, p. 331, 1862.
Synanthedon nornadaepennis Boisduval, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belgique, vol. 12, p. 63,
1869 ; Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des lepidopteres
heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 399, 1874.
Sesla pyramidalis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 435, 1874.
Albuna vancouverensis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 188, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.
Albuna pyramidalis Grote, New check list of North American moths, p. 12, 1882. —
Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p.^ 89, 1894; vol. 8, p.
127, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 273. 1901.— Mc-
DuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of
America, pt. 2, No. 8789, 1939,
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 163
Male. — Antennae bipectinate, black above, rufous beneath. Labial pal-
pus buff or pale yellow, black at the sides, orange on tip. Head black;
face sordid white ; occipital fringe pale yellow. Collar violaceous-black.
Thorax black, with grizzly hair. Tegulae touched with yellow on posterior
part ; a sordid-white spot anterior to and below wing base and a whitish
patch on anterior side. Abdomen black, segments narrowly ringed with
yellowish white, the ring on segment 3 faint ; anal tuft short, broad, black.
Legs mostly black ; posterior tibiae rough, black and grizzly, a yellow tuft
at lower spurs ; tarsi black, mixed with sordid white. Forewing trans-
parent, outer margin very broadly sordid black ; discal mark large, black,
narrowly red on outer side ; costa heavily scaled, blackish ; inner margin
edged with red basally ; beneath heavily suffused with red. Hindwing
transparent, margins and fringes narrow, dull black.
Female. — Larger and stouter. Antennae simple, entirely black. Ab-
dominal segments more conspicuously ringed with pale yellow. Otherwise
like the male.
Expanse: Male 18 to 26 mm., female 18 to 32 mm.
Distribution. — North America, transcontinental. Temperate to Arctic
Zone.
Type. — Male. In the British Museum of Natural History. From St.
Martins Falls, Albany River, Hudson Bay,
Remarks. — An abundant species, well represented in most collections,
the food plant and early stages of Albuna pyrauiidalis, nevertheless, re-
mained unknown for many years. The first clue leading to the discovery
of the life history was furnished by Mrs. Hippiley of Terrace, British
Columbia. During excavation of a tract of land for building, many plants
of fireweed, or willow-herb, Chamaenerion angustifolinm, were uprooted
and found to contain in the deeply embedded, horizontal main roots numer-
ous whitish, boring larvae. From such root cuttings transmitted to New
York, Frank E. Watson, of the American Museum of Natural History,
succeeded in rearing a male of pyramidalis var. niontana, emerging under
forced indoor breeding on March 5, 1928. With this evidence in mind the
writer repeatedly failed to obtain additional material for rearing because
of his unpreparedness to dig down to the main perennial roots among rocks
in the usual environment. Pulling the annual flowering stalks proved
useless. Success resulted during a visit to John D. Ritchie, at Earl Grey,
near Regina, Saskatchewan, in July. A well-established, heavy growth of
C. angiistijolimn in the clay soil of the plains region showed signs of a
heavy infestation ; numerous moths were in flight and pupal exuviae were
protruding near the bases of the plants. The pupal shells were still at-
tached to irregularly shaped oblong cocoons 1 to 2 inches long, which were
just below the surface at the upper ends of vertical tunnels leading to main
roots about a foot or even 2 feet deep. Small to half-grown larvae were
in the main roots at that time. Investigation of the early stages has not
154 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
been attempted again, but F. M. Jones, of Wilmington, Del., succeeded in
rearing adults from material collected on Marthas Vineyard, Mass., in the
summer and fall of 1937. In this region the plants of C. angustifolium
were less strong in growth and not so deeply rooted. Larvae were found
in the main roots and also in the lower parts of the flowering stalks. In
cuttings, packed in moist sphagnum in breeding jars, the larvae utilized
their burrows as places for pupation by constructing rough pupal cases,
either entirely within or extending outward from the burrows half an inch
or more. The larvae wintered in the cocoon and pupation followed in the
spring, moths emerging in May and June, all of them normal specimens of
typical pyramidalis.
The increasing abundance of this species can be accounted for by the
enormous spread of fire weed, C. angustifolium, and in the far North of
C. latifolimn, following in the wake of forest fires all over the North
American Continent, except the coastal regions of the South and arid
regions at low elevations in the West. Wherever the food plants have
become well established the insect may be expected to occur. The moths
are attracted to flowers, the rapidly flying males on bright sunny days
hovering over blossoms Hke hawk moths without coming to rest, and the
heavier, more sluggish females usually resting on foliage or flowers, pref-
erably of umbiliferous plants. The principal time of emergence is from
early in June through July. The very large representation of this species
in the United States National Museum includes records from New York
and the Midwestern States to Newfoundland, Labrador, Hudson Bay,
British Columbia, and Yukon ; and from the northwestern Pacific Coast
States from near sea level through the Sierras to the Rocky Mountains
up to or even above timberline. From boreal Europe and Asia, where the
food plants are abundant, the insect has not been recorded.
ALBUNA PYRAMIDALIS form COLORADENSIS Hy. Edwards
Albuna coloradensis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 189, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.
Albuna pyramidalis var. coloradensis Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 6, p. 90, 1894; vol. 8, p. 127, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1.
pt. 6, p. 274, pi. 33, fig. 12 (female), 1901.
Albuna torva Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 189, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 172, 1892. — McDunnough, Check list of the
Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8789, 1939.
Male and female. — Black, except antennae, which are brown beneath ;
abdomen with posterior borders edged with blue-black or steel blue ; fore-
wing sometimes with a very slight touch of red along the inner margin
basally, oftener so in the male than in the female.
Distribution. — Same as the typical form and found intermixed; less
common in the eastern than in the western part of the continent.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 165
ALBUNA PYRAMIDALIS form MONTANA (Hy. Edwards)
Albuna montana Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 188, 1881. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892.— Gillette, Colorado Agr. Coll.
Bull. 43, p. 6, 1898.
Albuna tanaceti Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 188, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892.
Albuna pyramidalis var. montana Beutenmuller, Bull., Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 6, p. 90, 1894; vol. 8, p. 127, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1,
pt. 6, p. 274, pi. 32, fig. 34 (male), 1901.
Males and females. — Hy. Edwards's description of Albuna montana,
based on 21 examples from New Hampshire to California and British
Columbia, appHes to a color variation of A. pyramidalis having the
forewing marked more conspicuously with red than in the typical form.
It is not a sharply defined variety, the difference being rather one of degree
and more pronounced in the females than in the males. It may be included
in any lot of specimens of pyramidalis regardless of locality throughout
the range of the species. Distinguishing features are the bright-red scaling
between veins lb and 2 on the inner margin and the red edge on the discal
mark, w^hich is broad outwardly and narrower or lacking inwardly.
Beutenmuller states that the legs of montana are yellow, with the tibiae
narrowly banded with black, which seems to be true as regards the females
but does not apply to the males, which have the legs dull colored, pale yel-
low or whitish, heavily mixed with black. Moreover, the v^idth of the
bands of the abdominal segments is subject to individual variation and is
not dependable for identification purposes. The recognition of the color
variety montana, therefore, remains a matter of discriminating selection.
Distribution. — Same as that of Albuna pyramidalis.
Type. — Female. In the American Museum of Natural History.
ALBUNA PYRAMIDALIS form RUBESCENS (Hulst)
Sesia rtibescais Hulst, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 3, p. 76, 1881.
Albuna rubesccns Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, vol. 4, p. 171, 1892.
Albuna pyramidalis var. rubescens Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 6, p. 90, 1894; vol. 8, p. 127, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1,
pt. 6, p. 274, pi. 33, fig. 19 (female), 1901.
Male. — Antennae bipectinate, black above, reddish brown beneath.
Labial palpus rough, yellow, black at the sides and on tip above. Crown of
head black, with a strong brush ; face pale yellow ; occipital fringe yellow.
Collar steel blue, yellow at the sides and beneath. Thorax hairy, black
mixed with yellow, densest at sides posteriorly and transversely on meta-
thorax; a small cluster of yellow scales at base of forewing, anteriorly and
beneath. Abdomen black, segments 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 conspicuously banded
with yellow above and beneath; a row of flat, shiny, pale-yellow scales
edging the bands posteriorly above and at the sides ; segment 2 black, with
a small yellow spot dorsally and a yellow band beneath ; anal tuft with two
black spreading lateral pencils longer than the middle portion, which is yel-
16(3 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
low. Coxae and femora black, tibiae yellow touched with black between the
spurs, tarsi sordid yellow. Forewing with opalescent areas before and
behind the discal mark, which is black broadly faced with red on each side ;
costa, outer and inner margin, and veins black; outer opalescent area
bordered with red between the veins at costa and before the broad black
outer margin ; inner margin lined broadly with bright red two-thirds of its
length to a point before the black wing base; fringes cupreous-black;
underside with a heavy shading of orange-red. Hindwing transpar-
ent ; wing base, costa, and margin black ; veins black, slightly touched with
red; vein Ic entirely red, vein lb and areas between the veins to vein la
red ; discal mark conspicuous, black, narrowly bordered with red. On the
underside, veins and inside of margin orange-red.
Female. — Antennae simple, black above, brownish beneath. Labial
palpi smoother than in the male, entirely yellow. Tongue well developed.
Head crowned with a heavy brush, black and yellow mixed ; face bright
yellow. Thorax metallic black; tegulae with a yellow stripe broadening
to an upcurved transverse line on metathorax ; a yellow patch above and
another beneath at wing base. Abdomen black, segments 2, 4, 5, and 6
broadly banded with bright yellow above and beneath ; segment 3 dorsally
spotted and beneath banded with yellow ; anal tuft short and blunt, golden
yellow, with smaller black tufts at the sides. Legs wholly deep yellow.
Forewing mostly red, except costa, narrow margins, cubitus, and outer
veins, which are black ; small transparent areas before and behind the nar-
row black discal mark broadly encircled red ; a broad, red streak between
the cubitus and inner margin ; underside orange, discal mark red. Hind-
wing transparent, with costa and margins broadly bordered with red to the
black wing base ; discal mark black at the center and red at the sides ; vein
lb broad, red ; underside mostly orange-red ; fringes wide, dull black.
Expanse : Male 18 to 20 mm., female 20 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Colorado, Utah.
Type. — Female. In the American Museum of Natural History.
This form has been considered another color variety of pyramidalis,
displaying wing shadings of red to a more intensified degree than is found
in the variety rnontana. Rearing experiments, as yet limited to one male
and one female, throw some doubt on this conclusion. A. p. ruhescens is
a root borer in Oenothera biennis and not in Chamaenerion, the only food
plant so far recorded for pyrarnidalis ; it averages smaller in size and, aside
from the more brilliant red coloration on the wings, dififers in the arrange-
ment of the abdominal bands, segments 4, 5, 6, and 7 in the male and
segments 4, 5, and 6 in the female being nearly wholly yellow, except for
a very narrow touch of black on the posterior edge of each. The posterior
tibiae of the female are wholly deep yellow, those of the male more sordid,
intermixed with black. Records of ruhescens, accepted as authentic, are
restricted to Rocky Mountain regions in Colorado and Utah. This form
may be entitled to recognition as a geographical race.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIinAE 167
ALBUNA PYRAMIDALIS form BEUTENMt)LLERI Skinner
Albuna beutenmiilleri Skinner, Ent. News, vol. 14, p. 126, 1903.— McDunnough,
Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America,
pt. 2, No. 8791. 193Q.
Male. — Antennae black, bipectinations from a rusty-brown base. Labial
palpi, head, and collar black. Thorax black, rusty brown at bases of hind-
wings. Abdomen usually wholly black and all segments narrowly ringed
with shiny steel blue, flat scales on posterior margin. In some examples
abdomen banded with very pale yellow or whitish, the bands broad on
segments 2 and 4 and narrow on posterior segments, above and beneath.
Legs entirely black. Wings bright red, narrowly margined with black.
Forewing with a narrow, elongated, translucent area before the discal
mark, divided by red veins into four parts ; behind the discal mark another
translucent area, narrowly triangular, terminating before wing base ; these
translucent areas covered with beautiful, very light greenish or bluish
opalescent scales ; base of wing, costa, cubitus, and margins black ; fringes
dull black. Hindwing bright red on outer two-thirds to a broad, irregular
translucent area before a black wing base ; a small round, translucent spot,
usually but not always present before the discal mark at costa; margins
and fringes dull black ; on the underside the bright red replaced by orange.
Female. — Antennae simple. Otherwise as described for the male.
Expanse : Male 22 to 24 mm., female 24 to 26 mm.
Distribution. — Rocky Mountains, Colorado, Utah.
Type. — Female. In the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
Renmrks. — With the exception of one female captured in flight by the
writer on the foothills of Beaver City, Beaver County, Utah, 7,000 feet,
June 1904, the six or seven known examples all were collected by Tom
Spaulding at Stockton and Provo, Utah, during April and May 1901-1913.
Strikingly different in coloration, this form nevertheless shows no struc-
tural differences to warrant specific separation from pyramidalis. Field
investigations along the mountains bordering the Great Basin of Utah have
produced root-boring aegeriid larvae in species of evening-primrose
(Oenothera) under conditions similar to those under which rubescens
was obtained in Colorado. The difficult task of rearing the moths has not
yet been accomplished. When represented by adequate series of reared
examples transition forms will probably be found definitely connecting
rubescens with beutenmiilleri, the latter representing an extreme color
variation confined to Utah.
ALBUNA FRAXINI (Ily. Edwards)
Carmenta fraxini Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 185, 1881. — Pack.ard, 5lh Rep.
U. S. Ent. Comm., p. 542, 1890.
Harmonia morrisoni Hv. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 55, 1882. — Beutenmullkr,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892.
Parharmonla fraxini Beutenml-i.ler, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 89,
1894 ; vol. 8, p. 124, 1896.
1'68 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Albuna fraxini Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 275,
pi. 30, fig. 12 (male), 1901. — McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of
Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8790, 1939.
Male. — Antennae pale yellow, shaded with black above on basal half and
at apices; finely bipectinate and rufous between. Labial palpus smooth,
pale yellow at base, black at the sides and toward the tip. Head and
occipital fringe black. Collar black with a whitish patch at the sides.
Thorax black; tegulae violaceous, a narrow pale-yellow strip at the sides
from wing base to the collar ; metathorax fringed with white at the sides
and beneath. Abdomen wholly black above, dusted with white centrally
beneath; anal tuft black, broadly fan-shaped or divided into two parts.
Legs black; posterior tibiae with spurs pale yellow, posterior tarsus with
first joint above black, posterior joints sordid pale yellow, above and
beneath. Forewing nearly opaque, purplish black; two hyaline streaks
before and behind cubitus to wing base ; discal mark red of varying in-
tensity; area beneath costa and the basal half touched with pale yellow;
discal mark more conspicuously red. Hindwing transparent ; discal mark,
narrow margin, and broad fringes purplish black.
Female. — Body more robust. Antennae simple, basal half and apices
black above and beneath, bright pale yellow on apical half before apices.
Labial palpus wholly black. Thorax, legs, and abdomen all black. Seg-
ment 4 of abdomen, except above, sometimes edged with pale yellow, more
broadly so at the sides than beneath ; anal tuft short, blunt. Forewing
wholly opaque or with a short hyaline streak basally ; discal mark more
conspicuously red than in the male. Hindwing transparent, margins and
fringes broader, violaceous-black.
Expanse : Male 24 to 26 mm., female 25 to 27 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern and Central United States and Rocky Mountain
regions of Colorado and Montana.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — Structural similarity places this very distinct species with
pyramidalis in the genus Albuna. It is a root borer in the Virginia-creeper,
Parthenocissiis quinquejolia, and was reared in numbers by Alexander K.
Wyatt, Emil Beer, and V. G. Vasco, of Chicago, 111., from material col-
lected at Willow Springs, 111., August 1919, and from Devils Lake, Wis.,
August 12, 1923. From root cuttings, submitted to the writer, additional
specimens were obtained, all einerging during August. Other records of
captured specimens from midwestern and Eastern States are : One female,
Watkins Glen, N. Y. (Mrs. A. T. Slosson) ; one female. La Fayette, Ind.,
July 22, 1918; one female, Amherst, Ohio, July 1933 (H. G. Reinhard) ;
one male, Ogdensburg, N. J., July 10, 1922 (E. L. Bell) ; one male. Squaw
River, Allegheny County, Pa., August 9, 1923 ; one male, Riley County,
Kans. (A. G. Dean) ; one male, Oconee, 111., July 22, 1931. Another
series in the United States National Museum was collected by E. J.
Oslar, of Denver, Colo., in Turkey Creek Canyon, Colo., 8,000 feet,
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 169
August 10, 1920, and Platte Canyon, Colo., 8,000 feet, August 8, 1920.
The Colorado specimens conform with Hy. Edwards's description of the
male type. All the males from Midwestern and Eastern states differ
from the type of fraxini in having two conspicuous vitreous areas, one
before and one behind the discal mark. The name fraxini form vitriosa
applies to these males. The females exhibit no such distinctions.
ALBUNA FRAXINI VITRIOSA, new male form
Male. — Forewing broadly margined with black ; a hyaline area traversed
by black veins between outer margin and discal mark, and a long hyaline
area, crossed by the black cubitus, extending to wing base; discal mark
broad, black, red spotted on outer edge. Thorax black, tegulae with a
faint yellowish stripe inwardly and mixed with whitish hair laterally.
Otherwise like the type of fraxini.
Female. — Like that of fraxini.
Expanse : Same as for fraxini.
Distribufion. — Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, New York.
Type.— U.S.N. M. No. 56848. From Chicago, 111.
Remarks. — Described from male type, female allotype, and four female
paratypes from the type locality ; three male and two female paratypes
from Willow Springs, 111. ; one male paratype from Oconee, 111. ; one
male paratype from Riley County, Kans. ; one male paralype from Onaga,
Kans., one female paratype from Devils Lake, Wis. ; one male paratype
from Squaw Run, Allegheny County, Pa. ; and one male paratype from
Ogdensburg, N. J. ; all in the United States National Museum.
Genus EUHAGENA Hy. Edwards
Euhagena Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 180, 1881. (Genotype, Euhagena nehraskae
Hy. Edwards.)
Wing and genitalia characters as in Paranthrene except that veins 3
and 4 of hindwing are more closely approximate, nearly connate, than
in that genus. Differs from Paranthrene also in the hair of the labial
palpi being very long ; in the strongly hairy, not scaled, head and thorax ;
in the male antennae having much longer appressed bipectinations ; and
in the aborted nonfunctioning tongue.
The excessive hairiness of the species of Euhagena seems explainable
by the late season of emergence of the moths, principally during October
and sometimes as late as November. At that time frosty nights prevail
in their mountainous habitats. Ernest J. Oslar, of Denver, Colo., sub-
mitted over 100 specimens of E. nehraskae in 1922, collected in Turkey
Creek Canyon and in Chimney Gulch near Golden, Colo., elevation about
6,000 feet, in the fall of that year and of the previous year. He reported
the species locally common, the moths in flight or resting on foliage in
weedy places. As to the food plant he utterly failed to find a clue. I also
170 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
am at a loss here, but suggest a search in a known habitat among deep-
rooted herbaceous, perennial plants. Should a female moth be encoun-
tered, patient observation for ovipositing may lead to the food plant.
In distribution the genus Euhagena ranges much more widely than
heretofore recorded. I have added as geographical races of nebraskae,
mormoni from Utah and intensa from California; and I describe, as a
valid species, hirsuta from Fort Davis, Davis Mountains, Tex. Another
species represented by a single male in the United States National
Museum comes from San Angel, D. F., Mexico, collected by H. F. Wick-
ham in 1933. It falls outside the geographical scope of the present paper
and is not treated here.
The late season of emergence of the moths has been an obstacle in
field investigations. The genus Euhagena is of outstanding interest, but
it will remain inadequately known until supplemented by records of the
food plants and information concerning early stages.
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF EUHAGENA
Wings opaque, red broadly bordered with black.
nebraskae nebraskae Hy. Edwards
Wings semitranslucent, whitish, sparsely touched with red.
nebraskae mormoni, new form
Wings brilliant red, stigma small, black nebraskae intensa, new form
Wings transparent, opalescent, body very hairy, grayish white.
hirsuta, new species
EUHAGENA NEBRASKAE NEBRASKAE Hy. Edwards
Plate 2, Figure 21; Plate 11, Figures 52, 52a; Plate 16, Figure 82;
Plate 29, Figures 169, 170
Euhagena nebraskae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 181, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 116, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 239, pi. 31, fig. 32 (male), 1901.— McDunnough, Check list of
the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8775,
1939.
Pyrrhotocnia coloradensis Beutenmuller, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull., vol. 5,
p. 25, 1893.— Gillette, Colorado Agr. Coll. Bull. 43, p. 6, 1898.
Male. — Antennae black ; broadly bipectinate, pectinations appressed,
black, tipped white. Labial palpus white, densely clothed with long black
hair on basal and second joints beneath. Head black; vertex hairy, the
black slightly intermixed with white ; face white ; occipital fringe black.
Collar shiny black. Thorax hairy ; velvety black, slightly mixed with
white at the sides. Abdomen deep black; segments 2, 4, 6, and 7, nar-
rowly banded with glossy white above and at the sides, not beneath ; anal
tuft black, flat, rounded at tip. Legs black; posterior tibiae hairy, black
mixed with white ; tarsi marked with white. Forewing opaque, subject
to individual variations, red, deep orange, or rarely pinkish ; black at base,
along the costa, outer margin and narrowly so on inner margin ; cubitus
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 171
and conspicuous, triangular discal mark black; fringes blackish brown;
underside same as above. Hindwing of the same color, but increasingly
more dusky toward the margins ; inner margin basally broadly black ;
discal mark ovate, black ; fringes blackish brown ; underside same as
above.
Female. — Antennae simple, black. Head and thorax less hairy, black,
not mixed with white hair. Abdomen with segments 2, 4, and 6 banded
with white, most broadly on segment 4; anal tuft short, blunt. Wings
more uniformly colored, bright red or orange ; black costa and margins
narrower and clearly defined ; discal mark reduced in size. Otherwise
like the male.
Expanse: Male 20 to 26 mm., female 20 to 26 mm.
Distribution. — Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico.
Type. — Male. In the Museum of Comparative Zoology. From
Nebraska.
Remarks. — Records in the United States National Museum : Chimney
Gulch and Turkey Creek Canyon, Colo., 6,000 feet, October 2-19,
1921-1922, long series both sexes (E. J. Oslar) ; Berkeley, Colo., October
16-23, males and females ; Plains, Larimer County, Colo., two males
(C. F. Baker) ; Loveland, Colo., males and females (Paul Schlarbaum) ;
Buffalo Valley, Stanley County, S. Dak., 2 females (W. H. Over) ; Stock-
ton, Utah, October 16-18, 1909, male and female (Tom Spaulding) ;
Koehler Junction, N. Mex., October 6-15, 1913, two males (E. R. Kalm-
bach) ; Springer, N. Mex., one male (C. N. Ainslie) ; Las Vegas, N.
Mex., October 5, one female (Cockerell).
EUHAGENA NEBRASKAE MORMONI, new form
Plate 29, Figure 171
Male. — Forewing semitranslucent, with pearly-white scales, slightly
mixed with orange ; costa, outer margin, and cubitus black ; inner margin
thinly edged with orange ; discal mark conspicuous black ; fringes blackish
brown ; underside heavily dusted with cream white, except for black discal
mark. Hindwing flushed with orange between and on the veins, most
densely along inner margin ; discal mark black, edged with orange on
the sides; margins narrow, black; fringes black-brown, whitish basally.
Abdomen black, segment 4 broadly banded with pale yellow above and
beneath, segments 6 and 7 banded with pale yellow only above and at
the sides. Otherwise like typical nebraskae.
Expanse: Male, 31 mm.
Distribution. — Logan, Utah.
Type.— \J. S.N. M. No. 56849.
Remarks. — Only two male examples of this striking form of nebraskae
are known. They are labeled "Logan, Utah, September 20, 1923, W. W,
Henderson, collector,"
172 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
EUHAGENA NEBRASKAE INTENSA, new form
Plate 29, Figure 172
Female. — Wings brilliant red, narrowly banded with black costa
and margins ; the very small discal mark black and the fringes brown-
black. Abdomen black with steel-blue reflections ; segment 4 narrowly
banded with pearly white above and beneath.
Expanse: Female 24 mm.
Distribution. — San Bernardino County, Calif.
Type.— U.S. ^M. No. 56850, female.
Remarks. — For this unique and strikingly colored example, I am in-
debted to my good friend C. M. Dammers, of Riverside, Calif., who
collected the specimen in the mountains at Barnwell, San Bernardino
County, on Otcober 12, 1936. It is the first record for the genus
Enhagena in California.
EUHAGENA HIRSUTA, new species
Plate 29, Figure 173
Male. — Antennae black, broadly bipectinate, the pectinations less ap-
pressed than in nehraskae. Labial palpus covered with long hair, which
is mostly white but black at the sides ; terminal joint pale yellow, touched
with black. Head black, but obscured by long white hair with a slight
mixture of black on vertex and in occipital fringe ; face white. Collar
black with a few yellowish-white scales at the sides. Thorax black, densely
clothed with long white hair in a grizzly effect ; at anterior wing base
spotted, and underside largely patched with white. Abdomen black, seg-
ments 1, 2, and 3 diffused with white hair, posterior segments less so;
segments 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 encircled with white, the band on segment 4
the broadest ; anal tuft short, rounded, compressed at the sides, sordid
white centrally, black laterally. Legs hairy, whitish, except the tarsi,
which are yellowish white and black ; posterior tibiae with long hair,
mostly sordid white, yellowish at lower spurs, above and outwardly, not
inwardly. Forewing pearly translucent ; costa, cubitus, outer margin,
and inner margin to discal mark black ; inner margin from discal mark
to black wing base orange-yellow ; discal mark orange-yellow, edged with
black inwardly ; fringes gray-white ; underside mostly white and yellowish
white, discal mark pale yellow. Hindwing pearly translucent, with a
narrow black margin and grayish-white fringes ; pure \^•hite basally ; discal
mark not conspicuous, pale yellow, edged with black.
Expanse : Male 20 mm.
Distribution. — Texas.
Ty/)^.— U.S.N.M. No. 5685 L
Remarks. — The male type and only example is so distinctive as to
v.-arrant specific recognition. The specimen was captured by the late
O. C. Poling, a well-known professional collector at Fort Davis, Davis
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 173
Mountains, Tex., 5,000 feet, October 17, 1928. No additional information
could be obtained.
THE AEGERIA GROUP
Genus AEGERIA Fabricius
Aegeria Fabricius, in lUiger, Magazin fiir Insectenkunde, vol. 6, p. I J8, 1807.
(Genotype, Sphinx apiformis Clerck; Europe, North America.)
Sphecia Hubner, Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterliiige, p. 127, 1819. ( jenotype.
Sphinx crabraniformis Denis and Schiffermuller.)
Poplar and willow wood borers. Tongue short, feeble. An .-nna en-
larged toward tip with an apical brush, in the male, bipectin te, each
pectination heavily ciliated ; in the female pectinations very shon Labial
palpus upright, strongly hairy, third joint pointed. Posteri >r tibiae
heavily hairy above. Forewing with veins 3 and 4 connate i r short-
stalked. Male genitalia with socii short, stout, upright ; harp^ s short,
with costal and dorsal edges parallel, apices bluntly pointed with patches
of heavy spines ; penis finely spined. Female genitalia with a sh rt duc-
tus; bursa oblong, in some specimens with a minute signum, sur' )unded
by a finely granulated area.
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF AEGERIA
Thorax dark brown, with a large yellow mark on each side anteriorly.
apiformis (( !erck)
Thorax dark brown with a yellow line on tegula tibialis (I arris)
Thorax black; abdomen black narrowly banded with yellow.
tibialis melanoformis, new \ iriety
Thorax black; abdomen yellow, except the first segment and part of third i lack.
tibialis variety pacifica (Hy. Edw rds)
AEGERIA APIFORMIS (Clerck)
Plate 3, Figure 22; Plate 11, Figures S3, 53a; Plate 16, Figure 83
Sphinx apiformis Clerck, Icones insectorum rariorum cum nominibus eorum trivi 'i-
bus, pi. 4, fig. 2, 1759. — Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 12, vol. 1, pt. 2, p. 8 \,
\767.
Sesia apiformis Fabricius, Systema entomologiae, p. 549, 1775.
Sphinx crabraniformis Denis and Schiffermuller, Ankiindigung eines Werkes vo:.
den Schmetterlingen der Wienergegend [Systematisches Verzeichniss der
Schmetterlinge der Wienergegend], p. 305, 1775.
Aegeria apiformis Fabricius, in Illiger, Magazin fiir Insectenkunde, vol. 6. p. 288,
1807. — Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 256, pi. 29,
fig. 13, 1901. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8688, 1939.
Sphecia apiformis Hubner, Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, p. 127, 1819.
Sesia crabroniformis Olivier, Encyclopedic methodique, pi. 67, fig. 4, 1825.
Trochilium apiformis Stephens, Illustrations of British entomology, vol. 1, p. 137,
1828. — Beutenmuller, Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 204, 1890. —
Duncan, The naturalist's Ubrary, Entomology, vol. 4, p. 171, pi. 13, fig. 1, 1836.
— Smith, Catalogue of insects found in New Jersey, p. 288, 1890. — Beuten-
174 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
MULLER, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 118, 1896; vol. 9, p. 218, 1897;
vol. 12, p. 158, 1899.
Setia apiformis Meigen, Systematische Beschreibung der Europaischen Schmetter-
linge, vol. 2, p. 103, 1830.
Trochilia apiformis Heinemann, Die Schmetterlinge Deutschlands und der Schweiz
systematisch Bearbeitet, pt. 1, p. 120, 1859.
Male. — Antennae clavate, black, pectinations broad, ferruginous. Labial
palpus with a strong brush, lemon yellow, touched with black on second
joint above. Head with a rough brush on top yellow ; eyes broadly edged
with white on inner sides ; face blackish brown ; occipital fringe narrow
and black above, broader and yellow at the sides. Collar broad, rusty
black, anterior part at the sides yellow. Thorax brownish black ; a large
yellow, broadly triangular lateral patch on prothorax ; another smaller,
lateral patch on metathorax, deeper yellow or pale orange, sometimes
connected with the patch on prothorax by a thin, yellowish line. Abdo-
men yellow ; segment 1 black ; segment 2 black, its anterior edge yellow ;
segment 3 yellow with posterior edge black ; segment 4 orange-yellow and
broadly brown-black on posterior part; segments 5, 6, and 7 yellow,
narrowly edged with black ; beneath same as above ; anal tuft short,
rounded, yellow, deepening into orange at tip. Legs brown and yellow ;
coxae of front legs with a broad brush, brown on inner side and yellow
outwardly ; femora of hindlegs pale yellow and whitish ; posterior tibia
rough, black at knee, brown on outer side and yellow on inner side ; tarsi
brownish yellow. Forewing transparent ; costa, cubitus, and inner margin
light brown ; discal mark moderate, with purplish reflections ; outer margin
and fringes dark brown ; wing base black with a yellow spot ; underside
more yellow basally. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined with
brown black ; discal mark inconspicuous or absent.
Female. — Larger and stouter. Antennae clavate, finely ciliate. Abdo-
men with segment 4 entirely lustrous coppery black; anal tuft greatly
reduced, tip of abdomen smooth, rounded. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse : Male 34 to 43 mm., female 40 to 44 mm.
Distribution. — Europe ; New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania.
Type. — Location unknown.
Remarks. — This European moth, popularly well known as the hornet
moth, with reference to its deceptive resemblance to the large hornet
Vespa crabro, appeared on this continent during the latter half of the nine-
teenth century. In Europe it has been the subject of innumerable reports
and publications, beginning with an illustration in 1685. Of these only a
few are cited to show the sequence in the nomenclature of the species.
Hoboken, N. J., is the probable port of entry into the United States.
Collectors of Lepidoptera exhibited specimens captured there at meetings
of the Brooklyn Entomological Society earlier than 1880. John B.
Smith, in his "Catalogue of Insects Found in New Jersey," 1890, listed
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 175
the species from "Newark, N. J., rare, on poplars and willows." By 1900
it had spread and increased to such a degree that it was recognized as a
menace to shade trees in the vicinity of New York City and on Long
Island. Apparently the insect reached its greatest abundance between
1900 and 1920, attacking with preference Carolina and silver poplars,
causing great injury or death to trees of those species. It became ad-
visable to substitute maples and other trees for the faster-growing but
shorter-lived poplars. The larvae burrow beneath the bark in the cam-
bium and solid wood or in roots exposed or near the surface. During
the fall of the second year they prepare for pupation by extending their
galleries through the thick bark, leaving only fragile covers over the ulti-
mate exits. Then they construct elongated cocoons 1 to 1 J/2 inches long
composed of rough chips on a silk inner lining in which they winter to
change to pupae in the spring, the moths emerging in late May and in
June. When living in roots the larvae often leave their burrows to con-
struct cocoons in the surrounding soil. I have obtained as many as 50
cocoons by sifting along roots at one tree. Extracting the tight-fitting
cocoons from bark is much more difficult and hazardous. The moths,
upon emerging during morning hours, leave the pupal shells partly ex-
posed at the base of the tree and crawl up the trunk to expand and dry
their wings. Copulation may occur before this is completed, the strong
flying males buzzing about like hornets in search of the heavy-bodied,
sluggish females. This is the time when experienced collectors make their
rounds to capture specimens.
Regarding the present distribution of Aegeria apiformis in North
America, it seems that the species is still restricted to a narrow belt along
the Atlantic coast, extending hardly beyond a hundred miles in either
direction north and south from New York City. Reports from inland
regions to midwestern states and eastern Canada are considered erroneous.
In the vicinity of New York City the insect is far less common than it was
20 years ago. How far it has spread into areas outside of cultivation is
difficult to determine.
Records in the United States National Museum: New York City
(City Hall Park, larvae in silver poplar), female issued May 3, 1881;
Englewood, N. J., males and females, June 2, 1924, Palisade Park, N. J.,
June 10, 1937, Bronx Park, New York City, June 9, 1937 (Henry J.
Dietz) ; Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N. Y., June 29, 1915, Woodhaven,
L. I., N. Y., May 29, 1921, Baldwin, L. I., N. Y.. June 20, 1920, on
Carolina poplar, males and females (Engelhardt) ; White Plains, West-
chester County, N. Y., June 1938, on aspen (Engelhardt).
AEGERIA TIBIALIS (Harris)
Trochiliiim tibiale Harris, Amer. Journ. Arts and Sci., vol. 36, p. 309, 1839. —
LiNTNER, 23d Ann. Rep. New York State Cabinet Nat. Hist., 1869, p. 192, 1873.—
Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 53, 1882.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus.
176 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Nat. Hist, vol. 6, p. 366, 1894; vol. 8, p. 118, 1896; vol. 9, p. 218, 1897; vol. 12,
p. 159, 1899.
Melittia? flavitibia Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 67, 1856.
Aegeria tibialis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 259,
pi. 29, fig. 11 (male), fig. 12 (female), pi. Z2>, fig. 13 (female, variety), 1901.—
McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States
of America, pt. 2, No. 8690, 1939.
Male (description based on an example from Monterey, Mass.,
selected as agreeing with the type from New Hampshire in the Boston
Society of Natural History). — Antennae black, bipectinations strong,
dark ferruginous. Labial palpus yellow, black at base and mixed with
black at the sides. Head black on top and face ; orbits yellow ; occipital
fringe black above, yellow at the sides. Collar black, touched with yellow
at the sides. Thorax brownish black ; a thin yellow line along inner
side of tegula and a broader yellow, lateral line on prothorax, joining
a yellow spot at inner wing base and anteriorly meeting the thin line
on tegula in an acute angle ; a yellow spot at wing base above ; metathorax
tufted with black, and with two separate yellow patches laterally. Ab-
domen with segments 1 and 2 brown-black ; segment 3 yellow, narrowly
edged with brown-black posteriorly; segment 4 brown-black sprinkled
with yellow; segments 5, 6, and 7 yellow, with the narrow posterior
margins brown-black and pale yellow and a row of brown-black spots
at the sides ; beneath same as above ; anal tuft very short, blunt, brownish
yellow. Legs yellow, shaded with brown. Forewing transparent with
costa, veins, discal mark and margins orange-brown, darker on costa,
wing base and fringes ; same beneath. Hind wing transparent, very nar-
row margins and veins orange-brown.
Female. — Larger and more robust, marked more contrastingly on
thorax and abdomen, yellow and black ; old or faded specimens usually
rusty brown or sordid yellow.
Original description by Harris: "Brownish; wings transparent; first
pair with a narrow border and an abbreviated band beyond the middle
pale brown ; hind wings with a narrow brownish fringe ; antennae black ;
orbits, two lines on the thorax, edges of the abdominal seginents, and
tibiae yellow ; hindmost tibiae thickly covered with yellow hairs. Expands
one inch and a half.
"Found in New Hampshire (Dublin) on the Poptdus candicans, and
presented to me by the Rev. L. W. Leonard."
A female, Michigan, July 24, 1931, in the United States National
Museum collection, matches this description.
Expanse: Male 30 to 32 mm., female 34 to 38 mm.
Distribution. — New York to Nova Scotia ; Midwestern States ; British
Columbia; Pacific coast and intermountain regions from Washington
to California; Rocky Mountain States.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 177
Records in the "Catalogue of Insects Found in New Jersey," 1890
(John B. Smith), Riverton, September 9, and Browns Mills, Sep-
tember 15 (Daeke collector), are misidentifications and apply to Bem-
becia emarginata.
Type. — Female. In the Boston Society of Natural History.
Remarks. — Aegeria apijormis and tibialis are two closely related species
with indentical food plants and habits, the first a European native, re-
cently emigrated to the United States, and the second an indigenous
American species. Overlapping in the distribution of the two species
has not yet occurred. In the very large collection of tibialis at the United
States National Museum it is notable that most of the moths are from
western and Pacific coast regions, with no examples from the type locality
in New Hampshire and only a few from Massachusetts and New York,
none obtained by rearing. Typical specimens are one male, Monterey,
Mass., July 15, 1923 (C. A. Frost), and one female, Ithaca, N. Y.,
July 9, 1937 (H. F. Scudder). Two, representing dark variations, male
and female, are from Keene Valley, Adirondacks, N. Y., July 29, 1911
(Howard Natman).
While generally distributed along the north Atlantic coast, places of
infestation are difficult to find until after the moths have emerged, leaving
as evidence their pupal exuviae at the bases of the trees or on ex-
posed surface roots. Such records have been furnished by William
Procter from cottonwood. Bar Harbor, Maine, 1938, and by the writer
from balsam poplar, Dublin Shore, Nova Scotia, 1919. In western and
Pacific Coast States the insect is far commoner and at times a menace
to poplars, mostly in settled rather than in wild undeveloped country.
A serious outbreak on cottonwood in a park section of Sacramento, Calif.,
was reported by B. G. Thompson, of Corvallis, Oreg., in 1921. From
wood and root sections of the stunted and dying trees he reared many
of the moths during June, some emerging from sections several feet
above ground. In extensive field examinations I always have found the
larval burrows confined to the bases of trees or to roots. Heavy infesta-
tions on cottonwood also have been reported by Ralph Hopping, of
Vernon, British Columbia, for the Vancouver region, and I found the
borer extremely common in Arroyo Seco, Los Angeles, Calif., in 1928.
Food plants rather than climatic conditions appear to influence distribu-
tion in the West. The insect occurs from sea level to near timber line,
attacking quaking aspen with preference at high elevations. A female
captured while emerging and confined in a screened box outdoors, Beaver
County, Utah, July 1914, in two days attracted some 200 males during
the morning hours and the early afternoon. The moths came buzzing
like bees over a hive. J. H. Newton, State entomologist, reports a similar
experience from Paonia, Colo., August 1917. A reared female, freshly
emerged and stupefied with chloroform for photographing on a table out-
178 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
side the laboratory, attracted a male before the camera could be set and
a dozen or more followed soon afterward. I have had no success in a
similar experiment with Aegeria apijormis.
Critical examination of the ample material that is available shows no
structural differences to warrant specific separation of tibialis and pacifica.
Color variations are not restricted geographically but occur more or less
throughout the transcontinental range of the species, the usual light colors
darkening increasingly northward and at higher elevations.
Beutenmiiller recognized two North American species under Aegeria,
tibialis and pacifica. He treated minimum as a synonym of tibialis and
calif ornicum as a synonym of pacifica. His illustrations of tibialis do
not conform with Harris's description, being much too dark. The male
figure represents an almost black specimen marked narrowly with yellow
on the thorax and abdomen. Probably it was discolored with grease.
The female figure is a dark color variety, which is treated in the present
paper under the name melanojormis. The typical form is predominantly
yellow marked with black, and not predominantly black marked with
yellow. In addition, Beutenmiiller illustrated (pi. 2)i, fig. 13) as an
unnamed variety a female from Colorado, an unusually fine, large, and
well-marked example of pacifica, a name retained here for the form most
representative of Rocky Mountain and Pacific coast regions. Cockerell
refers to this illustration in his description of Aegeria tibialis var. dyari,
and the variety anonyma Strand also is based on the same illustration.
Types of the following are in the United States National Museum :
Trochilium pacificiim Hy. Edwards, female, Washington Territory, 1881 ;
T. calijornicum Neumoegen, female, California, 1891 ; T. minimum
Neumoegen, male, Colorado, 1891 ; Aegeria tibialis var. dyari Cockerell,
female, New Mexico, 1906. The type specimens are old, faded, and
abraded, but there can be no doubt that all are conspecific. Color varia-
tions are not clean-cut or geographically restricted. In addition to the
typical form two varieties are recognized.
AEGERIA TIBIALIS MELANOFORMIS, new variety
Plate 30, Figure 174
Male. — Head with a yellow brush on top. Thorax deep brown-black,
a thin yellow stripe on inner side of tegula and a broader yellow mark on
prothorax extending obliquely to beneath wing base, which also is spotted
with yellow above ; metathorax tufted with yellow at the sides. Abdomen
brown-black, all segments narrowly banded with a pale yellow, most
broadly on segment 3, above and beneath ; a row of black spots at the sides
on segments 3, 4, 5, and 6; anal tuft a short, stiff brush, orange-yellow
and brown. Wings with costa, discal mark, veins, and margins brown-
black ; beneath shaded with yellow basally.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 179
Female. — Thorax brown-black, marked with yellow like the male, with
the thin vertical stripe on the tegula not always extending beyond the
prothorax ; two yellow patches on each side posteriorly are separated by
a transverse black area. Abdomen mostly black, segment 1 entirely black ;
segment 2 black with a narrow anterior yellow edge, broadening at the
sides and beneath ; segment 3 black with a broader anterior yellow edge ;
segment 4 black, touched with yellow only at the sides and beneath;
segments 5 and 6 yellow, each with posterior half black, the black band
narrowing laterad ; last segment entirely yellow, its tip shaded with pale
brown. Otherwise like the male.
Distribution. — Adirondack Mountains, N. Y., Michigan, Wisconsin,
Montana, Colorado, Utah, Washington.
Ty/'^.— U.S.N. M. No. 56852. From Adirondack Mountains.
Remarks. — The male and female types and allotype were collected in
copulation by Howard Natman in Keene Valley, Adirondacks, N. Y.,
July 29, 1911. The male is not quite so dark as Beutenmiiller's illus-
tration of a male tibialis; the female, however, perfectly matches his
illustration of that sex. Field investigations still are insulTicient to ex-
plain the melanism that occurs in this species. The New England States,
which include the type locality, are least represented in available material.
Examples from the Great Lakes regions of Michigan and Wisconsin
average sufficiently dark to be placed with the variety mclanoformis. In
the West, dark-colored specimens occasionally may turn up in any series,
but oftener they occur in lots from high elevations or the northern coastal
regions. The series of the variety melanoformis studied includes, besides
the types : One female, North Fox Island, Leelanau County, Mich.,
August 2, 1922 (S. Moore) ; one male, Beaver County, Utah, 8,000 feet,
July 10, 1914 (Engelhardt) ; one female. Grand Park Creek, Colo., 10,000
feet on aspen, July 25. 1922 (Engelhardt) ; one male and one female,
Missoula, Mont., reared from cottonwood, June 17, 1915 (J. Brunner) ;
one female, Spanaway, Pierce County, Wash., July 27, 1935 (William H.
Baker).
AEGERIA TIBIALIS variety PACIFICA (Hy. Edwards)
Plate 30, Figures 175, 176
Trochilimn pacifiaim Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 180, 1881.— Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892; vol. 6, p. 365, 1894; vol. 8,
p. 118, 1896; vol. 9, p. 218, 1897; vol. 12, p. 159, 1899.
Trochilium caliiornicum Neumoegen, Ent. News, vol. 2, p. 108, 1891.
Trochilium minimum Neumoegen, Ent. News, vol. 2, p. 108, 1891.
Aegeria tibialis var. dyari Cockerell, Can. Ent., vol. 40, p. 330, 1908.
Aegeria tibialis var. anonyma Strand, Lepidopterorum catalogus, pt. 31, Aegeriidae,
p. 124, 1925.
Aegeria pacifica McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8689, 1939.
180 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Male. — Thorax deep brown-black, conspicuously marked with pale
yellow in a broad lateral stripe on prothorax, a thin line edging the tegula
and a large round mark laterally on metathorax, which also is shaded
transversely with yellow. Abdomen mostly bright lemon yellow ; seg-
ment 1 black ; segment 2 black with the anterior edge yellow ; segment 3
yellow, posteriorly edged with black, 4 olive-brown, 5, 6, and 7 lemon
yellow, slightly or not touched with black on posterior edges. Wings with
costa, nervules, and margins olive-brown. Otherwise like typical tibialis.
Female. — Stout and contrastingly marked with yellow and deep brown
or black. Abdomen with segment 1 black ; segment 2 black with a narrow
anterior yellow edge; segment 3 yellow, posteriorly with a narrow even
or sinuous black edge, which is broadest in the center ; segment 4 entirely
brown-black ; segments 5 and 6 yellow with a narrow black posterior edge ;
last segment yellow and sordid yellow at tip. Beneath, all segments
yellow, narrowly edged with black. Otherwise like the male.
Distribution. — Rocky Mountain States ; western Kansas ; Alberta ;
Pacific coast, southern California to British Columbia.
Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — Hy. Edwards's description of Trochilium pacificum is based
on a female (Washington Territory). He had two specimens, stated
to be male and female, but both are females, the one from California
(Akhurst collection in United States National Museum) much faded and
abraded. In long well-preserved series the variety pacifica, which pre-
dominates in the West, can be separated readily by its contrastingly yel-
low and black coloration from the more somber typical fonn of tibialis
from the East and from the much darker variety melanoformis. The
varieties overlap somewhat and examples which are old, faded and abraded
are not always readily placed, as is indicated by the types of the earlier
authors. Taxonomic studies establish conclusively that there is only one
endemic species, Aegeria tibialis, in North America.
The western range of the species is covered by many records in the
United States National Museum: Seward County, Kans., male, female,
July 1910 (F. X. Williams) ; Hall Valley, Colo., 9,000 feet, July (Oslar) ;
Cardiff, Colo., 8,000 feet, July 18, 1918, Veta Pass, Colo., 10,000 feet,
male, July 28, LaPlata Mountains, Colo., 10,000 feet, 2 females. Aspen
Forest, Colo., July 26, 1937 (Engelhardt) ; Colorado Springs, Colo., 4
males reared from Populus deltoides, June 7, 1915 (B. T. Harvey) ;
Denver, Colo., male type of minimum, Neumoegen CD. Bruce) : Salt Lake
City, Jordan River, Utah, June 1914, series reared from cottonwood, June
1914 (Engelhardt) ; Beaver County, Utah, 7,000 feet, long series, July 14,
1914 (Engelhardt) ; Deer Creek, Prove Canyon, Utah, female, July 21,
1916 (Tom Spaulding) ; Warner Ranch Sta., La Sal Mountains, Utah,
9,700 feet, male, July 27, 1936 (Klots), and female, 9,000 feet, July 22.
1936 (E. L. Chadwick) ; Pecos, N. Mex., female at light, June 23 (Cock-
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 181
erell) ; Las Vegas, N. Mex., female type of var. dyari Cockerell, July 3
(Cockerell) ; Sparks Ranch, Pecon Canyon, N. Mex., 7,500 feet, female,
July 21 ; Jemez Springs, N. Mex., males and females, reared from cotton-
wood, July 29 (Engelhardt) ; Carrville, Trinity County, Calif., males
and females, June 11, 1934 (E. C. Van Dyke) ; Madeline, Calif., female
on willow, July 12, 1925 (Engelhardt) ; Arroyo Seco, Los y\ngeles, Calif.,
males and females, reared from cottonwood, July 1928 (Engelhardt) ;
Riverside, Calif., males and females reared from cottonwood, July 1938
(C. M. Dammers) ; San Bernardino, Calif., males and females reared
from cottonwood, June 1921 (Engelhardt) ; Sacramento, Calif., males
and females, reared from cottonwood, June 1921 (B. G. Thompson) ;
Medford, Oreg., male, July 12, 1922 (E. C. Van Dyke) ; Corvallis. Oreg.,
male, June 11, 1925 (B. G. Thompson) ; Ashland County, Oreg., female
on Populus alba, August 1, 1913; Pendleton, Oreg., male, July 4, 1931
(Beamer) ; Hood River, Oreg., males and females on cottonwood, August
7, 1916 (Engelhardt) ; Mill Creek, Walla Walla, Wash., male, July 4,
1922 (A. L. Melander) ; Toppenish, Wash., male, June 28, 1925 (E. C.
Van Dyke) ; Snake River, Pullman, Wash., males and females, July 1932
(Clarke and Engelhardt) ; University Campus, Seattle, Wash., June 1928
(Engelhardt) ; Mount Rainier, Wash., 6,000 feet, male and female, reared
from willow, July 1927 (Engelhardt) ; Missoula, Mont., males and fe-
males, reared from Populus trichocarpa, June 17, 1913 (J. Brunner) ;
Glacier Park, Mont., male, August 15, 1927 (Engelhardt) ; Yellowstone
Park, Wyo., male and female, July 1922 (Engelhardt) ; Rexburg, Idaho,
5;000 feet, female, August 8, 1922; Earl Grey, Saskatchewan, male and
female, on cottonwood, July 1928 (J. D. Ritchie) ; Banff, Alberta, males
and females, on cottonwood, July 1928 (Engelhardt) ; Vancouver, British
Columbia, males and females, from cottonwood (R. Hopping) ; Merritt,
British Columbia, female, August 3, 1931 ; Victoria Island, British
Columbia, males and females, from silver poplar, July 1928 (Engelhardt).
THE MELITTIA GROUP
Genus MELITTIA Hubner
Melittia Hubner, Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, p. 128, 1819. (Genotype,
Sphinx boiiihyliformis Cramer [India].)
Antennae broadly bipectinate, the pectinations shorter before apex;
simple in female. Labial palpus upturned, the hair short. Abdomen
cylindrical, pointed at apex ; anal tuft very slender. Posterior tibiae and
tarsi with very long hair on inner side. Forewing with 12 veins, 7 and
8 stalked to below apex, 10 and 11 narrowly separate. Hindwing with
vein 3 nearer to 2 than to 4. Male genitalia with apices of harpes pro-
duced or angular. Uncus short, furcate; socii present; vinculum long;
aedeagus nearly straight, swollen at base. Female genitalia with a short
182 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
rounded ovipositor; ostium plate weakly developed; ductus simple, not
much longer than bursa, which is elongate-ovate with finely granulated
walls.
A well-defined genus, world-wide in distribution, including some of the
largest species in the family. All are borers in the vines or underground
tubers of plants of the family Cucurbitaceae. The extreme hairiness of
the posterior tibiae and tarsi is characteristic of all the species.
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF MELITTIA
Forewing dark olive-green, scales rough; abdomen red, spotted with black on
dorsum cucurbitae (Harris)
Forewing dark olive-green, scales rough, pearly; abdomen orange-red, banded
with black; tibiae marked with black grandis (Strecker)
Forewing pale olive, scales rough, pearly; abdomen olive-green on back, red and
black at sides grandis hermosa, new variety
Forewing grayish slate-colored, scales smooth; abdomen slate-colored on dor-
sum, size small snowii Hy. Edwards
Forewing blue-black and orange, abdomen blue-black. . .magnifica Beutenmiiller
Forewing olive-green, scales smooth; hindwing of male transparent; hindwing
of female orange-red; tibiae and tarsi marked with black.
gloriosa Hy. Edwards
Hindwing of female transparent, orange at base.
gloriosa race lindseyi Barnes and Benjamin
MELITTIA CUCURBITAE (Harris)
Plate 3, Figure 23 ; Plate 12, Figures 54, 54a; Plate 16, Figure 84
Aegcria cucurbitae Harris, New England Farmer, vol. 7, p. 33, 1828. — Riley, Second
report on the noxious and other insects of the State of Missouri, p. 64, 1870. —
Reed, Rep. Ent. Soc. Ontario, 1871, pp. 89-90. — Marten, Tenth report of the
State entomologist on the noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois,
1880, p. 107, 1881.†” Saunders, Insects injurious to fruits, p. 361, 1883.— Kent,
Insect Life, vol. 1, p. 17, 1888.— Packard, 9th Ann. Rep. U. S. Geol. Geogr. Surv.
Terr. (Hayden), 1875, p. 769, 1877. — French, in Thomas, Seventh report of the
State entomologist on the noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois,
1877, p. 173, 1878. — McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8777, 1939.
Trochilium ceto Westwood, The cabinet of Oriental entomology, pi. 30, fig. 6, 1848.
Meliitia ceto Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection
of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 66, 1856. — Druce, Biologia Centrali-Americana,
Lepidoptera, vol. 1, p. 32, 1883. — Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 3, p. 157, 1883. —
Smith, Catalogue of insects found in New Jersey, p. 288, 1890; 13th Ann. Rep.
New Jersey Agr. Exp. Stat., p. 499, 1892. — Kellicott, Insect Life, vol. 5, pp.
82, 85, 1892. — Comstock, Manual for the study of insects, p. 262, 1895. — Webster,
Ohio Farmer, vol. — , p. 157, 1895. — Slingerland, Rural New Yorker, vol. 54,
p. 261, 1895.— Quaintance, Florida Agr. Exp. Stat. Bull. 34, p. 293, 1896.
Meliitia cticurbitae Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 66, 1856. — Packard, Guide to the
study of insects . . ., p. 279, 1869. — Lintner, Country Gentleman, vol. 43,
p. 551, 1878.— French, Prairie Farmer, vol. 50, p. — , 1879. — Coleman, Papilio,
vol. 2, p. 50, 1882.— Hulst, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 6, p. 10, 1883.— Doran,
Bienn. Rep. Comm. Agr. Tennessee for 1885-86, p. 207, 1887.— Smith, Insect
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 183
Life, vol. 4, p. 30, 1891 ; 22d Ann. Rep. Ent. Soc. Ontario, p. 55, 1891.— Osborn
and Malley, Agr. Exp. Stat Iowa Bull. 27, p. 142, 1895.— Webster, Ohio
Farmer, vol. — , p. 291, 1895. — Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.,
vol. 8, p. 113, 1896.
Trochilium cucurbitae Morris, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North
America, p. 139, 1862.
Mclittia amoena Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 53, 1882. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. vol. 8, p. 113, 1896.
Male. — Antennae black, bi'oadly bipectinate, narrowing before apices.
Tongue well developed, spiraled. Labial palpus extending above head,
with short hair, tawny mixed with white. Head olive-black on top ; face
whitish ; occipital fringe short and narrow, olive-black. Collar and thorax
brown-green violaceous. Abdomen olive-green, suffused with red and
black spotted with black on the dorsum ; orange-yellow beneath ; segments
1 and 2 greenish black, 3, 4, 5, and 6 shaded with red, more weakly so
toward tip ; segment 7 and short anal tuft green-black. Coxae of forelegs
shiny white, feinora tawny and black; posterior tibiae and tarsi red or
deep orange, touched with white outwardly, with very long hair, black
inwardly. Forewing opaque, lustrous blue or violaceous olive-green,
except for a narrow, hyaline space basally between cubitus and inner
margin ; discal mark obscured ; narrow outer margin and fringes black
and brown-black ; underside same as upper. Hindwing transparent,
nervules and narrow margins greenish black.
Female. — Antennae simple, black. Abdomen with segments 1 and 2
black ; all other segments red with a black spot and narrowly edged pos-
teriorly with pale green above ; beneath orange-yellow. Otherwise like
the male.
Expanse: Male 28 to 30 min., female 28 to 32 mm.
Distribution. — South and Central America, North America except
Pacific Coast.
Type. — In the Boston Society of Natural History.
Remarks. — For this well-known and economically notorious squash
borer the name Melittia cucurbitae (Harris) is retained, restricted to
North America. It is closely related to M. satyriformis Hiibner from
Bogota, Colombia, and identical with M. cclo (Westwood) and perhaps
with others of the numerous closely related species and forms described
froin South and Central America. The original source of this species re-
mains in doubt. Now widespread in North America, it seems to confine its
attacks entirely to plants of the Cucurbitaceae under cultivation. Wild
species, even when growing in close proximity to cultivated plants and ap-
parently suitable as hosts, are ignored. Squash growers often suffer seri-
ous injury and find it difficult to control the pest. The usual remedy of
cutting the larvae out of the vines is practical but too slow where squash is
grown on a large scale. The insect has been successfully trapped. This is
done by attracting the egg-laying moths to plants of rapid growth, such as
184 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
hardy summer squash. The fall squash, planted later in the season, is
left practically uninfested.
The moths are active, rapid fliers, swarming over fields of squash in
sunshine and resting exposed on the plants on cloudy days and at night.
Flowers attract them. The brown, disklike eggs are laid on any part of
the plant but preferably at the bases of the vines. The larvae tunnel in
the more or less exposed, main portions of the vine, subsisting largely
on the juices rather than the plant tissue. On maturity late in summer
or early in fall they desert their burrows and spin tough parchmentlike
cocoons a little below the surface of the ground; in these they rest until
they change to pupae in the spring of the year following. A chisellike
organ on the head of the pupa is used to cut a circular lid from the cocoon
and to enable the pupa to wriggle to the surface before the moth emerges,
which is usually in June or July. There are occasional records of moths
collected as late as September in temperate regions and numerous rec-
ords from Southern and Southwestern States as late as October and
November. These suggest a 2-brooded species. However, as the larvae
are dependent on living plants and cultivated squashes are annuals, a
successful second brood seems unlikely, except under unusually propitious
conditions.
Color variations are not sufficiently distinct to warrant recognition in
the North American distribution of this species. Males sometimes lack
the red shading on the abdominal segments. (Cabinet specimens quickly
become greasy if not subjected to treatment.) Melittia amoena Hy.
Edwards is a black-bodied, but otherwise normal, male from Kansas.
Examples from southwestern Texas and from Mexico average slightly
larger and have wing colors of a lighter olive-green than normal specimens
from the United States. Entry into this country most likely occurred
from that direction and not from Baja California, where records are still
lacking from across the border.
Persistently confining its attacks only to cucurbits under cultivation,
the common squash borer now has spread over the United States and into
Canada, except on the Pacific coast. Serious injury has been reported
from almost every region suitable for the cultivation of squash, and
numerous papers covering the subject have been published,
MELITTIA GRANDIS (Strecker)
Trochilinm grande Strecker, Can. Ent., vol. 13, p. 156, 1881.
Melittia grandis Grote, New check list of North American moths, p. 11, 1882. —
Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 114, 1896; vol. 12,
p. 151, 1899; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1. pt. 6, p. 235, pi. 29, fig. 4
(female), 1901.— McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and
the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8780, 1939.
Melittia beckeri Druce, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, vol. 9, p. 276, 1892; Biologia
Centrali-Americana, Lepidoptera, vol, 2, p. 325, pi. 69, fig. 18, 1896.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 185
Male. — Antennae dark green-black, bipectinate and ciliate. Labial
palpus orange-yellow. Head with top and occipital fringe dark olive;
face white, tinged with yellow. Collar red. Thorax dark brown, with
green and blue reflections and sprinkled with white-tipped scales, beneath
marked with orange-red. Abdomen red, each segment with a broad, blue-
black posterior band, which is narrowly edged with golden-yellow at the
sides ; anal tuft short, black above, orange beneath, like the abdomen.
Fore and middle legs orange, tarsi black, banded with white ; posterior
legs very hairy, the hair long on the inner side and short outwardly, red
and black above between the black, white tufted spurs and on tarsi. Fore-
wing opaque, metallic dark olive-green, densely freckled with white-tipped
scales, producing a pearly effect, which is a specific feature; wing base
touched with orange. Hindwing transparent, veins, margins, and fringes
dark olive-green, wing base touched with orange ; underside of forewing
orange at base, with a longer orange edge on costa, and metallic golden
irrorations to outer margin.
Female. — Larger and stouter than the male. Antennae simple ; ab-
domen cylindrical, bright red and more contrastingly banded with black;
anal tuft small, pointed, black above, red beneath.
Expanse: Male 40 mm., female 44 mm.
Distribution. — Southwestern Texas, Mexico.
Type. — Male? In the Chicago Natural History Museum.
Remarks. — The rough white-tipped scales on the forewings and body
of this species are dependable structures for separation from M. gloriosa,
which is nearest in coloration and in size but has flat unicolored scales.
A good series from Texas agrees perfectly with Strecker's description
of Trochilium grande which was based on a specimen from Texas. Beuten-
miiller described and illustrated as M. grandis a female from Arizona,
particularly emphasizing "abdomen brown above." The abdomen of
typical grandis is red, banded transversely with black. Very few speci-
mens of grandis have been collected in Arizona. Only two females from
Arizona have been available for the present study, one from the Neu-
moegen collection and the other from the E. L. Graef collection. They
are well preserved but old and probably faded. One of these apparently
served Beutenmiiller for his illustration. The Arizona specimens are
conspecific but sufficiently different to warrant recognition as a variety,
which I name hermosa.
Field investigations show a distribution for M. grandis in Texas from
Austin and San Antonio to the Gulf coast and along the Rio Grande to
the Big Bend ; and probably the species extends westward into Arizona.
Its native home is Mexico. Melittia beckeri Druce from Durango, Mex-
ico, is this species.
A relationship with M. cucurbitae is shown by the male genitalia in
the much produced apex of the harpe, which in the other species of the
186 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
genus is angular but not produced, M. cucurbitae also exhibits rough,
white-tipped scales on the forewings and on body, although these are
less conspicuous than in M. grandis.
The food plant is Cucurbita foetidissima, the wild gourd so common
in western arid regions. The larvae bore in the underground tubers,
which grow to enormous size. Guided by pupal shells above ground, I
have found larval excavations but no living material for rearing. Ap-
parently the insect congregates in colonies. H. B. Parks reported find-
ing large tubers, laid bare in the course of road construction, fairly honey-
combed with larval tunnels. I have not been so fortunate. My long
series of moths was obtained by capture, the males usually in flight and
the females resting on foliage of the food plant. A 2-year life cycle is
expected. The available material is from Austin, Tex., male and female
in copulation, April 29, 1930, and a female, June 9, 1933, H. Parks ; San
Antonio, Tex., males and females, May-June 1934, H. P. Parks and
Engelhardt ; Alpine, Tex., male and female, July 20, Barnes collection ;
female, Arizona, no definite locality or date.
MELITTIA GRANDIS HERMOSA, new variety
Plate 31, Figure 177
Female. — Forewing opaque, pale olive-green. Hindwing transparent,
veins orange, darker at margins. Abdomen broadly pale olive-green along
back, banded with red and black at the sides only.
Expanse : 44 mm.
Distribution. — Arizona.
Type. — U.S.N.M. No. 56853, female. Described from two females
from Arizona.
MELITTIA SNOWII Hy. Edwards
Melittia snozvii Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol 2, p. 53, 1882. — Beutenmuller, Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892; vol. 8, p. 114, 1896; vol. 12, p. 150,
1899; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 234, pi. 29, fig. 2 (male),
1901._F. X. Williams, Kansas Univ. Sci. Bull., vol. 8 (1913), p. 219, pi. 31
(egg, larvae, cocoon, pupa, and adult), 1914. — McDunnough, Check list of
the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8778,
1939.
Male. — Antennae gray-black, bipectinate, dark brown iDcneath and ru-
fous at tips. Labial palpus white, tinged with black above. Head gray,
face glossy white, occipital fringe thin, gray and white at the sides. Collar
lustrous blue-black. Thorax speckled gray, tawnier beneath. Abdomen
gray on the back, orange-yellow at the sides, spotted sordid white and
black in center beneath; anal tuft short and blunt, gray above, sordid
white beneath. Fore and middle legs sordid white, edged with orange;
tibiae and tarsi of hindlegs sordid white on outer side, densely covered
with long, deep orange and bluish-black hair on inner side. Forewing
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 187
Opaque, speckled with light gray scales ; costa and narrow margins whit-
ish gray ; fringes brownish gray ; underside paler, touched with yellowish
basally. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined with orange ; fringes
brown-gray.
Female. — Antennae simple. Abdomen deep gray on the back, red at
the sides, bluish black beneath with segments more or less edged with
tawny white ; posterior tibiae red and lustrous blue-black.
Expanse: Male and female 24 to 26 mm.
Distribution. — Eastern Colorado, western Kansas and Oklahoma, east-
ern and southern Texas.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — This, the smallest North American species of the genus,
produces galls on its food plant, the common western gourd, Cucurbita
joetidissima. Hatching from eggs laid on tender shoots of the vine or
on the petioles of leaves, the young larvae enter the tissue, causing rapidly
growing gall-like swellings, which are at first firm but which become
hollow before full size of 2 or 3 inches in length and an inch or more
in thickness is attained. The larvae, when mature, desert the galls, drop
to the ground, and prepare tough, silk-lined cocoons below the surface.
This habit was reported first by F. X. Williams, who found the insect
in western Kansas in July 1912 wherever the food plant occurred. Each
gall contains but one larva and remains entire until the larva has made
its exit. Some of the cocoons obtained in July produced moths late in
August, but in the majority the larvae hibernated, the moths emerging
during the following May and June. The galls are conspicuous. We
have found them numerous in western Kansas, eastern Colorado and
New Mexico, Oklahoma, and the eastern half of Texas. For rearing
purposes galls well grown and still intact should be gathered and placed
in a cage with earth. When recently deserted by the larva, the cocoon
usually can be located by scratching the soil beneath the gall. The prin-
cipal time of emergence is May and June, occasionally only late in sum-
mer and in fall. It has not been observed whether the moths are attracted
to flowers. They remain near the food plant, flying about and resting
on the foliage. E. V. Walter captured many males near San Antonio,
Tex., by exposing a virgin female. May 5, 1929. Examples reared by
H. B. Parks, San Antonio, are labeled "Larva entered soil May 6, 1929;
moth emerged June 24, 1929." The insect is not known to attack squash
or other cucurbit plants under cultivation. The very long series of avail-
able examples shows no color variations. Scale reticulations on the fore-
wings and on the body are present but are more appressed and less
prominent than in cucurbifae and grandis. The tip of the harpe of the
male genitalia is not produced but bluntly angular, similar to that in
gloriosa.
188 BULLETIN 190. UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
MELITTIA GLORIOSA Hy. Edwards
Plate 31, Figures 178, 179
Melittia gloriosa Hy. Edwards, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 3, p. 71, 1880. — Riley,
Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 1, p. 85, 1888. — Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer.
Mus. Nat Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892; vol. 8, p. 114, 1896; vol. 9, p. 217, 1897;
vol. 12, p. 150, 1899 ; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, vol. 1, pt 6, p. 235, pi. 29,
fig. 3 (female), 1901.— F. X. Williams, Kansas Univ. Sci. Bull., vol. 8 (1913),
p. 217, 1914. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the
United States of America, pt 2, No. 8779, 1939.
Male. — Antennae bipectinate, dark olive-green, rufous beneath and at
apices. Labial palpus white, above and on its inner and outer sides pale
dull yellov^. Head greenish brown on the top ; face white ; occipital
fringe pale yellow, white at the sides. Collar dark brown with bluish
reflections. Thorax dark green-brown, a broad yellow patch laterally
from collar to wing base ; tegula with a posterior yellow tuft ; metathorax
transversely broadly edged with yellow and orange; underside lustrous
blue-black. Abdomen with segments 1, 2, and 3 dark greenish brown
on top, orange and red at the sides ; segment 3 yellow, red at the sides
and touched with black on posterior edge ; segment 5 yellow ; segments
6 and 7 and anal tuft lustrous pale blue ; all segments with a posterior
margin of appressed metallic black scales; beneath, the abdomen creamy
white. Fore and middle legs with femora and tibiae pale yellow and
white, tarsi blue-black, yellow at the joints ; hindlegs with long orange-
red hair on the inner side extending to second joint of tarsi ; anterior
half of tibia red above, yellow on outer side, posterior half of tibia and
the tarsus velvety black on upper side, blotched with yellow on outer edge
and beneath ; apical joints of tarsus all black.
Forewing opaque, yellowish green, tinted with olivaceous on costa,
inner margin, and basal parts ; fringes broad, greenish brown, tipped with
buff ; underside orange-yellow. Hindwing transparent ; veins, narrow
margin and wing base orange-red above and beneath ; fringes dark brown-
black, not tipped with buff.
Female. — Antennae simple ; body more robust, abdomen cylindrical.
Forewing and thorax orange-green ; underside orange. Hindwing opaque,
orange-red ; fringes brown-black ; underside orange-red.
Expanse: Male 40 to 45 mm., female 40 to 50 mm.
Distribution. — Oregon and California and coastal islands of these
States; Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, western Texas.
Type. — Female. In the American Museum of Natural History.
MELITTIA GLORIOSA race LINDSEYI Barnes and Benjamin
Melittia lindseyi Barnes and Benjamin, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 27, p. 14,
1925. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United
State of America, pt. 2, No. 8781, 1939.
Melittia superba Barnes and Lindsey (not Rothschild), Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc,
vol. 17, p. 122, 1922.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 189
Melittia barnesi Dalla Torre and Strand, Lepidopterorum catalogus, pt. 31,
Aegeriidae, p. 138, 1925.
Male. — Very similar to the male of gloriosa. Of larger average size.
Abdomen with segments 3, 4, and 6 white, barely touched with yellow.
Female. — Differs from female of gloriosa by having the hindwings
transparent and deep orange only at wing base. The abdominal bands,
similar in arrangement, are more contrasting, pinkish white and bluish
black. Females of this race attain the largest size found in North Am-
erican Aegeriidae.
Expanse: Male 50 mm., female 52 to 62 mm.
Distribution. — Western Kansas, eastern Colorado, Texas.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum.
Remarks. — This, the largest and handsomest species of North American
Aegeriidae, fittingly bearing the name gloriosa, is hardly exceeded in
beauty and size by any other species in the entire family. Until collected
in numbers and its food plant and habits reported by F. X. Williams
in 1913, the few examples in collections were highly prized. Williams
collected his specimens, a dozen or more, in Seward and Graham Counties
of western Kansas, August 1911 and 1912. He traced moths to their
food plant, Cucurhiia joetidissima, found numerous pupal exuviae, and,
upon digging down to the larger underground tubers, noted larval ex-
cavations but failed to find living material for rearing. This also has
been my experience on many occasions, although better success was had
in company with H. G. Thompson, of Oregon State College, during July
1924. Observing an insect in flight over pastureland and in doubt whether
it was a cicada killer wasp or a moth, we watched its aerial gyrations
until suddenly it dropped and to our delight proved to be a male of
gloriosa already copulating with a freshly emerged female. The pupal
shell of the latter protruded from near the base of the stem of Echino-
cystis fabacea, a sprawling or climbing cucurbit vine, better known as
manroot, or bigroot, for its enormous underground tubers, sometimes
actually as large as the body of a man. The vines above ground already
had wilted at the time. A pickax was needed to uncover the top of the
root a foot or deeper in the dry, almost stone-hard clay soil. We found
several immature larvae and one fully grown in tortuous burrows. Above
the tuber vertical tunnels led upward to a point an inch or tv/o below
the surface of the ground, the upper parts containing tough, elongated
pupal cases, all vacated, except one that still contained a living pupa.
This has been preserved and is an example of adaptation of unusual
interest. Most pupae of boring Lepidoptera are provided with cutting
structures on the head and roughened edges on the abdominal segments
to facilitate emergence. In gloriosa such structures have developed to
an extraordinary degree. The head armament consists of a 3-pronged
drill in front, a sharp outcurving spine beneath, and an erect, knifelike
190 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
blade, more than a millimeter high, on top of the head. The thorax
has a narrow knife-edged ridge all along the back and a stout, short spine
on each shoulder. All abdominal segments are strongly spined, the spines
being nearly erect above and at the sides ; and the anal end bears a
circle of broader, sharp-edged spines, which are slightly curved. It is
an ingenious arrangement for drilling and is undoubtedly an indispensable
provision in assuring the final exit of the moth from the hard soil. Fol-
lowing these investigations Dr. Thompson discovered manroot growing
on a pasture adjoining his property at Corvallis, Oreg. In succeeding
years during the flying season of late July and August he collected sev-
eral hundred freshly emerged moths by making early-morning inspections.
In California the species is widely distributed from north to south and
on the islands near the coast. B. G. Thompson captured numbers of the
moths along farmlands at Sacramento, and C. O. Poling collected them
on Santa Catalina Island ; and there are many records of single speci-
mens or small numbers collected throughout the state. F. E. Blaisdell
took a specimen near San Diego on Rhus laurina and assumed it was a
root borer in this plant, but that has proved erroneous. Successful rear-
ing in California apparently has been accomplished only by C. M. Dam-
mers, of Riverside, and C. Henne, of the Los Angeles Museum. These
keen observers found pupal shells about the base of Cucurhita palmata
in the desert near Blythe, Colorado River region, in September and
October 1936; and in the underground tubers, about 2 inches thick and
2 feet long, there were immature and full-grown larvae. From these
tubers, transported and replanted, moths emerged late in the summer
of the following year and again in the second year, thus indicating a 2-year
life cycle. These investigators also reported moths on the wing in Sep-
tember and as late as October. Retarded development is not unusual in
extreme desert regions.
On the Pacific coast, in southwestern Arizona (Paradise), and in
southwestern Utah, color variations in gloriosa are not apparent in either
sex. The males appear to be typical wherever found. However, a
change restricted to the females becomes obvious through the eastern
range of the species. It consists in the gradual clearing of the hindwings
from opaqueness to transparency ; they become semiclear in central and
northern Arizona and quite clear in western Kansas, the eastern limit
in the range of the species. This is evidenced by prolonged and careful
field investigations and long series of specimens in the United States
National Museum. In central Arizona and in western Kansas the food
plant was found to be Cucurhita foetidissima. Other wild gourds with
sufficiently large underground tubers should serve equally well.
Records in the United States National Museum : Typical forms, Cor-
vallis, Oreg., July-August 1926, male and females (Thompson and
Engelhardt) ; Santa Catalina Island, Calif., June 1920, males and females
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 191
(O. C. Poling) ; San Diego, Calif., female (C. V. Riley) ; Los Angeles,
Calif. (Coquillett) ; Phoenix, Ariz., female (J. Frank Meador) ; St.
George, Washington County, Utah, female. Transition forms, Globe,
Ariz., August 4, 1937, males and females (Engelhardt) ; Willcox, Ariz.,
September 14, 1935 (F. H. Parker) ; Cochise County, Ariz., 3,750
feet (F. H. Snow).
MELITTIA MAGNIFICA BeutenmuUer
Melitlla magnifica Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 12, p. 151,
1899; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 236, pi. 29, fig. 5 (female),
1901. — McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera and the United States of
America, pt. 2, No. 8782, 1939.
Female. — Antennae simple, blue-black, ferruginous toward the tips be-
neath. Labial palpus orange, extreme tip black. Thorax steel blue, tipped
with orange on each side posteriorly. Abdomen metallic steel-blue-black,
above and beneath. The anterior and middle legs steel-blue-black (hind
pair lacking). Forewing bright steel-blue-black, with the inner part
broadly light orange, the light area covering more than half the width of
the wings to a little beyond the middle, where it curves downward to a
point touching the hind angle ; fringes light orange. Hindwing deep orange
above and below ; underside orange with outer fourth black ; fringes
orange.
Expanse : 42 mm.
Distribution. — Austin, Tex.
Type. — Female. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — This species is represented by only the unique female type.
Its indicated habitat, Austin, Tex., seems open to question. Especial
attention has been given to this and other regions in Texas in a search
for borers in cucurbit plants. Nothing approaching magnifica has been
found in the State. Beutenmiiller obtained the specimen from the late
Josef Mattes, a collector of Lepidoptera and by vocation a painter and
decorator, who loved bright, showy insects and freely exchanged for
exotic species, but was careless about locality and date labels. Prior to
coming to New York he had lived in Austin, Tex., and thought the type
of magnifica, which bore no label, must have been collected there. This
is probably erroneous. It does not fit in the North American fauna but
displays a closer affiliation with species from South America. I have
not attempted to determine it as a previously de.scribed South American
species because of its imperfect condition.
THE BEMBECIA GROUP
Genus BEMBECIA Hubner
Plate 3, Figure 24; Plate 12, Figures 55, 55a; Plate 16, Figure 85
Bemhecia Hubner, Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, p. 128, 1819. (Genotype,
Sesia hylaeiformis Laspeyres, Europe.)
192 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Tongue well developed, spiraled. Antenna of male broadly but finely
bipectinate; of female simple, thickened; tip without tuft. Labial palpus
short, upcurved, loosely scaled, flattened ; third joint blunt, with scales
projecting above apex. Thorax with posterior tuft and with two hair
pencils at the bases of tjie hindwings. Anal tuft short, rounded. Hind-
tibiae above with long rough scales especially at the spurs ; first tarsal
joint thickened with scales. Forewing with 11 veins, vein 2 absent; 7
and 8 stalked, 7 to apex; 10 and 11 well separated, parallel. Hindwing
with veins 3 and 4 long-stalked.
Male genitalia with short upright socii, harpes short rectangular, simple
without specialized scales ; ventral plate large ; aedeagus long, straight ;
vinculum with a moderately long, anterior process.
Female genitalia with upper part of ductus bursae strongly sclerotized
and looped on itself.
KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF BEMBECIA
Thorax and abdomen marked with lemon yellow marginata marginata (Harris)
Thorax and abdomen marked with very pale yellow or white.
marginata var. albicoma Hulst
BEMBECIA MARGINATA (Harris)
Trochilium marginatum Harris, Amer. Journ. Arts and Sci., vol. 36, p. 309, 1839. —
Morris, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North America, p. 137, 1862. —
LiNTNEK, 23d Ann. Rep. New York State Cabinet Nat. Hist., 1869, p. 192, 1873.
Sphecia? marginata Walker, List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 12, 1856.
Aegeria pleciaefonnis Walker, List of specimens of lepidopterous insects in the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 40, 1856. — Hy. Edwards, Papilio,
vol. 1, p. 206, 1881.
^Icgeria odyneripennis Walker, List of specimens of lepidopterous insects in the
collection of the British Museum, pt. 8, p. 42, 1856. — Hy. Edwards, Papilio,
vol. 1, p. 206, 1881.
Trochilium odyneripennis Morris, Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North
America, p. 332, 1862.
Sesia odyneripennis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 437, 1874.
Sesia pleciaeformis Boisduval, Histoire naturelle des insectes : Species general des
lepidopteres heteroceres, vol. 1, p. 436, 1874.
Aegeria riihi Riley, Sixth report on the noxious and other insects of the State of
Missouri, p. Ill, 1874. — Thomas, Sixth report of the State entomologist on the
noxious and beneficial insects of the State of Illinois, 1876, p. 40, 1877. —
Perkins, 4th Rep. Vermont Board Agr., p. 146, 1877. — Bruner, Rep. Nebraska
Hort. Soc, 1891, p. 196.
Sesia flavipes Hulst, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 3, p. 76, 1881.
Albuna odyneripennis Grote, New check list of North American moths, p. 12, 1882.
Bemhecia marginata Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 52, 1882. — Riley, Amer. Nat.,
vol. 17, p. 792, 1883. — Saunders, Insects injurious to fruits, p. 303, 1883. —
LiNTNER, New England Homestead, vol. 20, p. 189, 1886. — BEuxENMiJLLER, Ann.
New York Acad. Sci., vol. 5, p. 204, 1890; Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 5,
p. 22, 1893; vol. 8, p. 118, 1896; vol. 9, p. 218, 1897; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 193
Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 260. pi. 29, fig. 14 (female), 1901.— Smith, 12th Ann. Rep.
New Jersey Agr. Exp. Stat., 1891, pp. 378-381, figs., 1892; Insect Life, vol. 4,
p. 29, 1892. — Kellicott, Journ. Columbus Hort. Soc, vol. 5, p. 21, 1890; Can.
Ent., vol. 24, p. 44, 1892.— Fletcher, Ent. Rep. Canada Dept. Agr., 1895, p. 149,
1896.— Lugger, 4th Ann. Rep. Entomologist State Agr. Exp. Stat. Univ. Minne-
sota, 1898, pp. 54-55, 1899.— McDunnough, Check Hst of the Lepidoptera of
Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2. No. 8684, 1939.
Bembecia flavipes Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892.
Bemhecia pleciaeformis Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, p. Zi,
1893.
Male. — Antennae black, bipectinate, more or less appressed, not tufted
at tips. Labial palpus rough, yellow. Head brown-black, orbits yellow ;
occipital fringe whitish. Collar black. Thorax brown-black marked with
yellow; a small patch on the side, a thin lateral stripe below the collar,
a subcircular ring from above forewing to metathorax, sometimes in a
broken line, a spot at base of forewing above and another anteriorly be-
neath yellow. Metathorax laterally tufted with yellow and with yellow
hair pencils at the sides beneath. Abdomen brown-black, broadly banded
with yellow on posterior part of all segments above and beneath ; seg-
ment 3 elevated on top with yellow and black hair mixed ; anal tuft short,
rounded, black and yellow mixed. Legs yellow, rough, femora and tibiae
of hindlegs marked or not marked with black outwardly; first joint
of posterior tarsus thickened with scales. Forewing transparent, bi'oadly
bordered and margined with brown, brighter inside ; discal mark bright
brown ; fringes dark brown ; beneath shaded with yellow basally ; costa
and discal mark black. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined and
fringed with brown-black.
Female. — Antennae simple, strong, not tufted at tips. Larger and stouter
than the male. Last or two last abdominal segments usually entirely
yellow or slightly mixed with black ; anal tuft inconspicuous.
Expanse : Male 22 to 28 mm., female 24 to 34 mm.
Distribution. — United States, Canada, British Columbia.
Type. — Female. In the Boston Society of Natural History.
Remarks. — This insect is of considerable importance as a borer in
species of Rubus, blackberries and raspberries, both wild and cultivated.
Its distribution in North America north of Mexico is general wherever
suitable food plants occur. The moths appear during August and Sep-
tember and are active fliers on sunny days about brambles, but they are
difficult to distingui.sh from common yellow jackets, which they resemble
closely. The roundish, brown eggs are laid singly on the canes of the
food plant near the ground. The young larvae bore into the roots, winter-
ing there in various stages of growth. Nearing full growth during the
summer of the year following, they usually ascend into the canes, which
they girdle a few inches above the surface of the ground, causing them
to wilt or break. Pupation then takes place within the hollow stump.
The pupa is provided with a triangular, sharp-pointed, chisellike process,
194 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
used in emerging by cutting through the bark. Except for the pale
color variety alhlcoma of the Eastern Slates, the species runs true to
type throughout its transcontinental range. Its depredations on culti-
vated blackberries and raspberries have been particularly serious in the
coastal areas of the Northwestern States.
The European species, Bemhecia hylaeiformis (Laspeyres), is a near
relative, with similar food plants and habits. However, the European
species is said to fly at night, but the North American species is not known
to do so.
The color variety albicoma is found occasionally in the Atlantic Coast
States associated with typical marginata. The only examples in the United
States National Museum are males. They are from Pittsburgh, Pa.,
August 24, 1905 (Henry Engel), and Woodhaven, Long Island, N. Y.,
September 8, 1919 (Engelhardt).
BEMBECIA MARGINATA variety ALBICOMA Hulst
Bemhecia marginata van albicoma Hulst, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 6, p. 10,
1883.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, p. 23, 1893 ; vol. 8,
p. 119, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 262, 1901.
Male. — Differs from typical marginata only in having the yellow mark-
ings replaced by pale straw color or white. This variation is more fre-
quent in males than in females.
Distribution. — Eastern United States.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
THE ZENODOXUS GROUP
Genus ZENODOXUS Grote and Robinson
Zenodoxus Grote and Robinson, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, vol. 2, p. 183, 1868.
(Genotype, Zenodoxus viaculipes Grote and Robinson.)
Antenna of the male thin, strongly biciliate, tapering toward apex,
apex without hair tuft ; female antenna shortly ciliate. Tongue rud-
mentary. Labial palpus short, porrect, somewhat flattened, roughly and
heavily scaled, scales projecting above the tip. Head and thorax smooth.
Forewing narrow, with 12 veins ; veins 2 and 3 connate or stalked, the
rest separate, 7 and 8 separate, 7 to costa just above apex, 8, 9, 10, and
11 well separated, parallel. Hindwing with 8 veins, all separate, vein 3
nearer to 2 than to 4, veins 7 and 8 obscured in the costal fold. Posterior
tibia smooth with strong, rough tufts at spurs. First joint of posterior
tarsus thickened with rough scaling. Anal tuft in both sexes short,
rounded. Male genitalia very uniform in the species included in the
genus, giving but .slight help in specific differentiation; uncus (or uncus
and socii united) short, upright, slightly divided at tip, with sparse
single unspecialized hairs ; ventral plate straight, narrow ; harpe short,
quadrangular with costal and dorsal edges parallel, terminal edge slightly
curved and more or less oblique ; vinculum with a short rounded anterior
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 195
process; aedeagus long, slender, straight or nearly so. Female genitalia
with ductus short, slightly sclerotized below ostium and in most of the
species with a circle of short, longitudinal rods of sclcrotization before
the small, round bursa.
A very distinct genus, not closely related to any other American genus,
comprising a group of species with identical venation and very similar
genitalia in both sexes. Because the species are exceedingly variable
in color and size, their differentiation is difficult and some of the applied
names may eventually prove to denote merely geographical races. All
the North American species, of which the food plants are known, are
borers in the roots and basal stalks of mallows.
ZENODOXUS MACULIPES Grote and Robinson
Plate 3, Figure 25 ; Plate 12, Figure 56 ; Plate 16, Figure 86 ; Plate 32,
Figure 180
Zcnodoxus maculipes Grote and Robinson, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, vol. 2, p. 184.
1868.— Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892; vol. 8.
p. 148, 1896.— McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the-
United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8783, 1939.
Faranthrene maculipes Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 315, 1901.
Male. — Antennae brown, slender, not dilated, finely and broadly bipec-
tinate. Labial palpus rough, sordid white basally, buff on third joint and
above. Head brownish, black on top, occipital fringe pale straw-colored.
Thorax bronzy brown, with some yellow scales at and beneath base of
forewing; brownish-yellow lateral tufts on posterior parts. Abdomen
hairy, rusty grayish brown; first and fourth segments banded with buff
above ; apical segments grayer than anterior ones, all segments each with
a narrow black posterior edge; anal tuft short, subcircular, gray and
black mixed. Legs rusty dark brown, posterior tibiae buff between long,
strong spurs ; first tarsal joint thickened. Forewing opaque, bronzy,
darker along costa and cubitus ; costa beneath straw-colored. Hindwing
opaque, bronzy brown, somewhat paler beneath.
Female. — Antennae simple, slender, brownish. Thorax and abdomen
heavily covered with chestnut-brown scales; first and fourth segments
banded with buff, segment 6 banded with buff and black mixed ; anal
tuft short, blunt, chestnut-brown. Otherwise like the male.
Expanse : Male and female 20 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas.
Type. — Male, in the American Museum of Natural History.
ZENODOXUS WISSADULAE. new species
Plate 32, Figure 181
Male. — Antennae brown with black ciliation. Labial palpus yellowish
red. Head and thorax dark brown. Collar yellow. Forewing opaque.
196 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
dark bluish brown with base yellowish red. Hindwing opaque bluish
brown, with yellowish base. Abdomen dark purplish brown, with narrow
yellow bands on segments 1, 4, and 5 and with anal tuft yellow mixed
with black scales. Hindlegs light yellow with brick red tufts at spurs.
Male genitalia with terminal edge of harpes more nearly straight and
more oblique than in the other described species.
Female. — Like the male except that it has one more abdominal segment,
the sixth, banded with 3^ellow.
Expanse : Male 18 to 20 mm., female 20 to 23 mm.
Distribution. — Brownsville, Tex.
Food plant. — Wissadiula lozanii.
Type.— \J. S.N. M. No. 56854. From Brownsville, Tex.
Remarks. — Described from male type, female allotype, 6 male and 5
female paratypes, reared by the late Emerson Liscum Diven, a promising
young student of entomology who lost his life in the fall of an airplane
near the Mexican border while he was on an official survey for the United
States Department of Agriculture.
ZENODOXUS SIDALCEAE, new species
Plate 32, Figures 182, 183
Male. — Antennae blackish with narrow yellow annulations. Labial
palpi roughly tufted with white, black and yellow scales. Head bluish
black. Collar yellow. Thorax bluish black, overlaid with thin, long,
soft, yellow, hairlike scales protruding behind the thorax. Forewing
bluish black, overlaid, especially on the cell and at termen, with brick-red
and yellowish scales. Hindwing thinly scaled with red ; veins black.
Abdomen bluish black, thinly overlaid with reddish scales and with first,
fourth, sixth, and seventh joints banded with yellow. Posterior tibiae
light yellow, strongly tufted with black at spurs ; first joint of posterior
tarsus reddish yellow, tufted at tip with stiff, black scales; the other tarsal
joints light yellow. Male genitalia typical of the genus ; ventral plate
proportionally slightly broader than in the allied species ; terminal edge
of harpe slightly rounded, nearly perpendicular to the parallel costal and
sacculus edges.
Female. — With the yellow scaling of the male on thorax, abdomen,
and especially on the legs largely supplanted by bright purplish red, with
the exception of the abdominal bands, which are yellow as in the male.
Expanse: Male 13 to 14 mm., female 17 to 18 mm.
Distribution. — Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming.
Food plant. — Sidalcea nervata.
Type.—\].S.'N.M. No. 56855.
Remarks. — Described from male type, female, allotype, 5 male and 4
female paratypes from Pullman, Wash., and reared by J. F. Gates Clarke ;
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERITDAE 197
1 male and 4 female reared paratypes from Bakersville, Oreg. (Engel-
hardt).
ZENODOXUS HEUCHERAE Hy. Edwards
Zenodoxus heucherae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 205, 1881. — Beutf.nmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892; vol. 8, p. 148, 1896.— Mc-
DuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and of the Uniled States
of America, pt. 2, No. 8784, 1939.
Zenodoxus potentillae Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 205, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. vol. 4, p. 175, 1892; vol. 8, p. 148, 1896.
Paranthrene heucherae Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 315, pi. 2,2, fig. 14, 1901.
Labial palpus yellow, with tentiinal joint mottled with black; head
and thorax golden brown ; collar pale yellow ; abdomen with second and
last four joints broadly pale yellow and the intermediate joints mottled
with yellow scales. Forewing golden bronze, blackish at base. Hind-
wing opaque, bronzy brown ; underside golden yellow. Legs black with
yellow bands.
Expanse: 18 to 24 mm.
Distribution. — Lake Tahoe, Calif. Moths frequent flowers of Heii-
cliera ruhesccns.
Type.- — Known only from the types and paratypes of Z. heucherae and
Z. potentiUac. 2 males and 3 females, in the American Museum of Natural
History.
ZENODOXUS PALMII (Neumoeeen)
Plate 12, Figures 57, 57a; Plate 16, Figure 87
Larutida pabnii Neumoegen, Ent. News, vol. 2, p. 108, 1891.
Zenodoxus palmii Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 148, 1896.
Paranthrene palmii Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 316,
pl. 32, fig. 15, 1901.
Paranthrene paliiiiana Dalla Torre, Lepidopterorum catalogus, j)t. 31, Aegeriidae,
p. 160, 1925.
Zenodoxus palmi McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and of
the Uniled States of America, pt. 2, No. 8785, 1939.
Male. — Antennae slightly pectinate. Palpi light red. Head black,
collar yellow. Thorax black, overcast with red. Abdomen yellow, with
first and fourth segments black^ and anal ttift red ; venter of abdomen
yellow, dusted with red. Legs brownish red ; fringes black. Forewing
slender, of a reddish tinge overcast with black, especially along costa, apical
space and exterior margin. Hindwing about one-third broader than fore-
wing, bright red ; basal half hyaline ; black shades at apex, exterior margin
and anal angle. Underside of forewing black, shading into red at base,
costa and exterior margin ; of hindwing red, hyaline basally, nervures and
fringes black.
* It is evident from the type specimen.s that Neumoegen had these two color words trans-
posed in his manuscript.
198 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Female. — Antennae slender, simple; much larger than the male and
wings not so disproportionate in width. Forewing and hindwing both
bright red ; costa and exterior margins conspicuously black, with black
areas at apex and anal angle of hindwing; underside of forewing with a
large part of inner space black ; costa and margins bright red ; underside of
hindwing with black nervures.
Alar expanse : Male 25 mm., female 27 mm.
Distribution. — South Arizona.
Type. — Male. In the United States National Museum, together with
large series of both sexes reared from rootstocks of Sphaeralcea ambigita
at Zion City, Utah (J. F. Gates Clarke), and Superior, Ariz. (G. P. Engel-
hardt).
ZENODOXUS PALMII SPHAERALCEAE, new race
Plate 32, Figure 184
Very similar in size and coloration to typical Zenodoxus palmii but with
the red coloration of the wings largely supplanted by yellow and with
the blackish parts less conspicuous.
Distribution. — Eastern Washington. Reared from rootstalks of Sphae-
ralcea iininroana (J, F. Gates Clarke, Aug. and Sept.).
Type.— U.S.N. M. No. 56856. From Snake River, Whitman County,
Wash., opposite Clarkson.
Remarks. — Described from male type, allotype, and male paratype from
the type locality ; 4 male and 2 female paratypes from Pullman, Wash. ; 2
male and 1 female paratypes from Hooper, Wash. ; and 2 male and 1
female paratypes from Boardman, on the Columbia River, Wash.
ZENODOXUS PALMII INCANAE, new race t
Plate 32, Figure 185
Male. — Antennae yellowish, with black ciliation. Labial palpi reddish
yellow. Face and head white. Collar yellow. Thorax bluish black, with
posterior tip yellow and with two narrow, longitudinal yellow streaks.
Abdomen light yellow, slightly overlaid with light reddish brown and with
each joint margined posteriorly with a narrow bluish-black line. Fore-
wing light yellow, heavily shaded with black on costal half. Hindwing
translucent, sparsely speckled with black scales ; basal half of dorsal edge
brick red. Legs yellow, with reddish tufts at spurs.
Female. — Like male except thorax heavily overlaid with yellow ; abdo-
men with black transverse lines still narrower and less conspicuous, and
nearly absent in some specimens ; hindwings not translucent, largely brick-
red, except for the blackish costa and a small yellow spot at tornus.
Alar expanse : Male 22 to 25 mm., female 23 to 30 mm.
Type.— U.S. N.M. No. 56857. From Yuma, Ariz.
Food plant. — Sphaeralcea incana. â–
CLEAK-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGEKIIDAE 199
Remarks. — Described from male type, female allotype, 6 male and 13
female paratypes from the type locality (J. L. Lauderdale and G. P.
Engelhardt).
ZENODOXUS CANESCENS CANESCENS Hy. Edwards
Plate 32, Figure 186
Zenodoxus cancscens Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 205, 1881. — Beutenmuller,
Bull Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892; vol. 8, p. 148, 1896.—
McDuNNOUGH, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States
of America, pt. 2, No. 8786, 1939.
Paranthrene canescens Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 316, 1901.
Male. — Antennae whitish, v^ith dark-gray ciliation. Labial palpi white,
sprinkled with black scales. Face white, mixed with black. Crown of
head black. Collar whitish. Thorax black overlaid with long, hairlike,
whitish scales, extending beyond the posterior edge. Abdomen yellowish
gray, slightly sprinkled witli single black scales; anal tuft yellowish gray.
Forewing whitish gray, overlaid with blackish-brown scales, especially
along the costa ; cilia of dark gray, white-tipped scales. Hindwing trans-
lucent, except along costal and anal edges, which are dark gray, as are
the veins and the cilia. Legs pepper-and-salt colored with tufts on pos-
terior tibiae above the spurs light yellow.
Female. — Very different from the male and not hitherto described
Labial palpi white. Head, thorax, and abdomen pepper-and-salt colored
wuth a very slight sprinkling of small reddish scales. Forewing blackish
brown, sprinkled with white scales ; a small, nearly triangular area from
end of cell to termen white, faintly tinged with rose ; cilia dark brown,
tipped with white. Hindwing vivid brick red with dark brown, white-
tipped cilia. Posterior tibiae and tarsi tinged with red.
Alar expanse : Male 20 to 25 mm., female 17 to 21 mm.
Distribution. — Turkey Creek Canyon, Platte Canyon, Chimney Gulch,
Colo. (Oslar) ; Buffalo Valley County, S. Dak. (W. H. Ouer) ; Snowden.
Mont. (C. N. Ainsley) ; Kansas; Wyoming. September.
Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History.
Remarks. — The relatively smaller size of the female in this and the
following three races and species is very exceptional in the family.
ZENODOXUS CANESCENS SIDAE, new race
Male. — Labial palpi white sprinkled with black. Forewing darker than
in typical canescens with the whitish, triangular area obscured with black
scaling. Hindwing darker, deeper red ; cilia black, white-tipped ; anal
cilia white.
Alar expanse: Male 18 to 23 mm., female 17 to 20 mm.
Foot plant. — Sida hederacea (alkali-mallow).
Type.— U.S. '^.M. No. 56858. From Blythe, Riverside County, Calif.
(C. Dammers).
200 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Remarks. — Described from holotype male, allotype female, and a series
of 35 male and 5 female paratypes, in United States National Museum,
reared by Commander Dammers from the rootstocks of Sida hederacea.
ZENODOXUS CANESCENS BEXARI, new race
Male. — Antennae whitish, with ciliation nearly black. Labial palpi
whitish sprinkled with black. Head, thorax, and abdomen blackish brown,
sprinkled sparsely with red scales. Anal tuft reddish. Forewing blackish
brown with a purple sheen, slightly lighter before apex. Hindwing
translucent on cell ; costa and apical and terminal borders broad, dark
brown ; anal edge brick red and veins touched with red ; cilia dark brown,
tipped with white. Legs brown mixed with red.
Female. — Like male except the hindwings not translucent but brick
red, slightly dusted with black and the cilia blackish brown tipped
with red.
Alar expanse: Male 17 to 20 mm., female 14 mm.
Distribution. — Bexar County and San Antonio, Tex., (H. B. Parks,
collector).
Type.—U^Xt. U.S.N.M. No. 56859. From Bexar County, Tex. De-
scribed from one female and two males in imperfect condition.
ZENODOXUS RUBENS, new species
Plate 32, Figure 187 *
Male. — Antennae yellowish, with black annulations; ciliation and
underside black. Labial palpi yellowish red, mottled with black. Face
and head blackish brown, mottled with red. Collar red. Thorax black-
ish brown, with the long overlaid hair scales red. Abdomen reddish,
mixed with black ; and with narrow black annulations ; anal tuft red.
Forewing blackish brown sparsely sprinkled with yellow and red scales
and with a triangular area along termen whitish strongly overlaid with
red. Hindwing vivid dark brick red with the edges broadly blackish
brown. Cilia dark brown tipped with white.
Female. — Like the male, except that the red hindwings are not bordered
with blackish brown along the edges.
Alar expanse: Male 18 to 20 mm., female 14 to 19 mm.
Distribution. — Davis Mountains, Jeff Davis County, Tex. (O. C. Pol-
ing) ; Globe, Ariz. (Parker).
Tj/>^.— U.S.N.M. No. 56860.
Remarks. — Described from male holotype, female allotype, 4 male and
3 female paratypes from Davis Mountains, and one male paratype from
Globe, Ariz. The only known species with red hindwings in both sexes.
ZENODOXUS MEXICANUS Beutenmailer
Zenodoxus mexicamis Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 9, p. 216,
1897.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 201
Paranthrene mexicanus Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6,
p. 316, pi. 32, fig. 12, 1901.
"Male. — Head black; palpus and collar white. Thorax black; patagia
tipped with white. Abdomen black with a white band on the second
and the last four segments. Anal tuft black. Legs black with white
bands. Forewings brown-black, white between the veins on the outer
part. Hindwings black. Underside of all wings same as upper."
(Beutenmiiller.)
Expanse : 12 mm.
Distribution. — New Mexico.
Type. — In the American Museum of Natural History. The species
is known only from the unique type specimen.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES
Plate 1
Wing Venation
1. Sannina uroceriformis Walker. Genotype.
la. Schematic cross section of the edges of the fore- and hindvvings of an aegeriid,
showing the locking device of the wings.
2. Sanninoidea exitiosa exitiosa (Say). Genotype.
3. Penstemonia edwardsii (Beutenmiiller). Genotype.
4. Ramosia bibionipennis (Boisduval). Genotype.
5. Carmenta pyralidiformis (Walker). Genotype.
6. Sylvora acerni (Clemens). Genotype.
7. Conopia myopiformis (Borkhausen). Genotype.
8. Synanthedon vespifortnis (Linnaeus). Genotype.
9. Hymenoclea palini (Beutenmiiller). Genotype.
Plate 2
Wing Venation
10. Alcathoe caudata caudata (Harris). Genotype.
11. Podosesia syringae syringae (Harris). Genotype.
12. Thavmosphecia ctdiciforynis (Linnaeus). Genotype.
13. Vespamima sequoiae (Hy. Edwards). Genotype.
14. Signaphora ruficornis (Hy. Edwards). Genotype.
15. Calasesia coccinea (Beutenmiiller). Genotype.
16. Cissuvora ampelopsis, new species. Genotype.
17. Paranthrene tabaniforniis (Rottemburg). Genotype.
18. Vitacea poUstiformis polistiformis (Harris). Genotype.
19. Ga'ea solituda (Hy. Edwards). Genotype.
20. Albuna pyramidalis (Walker). Genotype.
21. Euhagcna nebraskae nebraska<e Hy. Edwards. Genotype.
Plate 3
Jl'ing Venation and Genitalia
22. Aegeria apiforniis (Clerck). Genotype.
23. Melittia cucurbitae (Harris).
24. Beinbecia hylaeiformis (Laspeyres). Genotype.
25. Zenodoxiis maculipes Grote and Robinson. Genotype.
26. Conopia myopiformis (Borkhausen) : Male genitalia. Genotype.
27. Conopia myopiformis (Borkhausen) : Female genitalia. Genotype.
Plate 4
Male Genitalia
28. Sannina uroceriformis Walker.
28a. Sannina uroceriformis Walker : Aedeagus.
29. Sanninoidea exitiosa exitiosa (Say).
29a. Sanninoidea exitiosa exitiosa (Say) : Aedeagus.
30. Penstemonia edwardsii (Beutenmiiller).
30a. Penstemonia edzvardsii (Beutenmiiller) : Aedeagus.
202
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 20^
Plate 5
Male Genitalia
31. Ramosia bibionipennis (Boisduval).
31a. Ramosia bibionipetmis (Boisduval) : Aedeagus.
32. Carmenta pyralidiformis (Walker).
32a. Carmenta pyralidiformis (Walker) : Aedeagus.
33. Cartncnla prosopis (Hy. Edwards).
33a. Carmenta prosopis (Hy. Edwards) : Aedeagus.
34. Sylvora acerni (Clemens),
Plate 6
Male Genitalia
35. Synanthedon vespiformis (Linnaeus).
35a. Synanthedon vespiformis (Linnaeus) : Aedeagus.
36. Hymenoclea pahiii (Beutenmuller).
36o. Hymenoclea palmi (Beutenmiiller) : Aedeagus.
37. Alcathoe caudata caudata (Harris).
37a. Alcathoe caudata caudata (Harris) : Side view.
Plate 7
Male Genitalia
38. Podosesia syringae syringae (Harris).
38a. Podosesia syringae syringae (Harris) : Aedeagus.
38b. Podosesia syringae syringae (Harris) : Modification of tip of vinculum.
39. Thamnosphecia culiciformis (Linnaeus).
39a. Thamnosphecia culiciformis (Linnaeus) : Aedeagus.
40. Thamnosphecia refulgens refulgens (Hy. Edwards).
40a. Thamnosphecia refulgens refulgens (Hy. Edwards) : Aedeagus.
Plate 8
Male Genitalia
41. Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris).
41a. Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris) : Aedeagus.
42. Thamnosphecia rubrofascia (Hy. Edwards).
42a. Thamnosphecia rubrofascia (Hy. Edwards) : Aedeagus.
43. Thamnosphecia sigmoidea (Beutenmiiller).
43a. Thamnosphecia sigmoidea (Beutenmiiller) : Aedeagus.
Plate 9
Male Genitalia
44. Vespamima sequoia-e (Hy. Edwards).
44a. Vespamima sequoiae (Hy. Edwards) : Aedeagus.
45. Signaphora ruficornis (Hy. Edwards).
45o. Signaphora ruficornis (Hy. Edwards) : Aedeagus.
46. Calasesia coccinea (Beutenmuller).
46a. Calasesia coccinea (Beutenmiiller) : Aedeagus and anellus.
47. Cissuvora ampelop.ns, new species.
47a. Cissuvora ampelopsis, new species : Aedeagus.
204 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Plate 10
Male Genitalia
48. Paranthrene iabaniformis (Rottemburg).
48a. Paranthrene iabaniformis (Rottemburg) : Aedeagus.
49. Vitacea polistiformis poHstiformis (Harris).
49a. Vitacea polistiformis polistiformis (Harris) : Aedeagus.
50. Gaea solituda (Hy. Edwards).
50c. Gaea solituda (Hy. Edwards) : Aedeagus.
Plate 11
Male Geftitalia
51. Albuna pyramidalis (Walker).
51a. Albuna pyramidalis (Walker) : Aedeagus.
52. Euhagena nebraskae nebraskae Hy. Edwards.
52a. Euhagena nebraskae nebraskae Hy. Edwards : Side view.
53. Aegeria apiformis (Clerck).
53a. Aegeria apiformis (Clerck) : Aedeagus.
Plate 12
Male Genitalia
54. Melittia cucurbitae (Harris).
54a. Melittia cucurbitae (Harris) : Aedeagus.
55. Bembecia hylaeiformis (Laspeyres).
55o. Bembecia hylaeiformis (Laspeyres) : Aedeagus.
56. Zenodoxus maculipes Grote and Robinson : Side view.
57. Zenodoxus palmii (Neumoegen).
57a. Zenodoxus palmii (Neumoegen) : Side view.
Plate 13
Female Genitalia
58. Scunnina tiroceriformis Walker.
59. Sanninoidea exitiosa exitiosa (Say).
60. Penstemonia edwardsii (Beutenmiiller).
61. Ramosia bibionipennis (Boisduval).
62. Carmenta pyralidiformis (Walker).
63. Carmenta prosopis (Hy. Edwards).
64. Sylvora acerni (Clemens).
65. Synanthedon vespifortnis (Linnaeus).
Plate 14
Female Genitalia
66. Ilymenoclea palmi (Beutenmiiller).
67. Alcathoe caudata caudata (Harris).
68. Podosesia syringae syringae (Harris).
69. Thamnosphe cia cuticiformis (Linnaeus).
70. Thamnosphecia rubro fascia (Hy. Edwards).
71. Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris).
72. Thamnosphecia refulgens refulgens (Hy. Edwards).
73. Thamnosphecia sigmoidea (Beutenmuller).
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 205
Plate 15
Female Genitalia
74. Vcspainima sequoiae (Hy. Edwards).
75. Signaphora ruficornis (Hy. Edwards).
76. Calascsia coccinea (BeutenmuUer).
77. Cissuvora ampelopsis, new species.
78. Paranihrcne tabaniformis (Rottemburg).
79. Vitacca polistiformis polistiformis (Harris).
80. Albuna pyramidalis (Walker).
Plate 16
Female Genitalia
81. Gaca solituda (Hy. Edwards).
82. Euhagena nehraskae nchraskae Hy. Edwards.
SZ. Aegeria apiformis (Clerck).
84. Melittia cucurbitae (Harris).
85. Bembccia hylaeiformis (Laspejrcs).
86. Zcnodoxus macidipes Grote and Robinson.
87. Zenodo.vus pabnii (Neumoegen).
Plate 17
Sanninoidea exitiosa race graefi (Hy. Edwards).
Penstemonia edzvardsii (BeutenmiJller) : Male.
Penstcmonia edwardsii (Beutenmiiller) : Female.
Pcnstevwnia hennei, new species : Male.
Penstemonia hennei, new species : Female.
Penstemonia clarkei, new species : Male.
Penstemonia clarkei, new species: Female.
Plate 18
95. Penstemonia dammersi, new species : Male.
96. Pensteiiwnia dammersi. new species: Female.
97. Penstemonia brevifolia. new species : Alale.
98. Penstemonia brevifolia, new species : Female.
99. Ramosia chrysidipennis zvallowa, new race : Male.
100. Ramosia chrysidipennis ivallozva, new race : Female.
101. Ramosia mariona (Beutenmiiller) : Male.
102. Ramosia mariona (Beutenmiiller) : Female.
Pl.-vte 19
103. Ramosia ruhricincia (Beutenmiiller) : Female.
104. Ramosia bibionipcnnis (Boisduval) : Male.
105. Ramosia rcsplcndens (Hy. Edwards) : Male.
106. Ramosia res pi end ens (Hy. Edwards) : Female.
107. Ramosia arisonen.ns (Beutenmiiller) : Male.
108. Ramosia rhododendri (Beutenmiiller) : Female.
109. Carmenia pyralidiformis anrantis. new variety : Female.
110. Carmenta anthracipennis (Boisduval) : Female.
111. Carmenta anthracipennis race sanborni Hy. Edwards: Male.
206 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Plate 20
112. Carinenta helenis, new species: Female.
113. Carmenta phoradendri, new species: Male.
114. Carmenta apache, ntvf s^tc\ts: Female.
115. Carmenta qu£rci (Hy. Edwards) : Male.
116. Carmenta querci (Hy. Edwards) : Female.
117. Carmenta torrancin, new sptcits : Female.
118. Canncnia austini, new species: Male.
119. Carmenta giliae (Hy. Edwards) : Male.
120. Carmenta giliae (Hy. Edwards) : Female.
Plate 21
121. Carmenta ithacae (Beutenmuller) : Male.
122. Carmenta ithacae (Beutenmuller) : Female.
123. Carmenta albociliata (Engelhardt) : Male.
124. Carmenta albociliata (Engelhardt) : Female.
125. Carmenta auritincta (Engelhardt) : Male.
126. Carmenta auritincta (Engelhardt) : Female.
127. Carmenta corni (Hy. Edwards) : Male.
128. Carmenta corni (Hy. Edwards) : Female.
Plate 22
129. Carmenta ogalala, new species : Male.
130. Carmenta suffusata, new species : Male.
131. Carmenta verecunda (Hy. Edwards) : Male.
132. Carmenta verecunda (Hy. Edwards) : Female.
133. Sylvora acerni buscki, new race : Female.
134. Sylvora acerni tepperi (Hy. Edwards) : Female.
135. Conopia richardsi, new species: Female.
136. Synanthedon decipiens decipiens (Hy. Edwards) : Male.
137. Synanthedon decipiens decipiens (Hy. Edwards) : Female.
Plate 23
138. Synanthedon pictipes (Grote and Robinson) : Male.
139. Synanthedon pictipes (Grote and Robinson) : Female.
140. Synanthedon castaneae (Busck) : Male. ^[Specific name mis-
141. Synanthedon castaneae (Busck): Female. \ spelled on plate.]
142. Synanthedon viburni Engelhardt : Female.
143. Hymenoclea palmi (Beutenmuller) : Male.
144. Hymenoclea palmi (Beutenmiiller) : Female.
Plate 24
145. Alcathoc caudala annettella, new race: Female.
146. Alcathoe pepsioides Engelhardt : Male.
147. Alcathoe pepsioides afra Engelhardt : Male.
148. Alcathoe pepsioides ferrugata, new race: Female.
Plate 25
149. Alcathoe autumnalis, new species : Male.
150. Alcathoe verrugo verrugo (Drnce) : Male.
151. Alcathoe verrugo cor vinus, new ^j^.T\e\y: Male.
152. Thamnosphecia scilula scitida (Harris) : Female.
153. Thamnosphecia scitula corns ca (Hy. Edwards) : Male.
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 207
Plate 26
154. Thamnosphecia pyri (Harris) : Female.
155. Thamnosphecia rxibrofascia (Hj'. Edwards) : Male.
156. Thamnosphecia rnbrofascia (Hy. Edwards) : Female.
157. Thamnosphecia alleri, new species: Male.
158. Cissuvora ampehpsis, new species : Female.
159. Paranthrenc tricincta oslari, new form : Male.
160. Paranthrenc dollii fasciventris,nfw iorm: Female.
Plate 27
161. Paranthrenc rohiniae perliicida (Busck) : Male.
162. Paranthrenc rohiniae palescens, new form : Male.
163. Paranthrenc simnlans simulans (Grote) : Male.
164. Paranthrenc simulans higgcri (Hy. Edwards) : Male.
165. Paranthrenc palmii (Hy. Edwards) : Female.
Plate 28
166. Paranthrenc fenestrafa Barnes and Lindsey : Female.
167. Vitacea polistiformis huron, new form : Male.
168. Gaca emphytiformis (Walker) : Female.
Plate 29
169. Euhagena ncbraskae nebraskac Hy. Edwards: Male.
170. Euhagena ncbraskae nebraskac Hy. Edwards : Female.
171. Euhagena ncbraskae mormoni, new form: Male.
172. Euhagena ncbraskae intensa, new iorm: Female.
173. Euhagena hirsuta, new species: Male.
Plate 30
174. Aegcria tibialis 7iiclanoformis, new variety : Male.
175. Aegcria tibialis pacifica (Hy. Edwards) : Male.
176. Aegcria tibialis pacifica (Hy. Edv/ards) : Female.
Pl.\te 31
177. Melittia grandis herinosa, new variety: Female.
178. Mclittia gloriosa Hy. Edwards: Male.
1 79. Mclittia gloriosa Hy. Edwards : Female.
Pl.\te 32
180. Zenodoxus maculipes Grote and Roh'mson: Female.
181. Zenodoxus wissadulae, new species: Male.
182. Zenodoxus sidalceac. new species: Male.
183. Zenodoxus sidalceac, new species: Female.
184. Zenodoxus palmii sphaeralceae, new race: Male.
185. Zenodoxus palmii incanac. new race: Female.
186. Zenodoxus canescens canescetts Hy. Edwards : Female.
187. Zenodoxus rubens, new species : Male.
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
IllliO^
BULLETIN leo PLATE 1
^ORE WING
DOWNWARD FOLD
UPWARD FOLD. INCLUDING VEINS 7&6
2 3
lo.
SCHEMATIC CROSS SECTION OF THE EDGES
OF FORE AND HIND WINGS OF AN AEGERIID,
SHOWING THE LOCKING DEVISE OF THE WINGS
2. SANNINOIDEA
6.SYLV0RA
5YNANTHED0N 9 HYMENOCLEA
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegermdae: Wing Venation
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 2
20. ALBUNA ^-~-^n.__,-^ 21. EUHAGENA
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Wing Venation
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEU
22.AEGERIA
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 3
24.BEMBECiA
ANUS
PENIS
ANNELLUS
VINCULUM
26.C0N0PIA
UNCUS
OVIPOSITOR
POSTERIOR APOPHYSIS
OSTIUM
DUCTUS BULLAE
DUCTUS BURSAE
ANTERIOR APOPHYSIS
AE0EAGU5
US RIDGE CUCULLUS
HARPE
27. CONOPIA
CLEA^-WINC MOTHS OP FaMILV AeCERMO^E: WiNO VeNATION ANO GENITALIA
ISEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 4
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Male Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 5
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Male Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Male Genitalia
(see explanation of plates)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 7
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Male Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 8
"^'^^
CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE: MALE GENITALIA
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE
44. VE5PAMINA SEQUOIAE
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Male Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE lO
3 G^EA SOLITUDA
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Male Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 11
51. ALBUNA PYRAMIDALIS
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Male Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 1 90 PLATE 12
57. ZENODOXUS PALMII
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Male Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 13
63,CARMENTA
62.CARMENTA PYRALIDIFDRMIS PR0S0PI5
65.SYNANTHEDON
VESPIFORMIS
64.SYLV0RA ACERNI
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Female Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES*
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 14
70.THAMN05PHECIA _ -ruAMMo<;DurriA 9irMOinFA
RUBROFASCIA 73 THAMN05PHECIA SIGMOIDEA
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Female Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 15
/t
75.SIGNAPHORA
RUnCORNIS
77CISSUVORA 78 PARANTHRENE 79VITACEA 80ALBUNA
AMPELOPSIS TABANIFORMIS POLI5TIFORMI5 PYRAMIDALIS
Clear-Wing Moths of Genus Aegeriidae: Female Genitalia
isee explanation of plates)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 16
ai.GAEA
50LITUDA
84MELITTIACUCURBITAE 87 ZENODOXUS PALMK
Clear-Wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae: Female Genitalia
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 17
88. graefi %
(9 . edwards it c?
90 â– edwa rds ii ?
91 . hennei <^
92 . hennei 9
u
93. clarkei <? 94. clarkei 9
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 18
9 5 . dammersi c?
96 , damme rs i ?
97 , brevi fo 1 ia (f
98 . brevi folia ?
99 . wa/ Iowa <?
100 . vail owa ?
101. mariona d" 102. mariona ?
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
ISEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 19
103. rubr icincta ?
105. resplendens <^
104. bibion i penn i s 9
106. resplendens ?
110. anthracipennis % HI. aanborni d*
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 20
117. torrancia 9-
118 . auBt in i d*
119 . gi liae (t
120. giliae ?
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 21
121 . i thacae <f
122. ithacae $
1 23 . alboct liata d'
124 , albociliata^
125. aur it incta cT
126. auritincta $
127. corni d"
128. corni ?
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 22
A
1 29 . ogal a la d"
130. su f fusata c?
iJ2. verecunda ^
131, verecunda <^
133. buscki ?
1 34 . tepperi $
135 . r ichardsi 9-
136. dec ipi ens ^ 137. decipiens ^
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE explanation OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 23
138 . pict ipes d"
140. CBS taneneae (f
141 . castaneneae ?
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 24
147. at ra o*
148. ferrugata^
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 25
149 . autumnalis^
1 50 . ve r rugo d'
151. corv inus <?
152. scitula %
153. CO rusca <?
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(see explanation of plates)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 26
160. fasciventris ?
1 59 . OS lar i <^
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 27
163. s i mu lans ^
164. luggeri <?
165 . P, pa Imii %
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES 1
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 2£
166 . fenestrata ?
16 7 . huron <f
-V. /-
16 8. emphytiformis ?
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 29
169. nebraskae o*
170 . nebraskae ?
17 3. hirsuta J*
171. mo rmon i <?
172. jntensa ?
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 30
17 4. me I ano fo rmi s <f
175 , pac i fi ca cf
I
176 . pac i f i ca $
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
iULLETIN I90 PLATE 31
179 . gloriosa ?
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
U. S, NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 190 PLATE 32
V.
180. maculipes ?
181 . w i ssadu lae tf
182 . seda Iceae «#"
18 3. seda 1 ceae ?
/ t3 \
184. sphaeralcea e^
185 . incana ?
I (
187 . rubens (P
186. canescens ?
Clear-wing Moths of Family Aegeriidae
(SEE EXPLANATION OF PLATES)
INDEX TO GENERA, SPECIES, AND LOWER
CATEGORIES
(This index includes all the genera, species, and lower categories treated in this
paper or discussed in the text. Valid names are in roman and synonyms are in italics.)
acericolum (Germadius), 78.
acerni (Clemens), 78.
acerrubri (Engelhardt), 85.
achillae (Hy. Edwards), 22.
admiranda (Hy. Edwards), 157.
AEGERIA Fabricius, 3, 5, 173.
apifortnis (Clerck), 173.
calif ornicum (Neumoegen), 179.
crahroniformis (Denis and Schiffer-
miiller), 173.
fiavitibia (Walker), 176.
minimum (Neumoegen), 179.
tibialis (Harris), 175.
tibialis anonyma Strand, 179.
tibialis dyari Cockcrell, 179.
tibialis melanoformis, new variety,
178.
tibialis pacifica (Hy. Edwards), 179.
aemula (Hy. Edwards), 114.
albicoma Hulst (var. of marginata (Harris)),
194.
albicornis (Hy. Edwards), 82.
albociliata (Engelhardt), 69.
ALBUNA Hy. Edwards, 162.
fraxini (Hy. Edwards), 167.
fraxini vitriosa, new male form, 169.
hylotomiformis (Walker), 162.
morrisoni (Hy. Edwards), 162, 167.
nomadaepennis (Boisduval). 162.
pyramidalis (Walker), 162.
pyramidalis beutenmiilleri Skinner,
167.
pyramidalis coloradensis Hy. Ed-
wards, 164.
pyramidalis montana Hy. Edwards,
165.
pyramidalis rubescens (Hulst), 165.
tanaceti Hy. Edwards, 165.
torva Hy. Edwards, 164.
Vancouver ejisis Hy. Edwards, 162.
ALCATHOE Hy. Edwards, 2, 3, 100.
autumnalis, new species, 105.
carolinensis Engelhardt, 106.
caudata (Harris), 100, 102.
caudata annettella, new race, 103.
caudata walkeri Neumoegen, 103.
korites (Druce), 106, 107.
pepsioides Engelhardt, 103.
pepsioides atra Engelhardt, 104.
pepsioides ferrugata, new race, 105.
verrugo (Druce), 107.
verrugo corvinus, new variety, 107.
alleri, new species, 124.
americana (Beutenmiiller), 112.
aiiioena Hy. Edwards, 183.
ampelopsis, new species, 134.
animosa (Hy. Edwards) (var. of i>olygoni (Hy.
Edwards)), 23.
annettella, new race (race of caudata (Harris)),
103.
anonyma Strand (var. of tibialis (Harris)),
179.
anthracipennis (Boisduval), 47.
apache, new species, 54.
apiformis (Clerck), 173.
arctica (Beutenmiiller), 126.
arizonae (Beutenmiiller), 40.
arizonensis (Beutenmiiller), 39.
arteinisiae (Hy. Edwards), 37.
asiliformis (Hy. Edwards), 125.
asiliformis (Schiffermiiller), 136.
asilipennis (Boisduval), 148.
atra Engelhardt (var. of pepsioides Engelhardt),
104.
aurantis, new variety (var. of pyralidiformis
(Walker)), 47.
aureola (Hy. Edwards), 33.
aurcopurpurea (Hy. Edwards), 68.
auritincta (Engelhardt), 70.
austini, new species, 57.
autumnalis, new species, 105.
barnesi Dalla Torre and Strand, 189.
barnesii BeutenmuUer (race of exitiosa (Say)),
12.
bassiformis (Walker), 62.
beckeri Druce, 184.
behrensii (Hy. Edwards), 25.
BEMBECIA Hiibner, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 191.
fiavipes (Hulst), 192.
hylaeiformis (Laspeyres), 191.
margvnata (Harris), 192.
marginata albicoma Hulst, 194.
odyneripennis (Walker), 192.
plcciaeformis (Walker), 192.
ritbi (Riley), 192.
beutenmiilleri Skinner (race of pyramidalis
(Walker)), 167.
bexari, new race (race of canescens Hy. Ed-
wards), 200.
bibionipennis (Boisduval), 22, 33.
bibionipennis (McDunnough), 29.
bolli (Hy. Edwards) (form of bassiformis
(Walker)), 65.
bolteri (Hy. Edwards), 84.
bombyciformis (Walker), 148.
bombyliformis (Cramer), 181.
brevifolia, new species, 21.
209
210
BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
brunneit'ennis (Hy. Edwards), 43.
brunneri (Busck), 129.
buscki, new race (race of acerni (Clemens)), 79.
CALASESIA Beutenmiiller, 1, 5, 133.
coccinea (Beutenmiiller), 133.
californicum (Neumoegen), 179.
candescens (Hy. Edwards), 76.
canescens Hy. Edwards, 199.
CARMENTA Hy. Edwards, 45.
albociliata (Engelhardt), 69.
anthracipennis (Boisduval), 47.
anthracipennis sanborni Hy. Ed-
wards, 48.
apache, new species, 54.
aureopurpurea (Hy. Edwards), 68.
auritincta (Engelhardt), 70.
austini, new species, 57.
bassiformis (Walker), 62.
bassiformis bolli (Hy. Edwards), 65.
candescens (Hy. Edwards), 76.
comes (Heinrich), 55.
consimilis (Hy. Edwards), 62.
corni (Hy. Edwards), 71.
corusca (Hy. Edwards), 62.
deceptiva (Beutenmiiller), 60.
eupatori (Hy. Edwards), 62.
fiorissantella (C^kerell), 74.
giliae (Hy. Edwards), 58.
giliae vitrina (Neumoegen), 60.
giliae woodgatei, new race, 61.
helenis, new species, 50.
imitata (Hy. Edwards), 62.
infirma (Hy. Edwards), 71.
ithacae (Beutenmiiller), 67.
lustrans (Grote), 62.
morula (Hy. Edwards), 49.
nigella (Hulst), 45.
nigra Beutenmiiller, 74.
ogalala, new species, 73.
phoradendri, new species, 51.
prosopis (Hy. Edwards), 76.
pyralidiformis (Walker), 45.
pyralidiformis aurantis, new variety,
47.
querci (Hy. Edwards), 55.
sexfasciata (Hy. Edwards), 62.
suffusata, new species, 74.
tecta (Hy. Edwards), 52.
texana (Hy. Edwards), 65.
torrancia, new species, 56.
verecunda (Hy. Edwards), 74.
wittfeldii (Hy. Edwards), 66.
carolinensis Engelhardt, 106.
castanea (Beutenmiiller) (form of dollii (Neu-
moegen)), 142.
castaneae (Busck), 95.
caudata (Harris), 100, 102.
ceto (Westwood), 182.
chatnpioni (Druce), 149.
chrysidipennis (Boisduval), 29.
CISSUVORA, new genus, 5, 134.
ampelopsis, new species, 134.
clarkei, new species, 18.
coccinea (BeutenmuUer), 133.
coloradensis (Beutenmiiller), 170.
coloradensis Hy. Edwards (var. of pyramidalis
(Walker)), 164.
comes (Heinrich), 55.
CONOPIA Hiibner, 2, 81.
acerrubri (Engelhardt), 85.
albicornis (Hy. Edwards), 82.
bolteri (Hy. Edwards), 84.
corni (Hy. Edwards), 85.
modesta (Kellicott), 83.
myopiformis (Borkhausen), 81.
proxima (Hy. Edwards), 83.
richardsi, new species, 87.
consimilis (Hy. Edwards), 62.
corni (Hy. Edwards), 71.
corni (Hy. Edwards), 85.
corusca (Hy. Edwards), 62.
corusca (Hy. Edwards) (race of scitula (Har-
ris)), 116.
corvinus, new variety (var. of verrugo
(Druce)), 107.
crabroniformis (Denis and Schiffermiiller), 173.
cucurbitae (Harris), 182.
culiciformis (Linnaeus), 111, 112.
cupressi (Hy. Edwards), 155.
dammersi, new species, 19.
deceptiva (Beutenmiiller), 60.
decipiens (Hy. Edwards), 90.
denotata (Hy. Edwards) (form of tricincta
(Harris)), 139.
denudatum (Harris), 148.
denudatum (Osborn), 109.
dollii (Neumoegen), 140.
dyari Cockerell (var. of tibialis (Harris)), 179.
edwardsii (Beutenmiiller), 14.
edwardsii BeutenmuUer (form of exitiosa
(Say)), 12.
elda (Hy. Edwards), 25.
emphytiformis (Walker), 160.
eremocarpi (Hy. Edwards), 22.
EUHAGENA Hy. Edwards, 1, 169.
coloradensis (Beutenmiiller), 170.
hirsuta, new species, 172.
nebraskae Hy. Edwards, 169, 170.
nebraskae intensa, new form, 172.
nebraskae mormoni, new form, 171.
eupatori (Hy. Edwards), 62.
exitiosa (Say), 9, 10.
fasciventris, new form (form of dollii (Neu-
moegen)), 142.
fenestrata Barnes and Lindsey, 151.
ferrugata, new race (race of pepsioides Engel-
hardt), 105.
fitchii (Hy. Edwards) (form of exitiosa (Say)),
11.
fiavipes (Hulst), 192.
flavitibia (Walker), 176.
floridensis (Grote) (var. of sapygaeformis
(Walker)), 89.
fiorissantella (Cockerell), 74.
fragariae (Hy. Edwards), 26.
fraxini (Hy. Edwards), 167.
fraxini (Lugger) (race of syringae (Harris)),
110.
fulvipes (Harris), 113.
GAEA Beutenmiiller, 158.
emphytiformis (Walker), 160.
solituda (Hy. Edwards), 158, 159.
gallivorum (Westwood), 114.
geliformis (Walker), 117.
giliae (Hy. Edwards), 58.
INDEX
211
gloriosa Hy. Edwards, 1S8.
graefi (Hy. Edwards) (race of exitiosa (Say)),
13.
grandis (Strecker), 184.
Crotea Moschler, 108.
Harmonia Hy. Edwards, 162.
helenis, new species, 50.
helianthi (Hy. Edwards) (race of polysjoni (Hy.
Edwards)), 25.
hemizoniae (Hy. Edwards), 33.
hernei, new species, 16.
herishatvii (Hy Edwards), 92.
hermosa, new variety (var. of grandis
(Strecker)), 186.
heucherae Hy. Edwards, 197.
hirsuta, new species, 172.
hospes (Walsh), 114.
huron, new form (form of polistiformis (Har-
ris)), 154.
hylaeiformis (Laspeyres), 191.
hylotamiformis (Walker), 162.
HYMENOCLEA, new genus, 98.
palmi (Beutenmiiller), 98.
hyperici (Hy. Edwards), 43.
imitata (Hy. Edwards), 62.
imperfecta (Hy. Edwards), 90.
impropria (Hy. Edwards), 33.
incanae, new race (race of palmii (Neumoe-
gen)), 198.
infirma (Hy. Edwards), 71.
intensa, new form (form of nebraskae Hy. Ed-
wards), 172.
inusitata (Hy. Edwards), 94.
ithacae (Beutenmiiller), 67.
koebelei (Hy. Edwards), 118.
korites (Druce), 106, 107.
Larunda Hy. Edwards, 158.
lindseyi Barnes and Benjamin (race of gloriosa
Hy. Edwards), 188.
hngipes (Moschler), 108, 109.
luggeri (Hy. Edwards) (form of simulans
(Grote)), 147.
luminosa (Neumoegen) (form of exitiosa
(Say)), 12.
lupini (Hy. Edwards), 33
lustrans (Grote), 62.
maculipes Grote and Robinson, 194, 195.
madariae (Hy. Edwards), 33.
magnifica Beutenmiiller, 191.
marcia (McDunnough), 122.
marginata (Harris), 192.
marica (Beutenmiiller), 122.
mariona (Beutenmiiller), 31.
meadii Hy. Edwards, 26.
melanoformis, new variety (var. of tibialis
(Harris)), 178.
MELITTIA Hiibner, 2, 4, 5, 181.
amoena Hy. Edwards, 183.
beckeri Druce, 184.
bombyliformis (Cramer), 181.
ceto (Westwood), 182.
cucurbitae (Harris), 182.
gloriosa Hy. Edwards, 188.
gloriosa barnesi Dalla Torre and
Strand, 189.
gloriosa lindseyi Barnes and Benja-
min, 188.
MELITTIA grandis (Strecker), 184.
grandis hermosa, new variety, 186.
magnifica Beutenmiiller, 191.
snowii Hy. Edwards, 186.
superba Barnes and Lindsey, 188.
mellinipennis (Beutenmiiller), 35.
mellinipennis (Boisduval), 37.
niexicanus Beutenmiiller, 200.
minimum (Neumoegen), 179.
nUnuta (Hy. Edwards), 132.
modesta (Kellicott), 83.
montana Hy. Edwards (var. of pyramidalis
(Walker)), 165.
mormoni, new form (form of nebraskae Hy. Ed-
wards), 171.
morrisoni (Hy. Edwards), 162, 167.
morula (Hy. Edwards), 49.
myopiformis (Borkhausen), 81.
nebraskae Hy. Edwards, 169, 170.
neglecta (Hy. Edwards), 33.
nicotia>iae (Hy. Edwards), 90.
nigella (Hulst), 45.
nigra Beutenmiiller, 74.
nomadaepennis (Boisduval), 162.
novaroensis (Hy. Edwards), 129.
odyneripennis (Walker), 192.
oestriformis (Esper), 87.
ogalala, new species, 73.
opaiescens (Hy. Edwards), 13.
arthocarpi Hy. Edwards, 26.
oslari, new form (form of tricincta (Harris)),
140.
pacifica (Hy. Edwards) (var. of tibialis (Har-
ris-)), 179.
pacifica (Riley), 13.
palescens, new form (form of robiniae (Hy.
Edwards)), 144.
palmi (Beutenmiiller), 98.
PALMIA Beutenmiiller, 97.
praecedens (Hy. Edwards), 97, 98.
palmiana (Dalla Torre), 197.
palmii (Hy. Edwards), 147.
palmii (Neumoegen), 197.
PARANTHRENE Hiibner, 2, 3, 4, 5, 136.
asilifortnis (Schiffermiiller), 136.
asilipennis (Boisduval), 148.
bombyciformis (Walker), 148.
championi (Druce), 149.
denudatum (Harris), 14S.
dollii (Neumoegen), 140.
dollii ca.'-tanea (Beutenmiiller), 142.
dollii fasciventris, new form, 142.
fenestrata Barnes and Lindsey, 151.
palmii (Hy. Edwards), 147.
robiniae (Hy. Edwards), 142.
robiniae palescens, new form, 144.
robiniae perlucida (Busck), 144.
simulans (Grote), 145.
simulans luggeri (Hy. Edwards),
147.
tabaniformis (Rottemburg), 136.
tricincta (Harris), 137.
tricincta denotata (Hy. Edwards),
139.
tricincta oslari, new form, 140.
vespipenne (Herrich-Schaffer), 148.
Parharmonia Beutenmiiller, 162.
212
BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
PENSTEMONIA, new genus, 1, 14.
brevifolia, new species, 21.
clarkei, new species, 18.
dammersi, new species, 19.
edwardsii (Beiitenmiiller), 14.
hennei, new species, 16.
titahetisis (Beutenmiiller;, 14.
pepsidiformis (Hiibner), 10.
pepsioides Engelhardt, 103.
perlucida (Busck) (form of robiniae (Hy. Ed-
wards)), 144.
perplexa (Hy. Edwards), .S3.
persica (Thoma.s), 10.
persicae (Harris), 10.
Phemonoe Hy. Edwards, 7.
piioradendri, new species, 5 1 .
piceae (Dyar), 129.
pictipes (Grote and Robinson), 94.
pini (Kellicott), 130.
pinoruin (Behrens), 127.
pleciaeformis (Walker), 192.
PODOSESIA Moschler, 2, 3, 108.
dewudatum (Osborn), 109.
longipes (Moschler), 108, 109.
syringae (Harris), 108.
syringae fraxini (Lugger), 110.
polistiformis (Harris), 151, 152.
polygoni (Hy. Edwards), 22.
potentillae Hy. Edwards, 197.
praecedens (Hy. Edwards), 97, 98.
praestans (Hy. Edwards), 28.
prosopis (Hy. Edwards), 76.
proxima (Hy. Edwards), 83.
pyralidiformis (Walker), 45.
pyramidalis (Walker), 162.
pyri (Harris), 118.
querci (Hy. Edwards), 55.
quinquecaudata (Ridings), 8.
RAMOSIA, new genus, 22.
achillae (Hy. Edwards), 22.
arizonae (Beutenmiiller), 40.
arizonensis (Beutenmiiller), 39.
artemisiae (Hy. Edwards), 37.
aureola (Hy, Edwards), 33.
behrensii (Hy. Edwards), 25.
bibionipennis (Boisduval), 22, 33.
bibionipennis (McDunnough), 29.
brunneipennis (Hy. Edwards), 43.
chrysidipennis (Boisduval), 29.
chrysidipennis wallowa, new raci-,
30.
elda (Hy. Edwards), 25.
eremocarpi (Hy. Edwards), 22.
fragariae (Hy. Edwards), 26.
fragariae semipraestans (Cockerell),
26.
hemisoniae (Hy. Edwards), 33.
hyperici (Hy. Edwards), 43.
impropria (Hy. Edwards), 33.
lupini (Hy. Edwards), 33.
madariae (Hy. Edwards), 33.
mariona (Beutenmuller), 31.
meadii (Hy. Edwards), 26.
mellinipennis (Beutenmuller), 3S.
mellinipennis (Boisduval), 37.
neglecta (Hy. Edwards), 33.
orthocarpi (Hy. Edwards), 26.
RAMOSIA perplexa (Hy. Edwards), 33.
polygoni (Hy. Edwards), 22.
polygoni animosa (Hy. Edwards),
23.
polygoni helianthi (Hy. Edwards),
25.
praestans (Hy. Edwards), 28.
resplendens (Hy. Edwards), 35.
rhododendri (Beutenmuller), 42.
rileyana (Hy. Edwards), 43.
rubricincta (Beutenmuller), 32.
rutilans (Hy. Edwards), 33.
senecioides (Hy. Edwards), 37.
tacoma (Beutenmiiller), 29.
tipuliformis (Clerck), 41.
washingtonia (Hy. Edwards), 33.
refulgens (Hy. Edwards), 120.
resplendens (Hy. Edwards), 35.
rhododendri (Beutenmiiller), 42.
richardsi, new species, 87.
rileyana (Hy. Edwards), 43.
robiniae (Hy. Edwards), 142.
rubens, new species, 200.
rubescens (Hulst) (race of pyramidalis
(Walker)), 165.
rubi (Riley), 192.
rubricincta (Beutenmiiller), 32.
rubristigma (Kellicott) (race of decipiens (Hy.
Edwards)), 91.
rubrofascia (Hy. Edwards), 123.
luficornis (Hy. Edwards), 131, 132.
rutilans (Hy. Edwards), 33.
sanborni Hy. Edwards (race of anthracipennis
(Boisduval)), 48.
SANNINA Walker, 2, 7.
quinquecaudata (Ridings), 8.
uroceriformis Walker, 7, 8.
tiroceripennis (Boisduval), 8.
SANNINOIDEA Beutenmiiller, 9.
exitiosa (Say), 9, 10.
exitiosa barnesii Beutenmiiller, 12.
exitio.sa edwardsii Beutenmiiller, 12.
exitiosa fitchii (Hy. Edwards), 11.
exitiosa graefi (Hy. Edwards), 13.
exitiosa luminosa (Neumoegen), 12.
opalescens (Hy. Edwards), 13.
pacifica (Riley), 13.
pepsidiformis (Hiibner), 10.
persica (Thomas), 10.
persicae (Harris), 10.
xiphiaeformis (Boisduval), 10.
sapygaeformis (Walker), 88.
Saunina Boisduval, 7.
saxifragae (Hy. Edwards), 92.
scepsiformis (Hy. Edwards), 156.
^citula (Harris), 114.
Seminole (Neumoegen) (form of polistiformis
(Harris)), 154.
seininole (Beutenmuller) (race of refulgens
(Hy. Edwards)), 121.
semipraestans (Cockerell), 26.
senecioides (Hy. Edwards), 37.
sequoiae (Hy. Edwards), 127.
sexfasciata (Hy. Edwards), 62.
sidae, new race (race of canescens Hy. Ed-
wards), 199.
sidalceae, new species, 196.
INDEX
213
sifimoidea (Beutenmiiller), 125.
SIGNAPHORA, new genus, 1, 4, 5, 131.
miniita (Hy. Edwards), 132.
ruficornis (Hy. Edwards), 131, 132.
simulans (Grote), 145.
snowii Hy. Edwards, 186.
solituda (Hy. Edwards), 158, 159.
Sospita Hy. Edwards, 7.
sphaeralceae, new race (race of palmii (Neu-
moegen)), 118.
Sphecia Hubner, 173.
piibaerea (Hy. Edwards), 123.
suffusata, new species, 74.
superba Barnes and Lindsey, 188.
superba (Hy. Edwards), 127.
SYLVORA, new genus, 1, 17.
acericolum (Germadius), 78.
acerni (Clemens), 78.
acerni buscki, new race, 79.
acerni tepperi (Hy. Edwards), SO.
SYNANTHEDON Hubner, 3, 5, 87.
castaneae (Busck>, 95.
decipiens (Hy. Edwards), 90.
decipiens rubristigma (Kellicott), 91.
henshmvii (Hy. Edwards), 92.
imperfecta (Hy. Edwards), 90.
inusitata (Hy. Edwards), 94.
nicotianae (Hy. Edwards), 90.
oestriformis (Esper), 87.
pictipes (Grote and Robin.son), 94.
sapygaeformis (Walker), 88.
sapygaeformis floridensis (Grote),
89.
saxifragae (Hy. Edwards), 93.
vespiformis (Linnaeus), 87.
viburni Engelhardt, 96.
syringae (Harris), 108.
tabaniformis (Rottemburg), 136.
tacoma (Beutenmiiller), 29.
tanaceti Hy. Edwards, 165.
tecta (Hy. Edwards), 52.
tepperi (Hy. Edwards) (race of aocrni (Clem-
ens)), 80.
texana (Hy. Edwards), 65.
THAMNOSPHECIA Spuler, 111.
aemula (Hy. Edwards), 114.
alleri, new species, 124.
americana (Beutenmiiller), 112.
arctica (Beutenmiiller), 126.
asiliformis (Hy. Edwards), 125.
culiciformis (Linnaeus), 111, 112.
fulvipes (Harris), 113.
galUvoram (Westwood), 114.
geliformis (Walker), 117.
hospes (Walsh), 114.
koebelei (Hy. Edwards), 118.
marcia (McDumiough), 122.
marica (Beutenmiiller), 122.
pyri (Harris), 118.
refulgens (Hy. Edwards), 120.
refulgens seminoIe (Beutenmiiller),
121.
rubrofascia (Hy. Edwards), 123.
scitula (Harris), 114.
THAMNOSPHECL\ scitula corusca (Hy. Ed-
wards), 116.
sigmoidea (Beutenmiiller), 125.
subaerea (Hy. Edwards), 123.
tibialis (Harris), 175.
tipuliformis (Clerck), 41.
torrancia, new species, 56.
torva Hy. Edwards, 164.
tricincta (Harris), 137.
urocertformis Walker, 7, 8.
uroceripennis (Boisduval), 8.
Htahensis (Beutenmiiller), 14.
vanconvercHsis Hy. Edwards, 162.
verecunda (Hy. Edwards), 74.
verrugo (Druce), 107.
VESPAMIMA Beutenmiiller, 127.
brunneri (Busck), 129.
novaroensis (Hy. Edwards), 129.
piceae (Dyar), 129.
pini (Kellicott), 130.
pinorum (Behrens), 127.
sequoiae (Hy. Edwards), 127.
superba (Hy. Edwards), 127.
vcsiiiformis (Linnaeus), 87.
vespipenne (Herrich-Schaffer), 148.
viburni Engelhardt, 96.
VITACEA, new genus, 151.
admiranda (Hy. Edwards), 157.
cupressi (Hy. Edwards), 155.
polistiformis (Harris), 151, 152.
poHstiformis huron, new form, 154.
polistiformis seminole (Neumoegen),
154.
scepsiformis (Hy. Edwards), 156.
vitrina (Neumoegen) (form of giliae (Hy. Ed-
wards)), 60.
vitriosa, new male form (race of fraxini (Hy.
Edwards)), 169.
walkeri Neumoegen (var. of caudata (Harris)),
103.
wallowa, new race (race of chrysiilipennis (Boi.1-
duvan), 30.
laashingtonia (Hy. Edwards), 33.
wissadulae, new species, 195.
zvittfeldii (Hy. Edwards), 66.
woodgatei, new race (race of giliae (Hy. Ed-
wards)), 61.
xiphiaeformis (Boisduval), 10.
ZENODOXUS Grote and Robinson, 1, 5, 194.
canescens Hy. Edwards, 199.
canescens oexari, new race, 200.
canescens sidae, new race, 199.
heucherae Hy. Edwards, 197.
maculipes Grote and Robinson, 194,
195.
mexicanus Beutenmiiller, 200.
pahmana (Dalla Torre), 197.
palmii (Neumoegen), 197.
palmii incanae, new race, 198.
pahnii sphaeralceae, new race, 198.
potent illae Hy. Edwards, 197.
rubens, new species, 200.
sidalceae, new species, 196.
wissadulae, new species, 195.
FOOD-PLANT INDEX
(Scientific plant names in italics} Lepidopterous and common plant names in
roman. )
Acer L.
Conopia acerrubri (Engelhardt), 85.
Sylvora Engelhardt, 77.
Sylvora acerni (Clemens), 78.
Sylvora acerni tepperi (Hy. Edwards), 80.
Acer rubruni L.
Conopia acerrubri (Engelhardt), 85.
Sylvora acerni (Clemens), 78.
Sylvora acerni buscki, new race, 79.
Acer sacchariiium L.
Conopia acerrubri (Engelhardt), 85.
Sylvora acerni (Clemens), 78.
Sylvora acerni buscki, new race, 79.
Alder. (See Alnus.)
Alder, white. (See Alnus rhombi folia.)
Alkali -mallow. (See Sida hederacea.)
.4 1 mis L.
Thamnosphecia americana (Beutenmiiller), 112.
Thamnosphecia culiciformis (Linnaeus), 112.
Alnus rhombifotia Nutt.
Thamnosphecia americana (Beutenmiiller), 112.
Amelanchier Medic.
Thamnosphecia pyri (Harris), 118.
Amelarichier canadensis (L.) Medic.
? Synanthedon pictipes (Grote and Robinson), 94.
Ampelopsis Michx.
Vitacea admiranda (Hy. Edwards) ??, 157.
Ampelopsis {Cissus) incisa Desmoul.
Cissuvora ampelopsis, new species, 134.
Amsinckia Lehm.
Ramosia mariona (Beutenmiiller), 31.
Apple. (See Malus.)
Arrowwood. (See Viburnum, V. dentatum.)
Artemisia L.
Carnienta texana (Hy. Edwards), 65.
Ash. (See Fraxinus.)
Aspen. (See Populus tremtiloides.)
Aster. (See Doellengeiia u»:bellata.)
Australian-pine. (See Casttarina equisetifolia.)
Baccharis L. '
Carmenta phoradendri, new .'pecies, 51.
Balm-of-gilead. (See Populus baisamifera candicans.)
Bayberry. (See Myrica.)
Beefwood. (See Casuarina egtiisetifolia.)
Berchemia scayidens (Hill) Trel.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 116.
Betula L.
Thamnosphecia culiciformis (Linnaeus), 112.
Thamnosphecia scitula .scitula (Harris), 114.
Bigroot. (See Echinocystis fabacea.)
Birch. (See Betula.)
Blackberry. (See Rubus.)
Blazing-star. (See J.acinaria.)
Blueblossom. (See Ceanothus thyrsiflorus.)
Bonset. (See Eupatorium perfoliatum, sessilifolium, albtim.)
Buckthorn. (See Ceanothus.)
Buckwheat. (See Eriogonum.)
Burrobrush. (See Hymenoclea.)
^ C. V. Morton, of the U. S. National Herbarium, kindly checked the spelling of the scientific
botanical names.
215
216 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Carya Nutt.
Thamnosphecia geliformis (Walker), 117.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Carya pecan (Marshall) Engl, and Grebn.
Thamnosphecia geliformis (Walker), 117.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harrii), 114.
Castniica dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.
Paranthrene simulans simulans (Crete), 14x
Synanthedon castaneae (Busck), 95.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Casitarina equisetifolia L.
Thanmosphecia geliformis (Walker), 117.
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus Esch.
Ramosia mellinipennis (Boisduval), ^7.
Chamaenerion angt^stifolium (L. ) Scop.
Albuna pyramidalis (Walker), 162.
Albuna pyramidalis beutenmiilleri Skinner ??, 167.
Albuna pyramidalis montana (Hy. Edwards), 16.S.
Chamaenerion latifolmm (L.) Sweet.
Albuna pyramidalis (Walker), 162.
Albuna ijyramidalis beutenmiilleri Skinner ? ?, 167.
Albuna pyramidalis montana (Hy. Edwards), 165.
Cherry. (See Prunns.)
Cherry, wild. (See Primus serotina.)
Chestnut. (See Castanea dentata.)
CJikniantltns L.
Podosesia syringae fraxini (Lugger), 110.
Podosesia syringae syringae (Harris), 108.
Clematis L.
Alcathoe carolinensis Engelhardt, 106.
Alcathoe caudata annettella, new race, 103.
Alcathoe caudata caudata (Harris), 102.
Alcathoe pepsioides ferrugata, new race, 105.
Clematis ligusticifolia Nutt.
Alcathoe Hy. Edwards, 100.
Alcathoe autumnalis, new species, 105.
Alcathoe verrugo corvinus, new variety, 107.
Clematis virginiana L.
Alcathoe Hy. Edwards, 101.
Cornus florida L.
Thamnosphecia geliformis (Walker), 117.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Cornits sericea L.
Carmenta corni (Hy. Edwards), 71.
Corylus L.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Cottonwood. (See Populus.) •
Cottonwood, black. (See Populus trichocarpa.)
Cottonwood, eastern. (See Popuhis deltoides.)
Crataegus L.
Thamnosphecia pyri (Harris), 118.
Cucurhita L.
Melittia cucurbitae (Harris), 182.
Cucurhita foetidissima H. B. K.
Melittia grandis (Strecker), 184.
Melittia gloricsa lindseyi Barnes and Benjamin, 188.
Melittia snowii Hy. Edwards, 186.
Cticurbita palmata Wats.
Melittia gloriosa lindseyi Barnes and Benjamin, 188.
Currant. (See Ribes.)
Diospyros virginiana L.
Sannina uroceriformis Walker, 8.
Diplacus aurantiacus (Curtis) Jepson.
Pensteinonia dammersi, new species, 19.
Doellingeria umbellata (Mill.) Nees.
Carmenta corni (Hy. Edwards), 71.
Dogwood. (See Cornus.)
INDEX 217
Douglas-fir. (See Pseudotsvga taxifolia.)
Echinocystis fabacea Naud.
Melittia gloriosa lindseyi Barnes and Benjamin, 188.
Erioffonum Michx.
Ramosia polygoni animosa (Hy. Edwards), 23.
Ramosia fragariae (Hy. Edwards), 26.
Eriogonum conipositum Dougl.
Ramosia fragariae (Hy. Edwards), 26.
Ramosia praestans (Hy. Edwards), 2S.
Eriogonum fascicidatiim Benth.
Ramosia polygoni animosa (Hy. Edwards), 23.
Eriogonum wrightii Torr.
Ramosia polygoni animosa (Hy. Edwards), 23.
Eupaforiiim album L.
Carmenta pyralidiformis (Walker), 4.t.
Carmenta pyralidiformis aurantis, new variety, 47.
Eupatorium perfoiiatwu L.
Carmenta pyralidiformis (Walker), 45.
Carmenta pyralidiformis aurantis, new variety, 47.
Eupatoriwn p»rpureiim L.
Carmenta bassiformis (Walker) ? ?, 62.
Eupatorium serotinimi Michx.
Carmenta texana (Hy. Edwards), 65.
Eupatorium sessilifolium L.
Carmenta pyralidiformis (Walker), 45.
Carmenta pyralidiformis aurantis, new variety, 47.
Evening-primrose. (See Oenothera.)
Fireweed. (See Cham<ienerion atigtistifolium.)
Fivefinger. (See Potentilla.)
Flattop. (See Eriogonum fasciculatum.)
Fragaria L.
Ramosia bibionipennis (Boisduval), 33.
Fraxinus L.
Podosesia syringae fraxini (Lugger), 110.
Podosesia syringae syringae (Harris), 108.
Fringetree (See Chionannthus.)
Gaura michauxii Spach.
Gaea emphytiformis (Walker) ??, 160.
Geranium L.
Carmentia giliae (Hy. Edwards), 58.
Ramosia bibionipennis (Boisduval), ii.
Geranium caespitosum James.
Carmenta giliae woodgatei, new race ?, 61.
Ck>oseberry. (See Ribes.)
Gourd. (See Cucurbita.)
Grape. (See Vitis.)
Grape, fox. (See Viiis labrusca.)
Grindclia Willd.
Carmenta texana (Hy. Edwards), 65.
Groundsel. (See Baccharis.)
Gumplant. (See Crindelia.)
Hawthorn. (See Crataegus.)
Hazel, or hazelnut. (See C'orylu.i.)
Hclenium autumnale L.
Carmenta ithacae (Beutenmiiller), 67.
Heliopsis helianthoides (L.).
Carmenta ithacae (Beutenmiiller), 67.
Hickory. (See Carya.)
Hoffmannseggia falcaria Cav.
Calasesia coccinea (Beutenmiiller), 133.
Horsenettle. (See Solanum carolinense.)
Hymenoclea Torr. and Gray.
Hymenoclea palmi (Beutenmiiller), 98.
Ironweed. (See Vernonia noveboracensis.)
Ivy, Boston. (See Parthenocissus.)
Joe-pye-weed. (See Eupatorium purpureum.)
Juneberry. (See Amelanchier.)
218 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Kal>itia latifolia L.
Ramosia rhododendri (Beutenmiiller), 42.
Knot weed. (See Polygonum .«pp.)
Lacinaria Hill = Liatris Schreb.
Carmenta anthracipennis (Boisduval), 47.
Lacinaria punctata (Hook.).
Carmenta anthracipennis sanborni Hy. Edwards, 48.
Lacinaria scariosa (L.) Hill = Liatris scariosa (L.) Willd.
Carmenta anthracipennis sanborni Hy. Edwards, 48.
Lilac. (See Syringa.)
Lithost'ermum niderale Dougl.
Carmenta verecunda (Hy. Edwards), 74.
Mallow. (See Malva.)
Malus Miller.
Thaninosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Thamiiosphecia pyri (Harris), 118.
Malva L.
Zenodoxus Grote and Robinson, 194.
Manroot. (See Echinocystis fabacea.)
Maple. (See Acer.)
Maple, red. (See Acer rubnim.)
Maple, white. (See Acer saccharintim.)
Marine-ivy. (See Ampelopsis (Cissus) iiicisa.)
Melanthera deltoidea Michx.
Carmenta texana (Hy. Edwards), 65.
Melon, coyote. (See Cucurbita palniata.)
Mesquite. (See Prosopis glandtdosa.)
Mistletoe. (See Phoradendron.)
Monkeyflower. (See Diplacus atirantiacus.)
Mountain-ash. (See Svrbus.)
Mountain-laurel. (See Kalmia latifolia.)
Myrica carolinensis Mill.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Nightshade. (See Solanwn carolinense.)
Ninebark. (See Physocarpa.)
Nyssa L.
Thamnosphecia rubrofascia (Hy. Edwards), 123.
Oak. (See Quercus.)
Oak, Arizona white. (See Quercus arizonica.)
Oak, black. (Quercus sp. )2
Paranthrene simulans luggeri (Hy. Edwards), 147.
Oak, blue. (See Quercus oblangifolia.)
Oak, coast live. (See Quercus agri folia.)
Oak, pin. (See Quercus palustris.)
Oak, red. (Quercus sp.)-
Paranthrene simulans luggeri (Hy. Edwards), 147.
Oak, white. (Quercus sp.)^
Paranthrene palmii (Hy. Edwards), 147.
Oenothera L.
Albuna pyramidalis beutenmiilleri Skinner ?, 167.
Oenothera biennis L.
Albuna pyramidalis rubescens (Hulst), 16S.
Oxeye. (See Heliopsis h^lianthoides.)
Parthenocissus qttinquefolia (L.) Planch.
Albuna fraxini (Hy. Edwards), 16".
Albuna fraxini vitriosa, new male form, 169.
Vitacea scepsiformis (Hy. Edwards), 156.
Parthenocissus tricuspidata var. veitchii Rehd. (Bailey, p. 2479).
Vitacea scepsiformis (Hy. Edwards), 156.
Peach. (See Persica.)
Pearly-everlasting. (See Anaphalis margaritacea.)
Pecan. (See Carya pecan.)
2 Mr. Engelhardt did not give the Latin names for these oaks, and as the common names black,
red, and white oaks apply to various species of Quercus, the exact species involved here remain
uncertain. — Ed.
INDEX 219
Penstemon Mitch.
Penstemonia, new genus, 14.
Penstemon antirrhinoides Benth.
Penstemonia sp., 14.
Penstemon breviflorus Lindl.
Penstemonia brevifolia, new species, 21.
Penstemon centranthifolius Benth.
Penstemonia edwardsii (Beutenmiillcr), 14.
Penstemon cordifolius Benth.
Penstemonia dammersi, new species, 19.
Penstemon catonii Gray.
Penstemonia edwardsii (Beutenmiillcr), 14.
Penstemon parryi Gray.
Penstemonia edwardsii (Beutenmiillcr), 14.
Penstemon richardsonii DourI.
Penstemonia clarkei, new species, 18.
Penstemon spectabilis Thurbei.
Penstemonia hennei, new species, 16.
Penstemon sti ictus Benth.
Penstemonia edwardsii (Beuteimiiiller), 14.
Penstemon unilateraJis Rydb.
Penstemonia edwardsii (Beutenmiillcr), 14.
Persica (L.) Batsch.
Sanninoidea exitiosa exitiosa (Say"), 10.
Synanthedon pictipes (Grote and Robinson), 94.
Persimmon. (See Diospyros virginiana.)
Phoradendron flavescens (Pursh. ) Nutt.
Carmenta phoradendri, new species, 51.
Phoradendron oibiculatum Engelm.
Carmenta tecta (Hy. Edwards), 52.
Physocarpa Raf.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Picea abies (L.) Karst.
Vespamima pi'ni (Kellicott), 130.
Picea engelmannii Engelm.
Vespamima novaroensis (Hy. Edwards), 129.
Picea sitchcnsis (Bongard) Carr.
Vespamima novaroensis (Hy. Edwards), 129.
Pine. (See Pinus.)
Pine, lodgepole. (See Pinus contorta.)
Pine, Monterey. (See Pinus radiafa.)
Pine, sugar. (See Pinus lamberfiaita.)
Pine, western yellow. (See Prunus ponderosa.)
I'ine, white. (See Pinus strobus.)
Pinus L.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Pinus contorta Dougl.
Vespamima novaroensis (Hy. Edwards), 129.
Vespamima sequoiae (Hy. Edwards), 127.
Pinus lambertiana Dougl.
Vespamima sequoiae (Hy. Edwards), 127.
Pinus ponderosa Lawson.
Vespamima novaroensis (Hy. Edwards). 129.
Vespamima sequoiae (Hy. Edwards), 127.
Pinus radiatta D. Don.
Vespamima sequoiae (Hy. Edwards'), 127.
Pinus strobus L.
Vespamima pini (Kellicott), 130.
Platanns racemosa Nutt.
Ramosia resplendens (Hy. Edwards), 35.
Plum, wild. (See Prunus americana.)
Polygonum davisiae Brew.
Ramosia chrysidipennis (Boisduval), 29.
Polygonum parcmychia Cham, and ScWechf.
Ramosia polygoni animosa (Hy. Edwards), 23.
Poplar. (See Populus.)
Poplar, balsam. (See Populuj balsamifera.)
220 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Poplar, Carolina. (See Populus canadensis.)
Poplar, silver. (See P'Opuhis alba.)
Populus L.
Aegeria Fabricius, 173.
Aegeria apiformis (Clerck), 173.
Aegeria tibialis (Harris), 175.
Aegeria tibialis melanoformis, new variety, 178.
Aegeria tibialis pacifica (Hy. Edwards), 179.
Paranthrene doUii doUii (Neumoegen), 140.
Paranthrene robiniae palescens, new form, 144.
Paranthrene robiniae robiniae (Hy. Edwards), 142.
Paranthrene tricincta (Harris), 137.
Populus alba L.
Aegeria apiformis (Clerck), 173.
Aegeria tibialis pacifica (Hy. Edwards), 179.
Populus balsamifera L.
Aegeria tibialis (Harris), 175.
Populus balsamifera candicans (Ait.).
Aegeria tibialis (Harris), 175.
Populus canadensis Moench.
Aegeria apiformis (Clerck), 173.
Populus deltoides Marsh.
Aegeria tibialis pacifica (Hy. Edwards), 179.
Populus tretnuloides Michx.
Aegeria tibialis (Harris), 175.
Aegeria tibialis melanoformis, new variety, 1 78.
Paranthrene tricincta (Harris), 137.
Populus trichocarpa Hook.
Aegeria tibialis pacifica (Hy. Edwards), 179.
Paranthrene robiniae perlucida (Busck), 144.
Potentitla L.
Ramosia bibionipennis (Boisduval), 33.
Prosopis glandulosa Torr.
Carmenta prosopis (Hy. Edwards), 76.
Prunus Benjamin and Hooker.
Sanninoidea exitiosa exitiosa (Say), 10.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Prunus americana Marsh.
Synanthedon ptctipes (Grote and Robinson), 94.
Prunus serotina Ehrh.
Synanthedon pictipes (Grote and Robinson), 94.
Pseudotsuga taxifolia (Lamb.) Britt.
Vespamima novaroensis (Hy. Edwards), 129.
Puccoon. (See Lithospermum ruderale.)
Quercus L.
Paranthrene asilipennis (Boisduval), 148.
Paranthrene palmii (Hy. Edwards), 147.
Paranthrene simulans simulans (Grote), 145.
Synanthedon Hiibner, 87.
Synanthedon decipiens decipiens (Hy. Edwards) (galls), 90.
Synanthedon decipiens rubristigma (Kellicotf), 91.
Synanthedon sapygaeformis floridensis (Grote) (galls), 89.
Synanthedon sapygaeformis sapygaeformis (Walker) (galls), 88.
Thamnosphecia geliformis (Walker), 117.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Quercus agrifolia Nee.
Ramosia resplendens (Hy. Edwards), 35.
Quercus arizoitica Sarg.
Carmenta querci (Hy. Edwards), 55.
Qtiercus oblongifolia Torr.
Carmenta querci (Hy. Edwards), 55.
Quercus palustris Muench.
Paranthrene simulans luggeri (Hy. Edwards), 147.
Paranthrene simulans simulans (Grote), 145.
Synanthedon decipiens rubristigma (Kellicott) (galls), 91.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris) (galls), 114,
INDEX 221
Qiiercus velutina Lam.
Synanthedon decipiens rubristigma (Kellicott), 91.
Raspberry. (See Rubus.)
Rattan-vine. (See Berchemia scandens.)
Redwood. (See Sequoia sempervirens.)
Rhododendron L.
Raniosia rhododendri (Beutenmiiller'), 42.
Ribes L.
Ramosia tipuliformis (Clerck), 41.
Rubus I-.
Bembccia Hiibner, 191.
Benibecia marginata (Harris), 192.
Ramosia bibionipennis (Boisduval), ^^.
Ramosia tipuliformis (Clerck), 41.
Salix L.
Aegeria Fabricius, 173.
Aegeria apiformis (Clerck), 173.
Aegeria tibialis pacifica (Hy. Edwards), 179.
Conopia albicornis (Hy. Edwards), 82.
Conopia bolteri (Hy. Edwards), 84.
Conopia proxima (Hy. Edwards), 83.
Paranthrene doUii dollii (Neumoegen), 140.
Paranthrene robiniae robiniae (Hy. Edwards), 142.
Paranthrene tricincta (Harris), 137.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Thamnosphecia sigmoidea (Beutenmiiller), 125.
Salix tristis Ait.
Thamnosphecia sigmoidea (Beutenmiiller), 125.
Scarlet-bugler. (See Penstemon centranthif alius.)
Sequoia sempervirens (Lamb.) Endl.
Vespamima sequoiae (Hy. Edwards) ?, 127.
Sida hederacea (Dougl.) Torr.
Zenodoxus canescens sidae, new race, 199.
Sidaicea nervata A. Nels. = S. oregana (Nutt.) Gray.
Zenodoxus sidalceae, new species, 196.
Sneezeweed. (See Helenium autumnale.)
Solatium carolinense L.
Ramosia rileyana (Hy. Edwards), 43.
Sorbus L.
Thamnosphecia pyri (Harris), 118.
Thamnosphecia scitula scitula (Harris), 114.
Sorbus americana (Marsh.) DC.
Podosesia syringae syringae (Harris) ??, 108.
Sour-gum. (See Nyssa.)
Sphaeralcea ambigua Gray.
Zenodoxus palmii (Neumoegen), 197.
Sphaeralcea incana Torr.
Zenodoxus palmii incanac, new race, 198.
Sphaeralcea munroana (Dougl.) Spach.
Zenodoxus palmii sphaeralcea, new race, 198.
Spruce. (See Picea.)
Spruce, Engelmann. (See Picea engelmannii.)
Spruce, Norway. (See Picea abies.)
Spruce, Sitka. (See Picea sitchensis.)
Squash. (See Cucurbita.)
Sticky-heads. (See Grindelia.)
Strawberry. (See Fragaria.)
.Sycamore. (See Platanus.)
Syringa L.
Podosesia syringae fraxini (Lugger), 110.
Podosesia syringae syringae (Harris), 108.
Vernonia crinita Raf.
Carmehta bassiformis (Walker), 62.
Vernonia noveboracensis VVilld.
Carmenta bassiformis (Walker), 62.
yibttrmim L.
Synanthedon viburni Engelhardt, 96.
222 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Viburnum dentatum L.
Synanthedon viburni Engelhardt, 96.
Virginia -creeper. (See Parthenocissus guinquefolia.)
Virgins-bower. (See Clematis spp.)
Vitis L.
Vitacea, new genus, 151.
Vitacea admiranda (Hy. Edwards) ? ?, 1.57.
Vitacea cupressi (Hy. Edwards), 155.
Vitacea polistiformis polistiformis (Harrisl, 152.
Vitis labnisca L.
Vitacea cupressi (Hy. Edwards), 155.
Vitacea polistiformis politiformis (Harris), 152.
Willow. (See Salix.)
Willow, dwarf prairie. (See Salix tristis.)
Willow, sage. (See Salix tristis.)
Willow-herb. (See Chamaenerion angnstifolium.)
W issadula lozanii Rose = Pseudabutilon losanii (Rose) R. E. Fries.
Zenodoxus wissadulae, new species, 195.
Wormwood. (See Artemisia.)
aXi. S. Government Printing Office : 1946—665217
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