no. i. BOMBYCINE MOTHS OF NORTH AMERICA— PACKARD. 87 



Imago. — d 1 . Head narrower in front than in DirpMa (D. hoegei). Antennas of male the 

 same as in DirpMa (D. hoegei), pointed at the end and pectinated to the tip; the distal pecti- 

 nations being a little shorter, so that the tip is more prolonged, filiform, than in DirpMa. Eyes 

 large, decidedly more prominent and globose than in DirpMa. Palpi very much larger and 

 wider than in DirpMa and extending well beyond the front; third joint distinct. 



Thorax normal, not shaggy, but with a soft, rather short fur-like coat, with no long thick- 

 ened hairs, such as are characteristic of DirpMa (D. hoegei). 



Fore wings very short and broad, costa regularly arched, apex squarish, outer edge much 

 as in D. hoegei, though less oblique. Hind wings large and wide, outer edge full and rounded, 

 extending a little beyond the abdomen. 



Venation: The discal cell is broader and the two discal veins taken together are more 

 oblique than in DirpMa; also vein II^ [ = IIIJ arises nearer the origin of the anterior discal vein, 

 i. e., much nearer the outer end of the discal cell. In the hind wings the outer side of the discal 

 cell is more oblique and the posterior discal vein longer than in DirpMa. 



Abdomen banded as in DirpMa hoegei. 



Markings: The ground color of the fore wings a frosty, tawny hue, with a peculiar, very 

 large brown discal spot, one-half as wide at the wing itself, and broken up by the discal veins 

 and vein IV, which are snow-white. No basal or extradiscal lines in male, but they are present 

 in female. Hind wings ocherous tawny, with a slight dusky discal streak; no discal spots 

 beneath. 



This genus, represented by a single species, is interesting as being a connecting link between 

 the DirpMa group and the Automeris group of genera. At first sight it would be mistaken for 

 an Automeris or ally of that genus, but on closer examination it will be found to be more nearly 

 allied structurally to DirpMa, especially the hoegei section. It is a mistake, however, to refer 

 it to DirpMa, since it decidedly differs, besides the extraordinary style of coloration, in the 

 much larger and longer palpi, the narrower front of the head, and the more elongated tip of the 

 male antennae. It is an intermediate form, very decidedly linking DirpMa with Protautomeris 

 and the Automeris group of generic forms. 



[The following occurs in the MSS. under DirpMa tarquinia:] 



GENERIC CHARACTERS OF LARVA. 



Body long, moderately thick, cylindrical, with long single slender tapering spines, not 

 arising from a definite tubercle; each spine with setas, not irregularly branched as in D. consu- 

 laris Burm. = Coloradia [Eudyaria] venata Butler. Apparently a median hair on top of eighth 

 abdominal segment. Evidently a generalized form, with only a single spine from each tubercle. 

 [From Stoll's figure and description.] 



DIRPHIA TARQUINIA (Cramer). 



Plate LIII, fig. 9; CXII, fig. c. 



Attacus tarquinia Cramer, Papillons Exotiques, I, p. 6, PI. IV, A, 9 , B. C. o* . 

 Dirphia tarquinia [Hubner, Verz. bek. Schmett. (1822?), p. 153]. 

 Dirphia tarquinia Kirby, Syn. Cat. Lep. Het., I [p. 793.] 



LARVA. 



Dirphia tarquinia Stoll, Suppl. to Cramer's Papillons Exotiques (1781), p. 82, PI. XVII, fig. 5. 



Imago. — One o* . Head reddish brown, a little paler, more reddish than the thorax, which 

 is of a rich dark velvety Vandyke or chestnut brown. Antennas pale, palpi dark brown. 



Fore wings pale lilac gray, with a hoary tinge; fawn colored on the costa beyond its base 

 and toward the apex. No lines or markings except a small brown irregular patch near the 

 inner angle of the wing. The very distinctive mark is the discal spot, which is very large, deep 

 vandyke brown, one-half as wide as the entire wing, oval, nearly straight on the outer side and 

 traversed by an obbque white double fine following the discal veins, and by a longitudinal line 

 on vein IV, which divides the line into an anterior and posterior half; the spot is edged with 

 snow-white slightly tinged with pink. 



