THE NOCTUOID MOTHS OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 



FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF THE 



ALLAN HANCOCK FOUNDATION 



(Plates 28-31) 

 By A. Glenn Richards, Jr. 



Zoological Laboratory 

 University of Pennsylvania 



INTRODUCTION 



There are only two papers dealing specificly with the moths of the 

 Galapagos Islands. Williams^ covered the butterflies and sphingid moths 

 and incidentally mentioned the presence on these islands of 6 other species. 

 Schaus- published the only paper attempting to cover the moths. He listed 

 61 species, 24 of which were described as new. The above two papers 

 present a listing of 78 species of Lepidoptera, though 6 were identified 

 only to genus. The list given herein, based on material from the Allan 

 Hancock Foundation collections, adds 6 more species. At least 3 addi- 

 tional species are present in the Allan Hancock Foundation material but 

 are not reported on at this time. These make a total of 84 species with at 

 least 3 more yet unrecorded. 



The distribution of these 84 species into families is not without 

 interest : 



Phalaenidae (=Noctuidae) 



Pyralidae 



Sphingidae 



Butterflies (4 families^) 



Geometridae 



Arctiidae 



Miscellaneous "micros" 

 Many of these, at least of the first 4 groups, are strong fliers, fre- 

 quently widely distributed new-world or neotropical species. Somewhat 

 more than half of the total are such neotropical species, 34 species or races 



1 Williams, F. X., The butterflies and hawk moths of the Galapagos Islands, 

 Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 4th sen, vol. 1, pp. 289-322, 1911. (Specimens collected by 

 the California Academy of Sciences Expedition of 1905-1906.) 



2 Schaus, Wm., Galapagos Heterocera with descriptions of new species, Zo- 

 ologica, vol. 5, pp. 23-48, 2 plates, 1923. (Specimens collected by the Williams 

 Galapagos Expedition of the N.Y. Zoological Society, 1923.) 



3 Pieridae, 1 ; Nymphalidae, 3 ; Lycaenidae, 1 ; and Hesperiidae, 1. 



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