256 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxxv. 



PHiEOCYMA BENESIGNATA (Harvey). 



1875. Homoptera benesignata Harvey, Bull. Buff. Soc. Nat. Sci., Ill, p. 14. 



Ground color gray, washed and powdered with brown and black. 

 Head and collar usually darker, ranging from red- to black-brown ; 

 collar with a black transverse line. Thorax more or less gray, with two 

 brown or blackish transverse lines. Abdomen pale yellowish brown, 

 the dorsal tuftings distinct. Primaries with basal space more or less 

 brown; basal line geminate, usually black, always obvious. T. a. line 

 black, sometimes shaded inwardly so as to resemble a band, with an 

 acute outward tooth on the subcostal, and outcurve in the submedian 

 interspace, and an abrupt inward bend below vein 1. Between the 

 t. a. and median lines the median space is conspicuously pale ash-gray, 

 forming the most characteristic feature of the wing. The median 

 shade line is usually double, tending to form a band, the inner portion 

 black, sometimes almost upright, more often a little out-bent on the 

 median, a little incurved in the interspace below it, and a little out- 

 bent below vein 1, so that the gray band is broadest on the inner mar- 

 gin. Beyond this median shade the median space shades off gradually 

 to the t. p. line, which is slender, black, complete, and preceded by 

 gray powderings; opposite the cell it is deeply indented and moder- 

 ately incurved from vein 4; usually a little marked on all the veins. 

 There is no obvious orbicular in any specimen before me. Eeniform 

 narrow, lunate, blackish, outwardly followed by a yellowish brown 

 cloud. S. t. line incurved from costa to vein 4, where it forms an 

 acute outward tooth, then with another incurve to the inner margin, 

 well within anal angle. Usually the line is black or blackish, a little 

 diffuse inwardly, but sometimes it tends to become lost or obscure 

 toward the costa. The s. t. space is mottled with gray and brown, but 

 hardly contrasting. Beyond the s. t. line the terminal area is gray, 

 strigillate with brown, with a brown terminal line and broAvn cuts on 

 the fringes. Secondaries paler, whitish-gray to yellowish-fuscous, the 

 disk crossed by two or three diffuse darker lines which may unite 

 into a dark fascia; beyond the middle a complete brown line, fol- 

 lowed at a little distance by a more distinct black one which is usually 

 lost before it reaches the inner margin. The space between these two 

 lines more or less darkened. Bej^ond the outer black line is a pale 

 edging which sometimes forms a distinct whitish line. The terminal 

 area is sometimes a little lighter, strigillate, and tends to a brown 

 terminal line. Beneath pale, more or less yellowish, powdery, pri- 

 maries with median, t. p. and s. t. lines and a discal lunule more or 

 less obvious; secondaries with extramedian and s. t. lines and a discal 

 lunule. 



Kxpands, 1.40-1.60 inches = 35-40 mm. 



