Vol. XXX] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. IOQ 



A New Skipper from South America 

 (Lepid., Hesperidae). 



By A. W. LJNDSEY, Decatur, Illinois. 



A specimen received from Colombia, South America, in 

 the spring of 1918 has been placed as a new species of Ma- 

 bille's genus Haemactis. Mabille concludes his description 

 with the statement, "Tibias posterieurs nus a une paire d'epe- 

 rons" (hind tibiae bare, with one pair of spurs), but the speci- 

 men at hand bears a short tuft of hair at the distal end of the 

 hind tibiae and a long tuft at their proximal end. Its great 

 similarity to H. sanguinalis, type of Haemactis, in other re- 

 spects has led to *ts being placed with that species, for the 

 secondary sexual characters alone seem insufficient for the 

 establishment of a new genus. 



Haemactis pyrrhosphenus n. sp. (Text-fig.). 



Upper surface of wing? deep brown with the following bright scarlet 

 marks : On the primaries a basal patch and a sub-basal cuneate band 

 extend from the costa almost to the anal vein. These are followed, 

 just before the end of the cell, by a similar pair of cuneate spots ex- 

 tending inward to the middle of the cell. All of these marks are cut 

 by the brown ground color along the veins so that their cuneate shape 

 is only approximate. The four subapical spots so common among the 

 skippers are present, but are outwardly indistinct and merge through 

 a powdery area with the terminal marks. Next to the cell they are 

 ochreous. The outer margin has a rounded-cuneate mark of the same 

 shade of scarlet in each interspace and two between Cu2 and A, which 

 are somewhat longer than the rest. Fringes brown, paler than the 

 ground color. Secondaries similar to primaries but lacking the costal 

 marks. The terminal cuneate marks are about one-quarter as long 

 as the wing and are inwardly more acute than those of the primaries. 



Beneath, the primaries are fuscous brown with the inner margin 

 paler and a short, whitish dash along the base of the cubital stem. 

 Only the apical red mark, part of the middle costal patch, and the pre- 

 apical spots are visible on this surface. The secondaries are fuscous 

 brown between the costa and cell, thence gradually blending into the 

 grayish-luteous inner margin. The veins are marked with the same 

 shade as the costal portion and the outer margin is tinged with scarlet. 

 Fringes of both wings fuscous. 



The body is brown above, palpi brown, and head with a few red 

 scales forming a thin transverse line behind the eyes and a small patch 

 of white scales in front of each eye. Underneath the body and legs 

 are concolorous with the wings and the palpi show a few white scales. 



