PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



by the 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 93 Washington: 1943 No. 3162 



A NEW PEST OF ALBIZZIA IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUM 

 BIA (LEPIDOPTERA : GLYPHIPTERYGIDAE) 



By J. F. Gates Clarke 



During the summer of 1940, L. G. Baumhofer, late associate 

 entomologist, division of forest insect investigations, U. S. Bureau of 

 Entomology and Plant Quarantine, submitted a small series of moths, 

 together with larvae and pupae of a species attacking the ornamental 

 "mimosa" {Albizzia julibrissin Durazzini) in the northwestern part 

 of the District of Columbia. More recent observations have indi- 

 cated an extension in the distribution of the insect northeastward 

 beyond the limits of the District of Columbia imo adjacent Takoma 

 Park and Silver Spring, Md. Both foliage and flowers of the 

 "mimosa" are sometimes severely damaged. 



Although the moth is evidently a glyphipterygid. it could not be 

 identified as any known species of the American fauna or as referable 

 to any American genus. During the midsummer of 1941, I made 

 further collections and field studies, and with the help of August 

 Busck it was possible to trace the species to the Australian genus 

 Homadaula Lower. 1 As there were no examples of the genus in the 

 National collection, a request was sent to Norman B. Tindale, of the 

 South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia, for specimens 

 of the genotype. These were made available through the courtesy 

 of Herbert M. Hale, director of the South Australian Museum. The 

 moths from Albizzia proved to be specifically distinct but obviously 

 congeneric with lasiochroa. They may represent a species described 

 under some other genus in the family Hyponomeutidae (where Mey- 

 rick placed Homadaula), but no description or figure that fits them 

 has been found. The species is obviously an exotic one, probably 



1 The genus Homadaula is generally credited to Meyrielc (1007), but it was first published 

 by Lower (1S99) with lasiochroa Lower as the only includ< <1 species. 



21 r. 



