218 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. ii4 



tioned by McDiinnough, and he has no doubts that these specimens 

 are Acleris comariana, a species as yet known from the Palearctic 

 region only. It is no wonder that AlcDunnough found the genitalia 

 of this "azalea pest" similar to those figured by Pierce and Metcalfe 

 (1922) as comparana, because these figures represent in fact not 

 comparana but comariana, as Pierce noted in another, more recent 

 paper (Pierce and Metcalfe, 1935). 



Some details on the structure of the genitalia of comariana are not 

 quite clear from the literature, or they have been omitted or explained 

 incorrectly. The gnathos ("anal sheath") of comariana has a weak 

 spiculation which easily can be overlooked in a superficial observation, 

 because the middle keel of the gnathos in this species is flatter and less 

 pointed than in the related latifasciana. This keel is present in both 

 males of comariana from Canada as in the male from England, ex- 

 amined by the present author. Presence of some fine short cornuti 

 has been established in this English specimen and in some other 

 specimens of comariana seen before. These cornuti are of equal length. 

 A single cornutus has been found in a Canadian specimen also. The 

 sacculus of the valva of comariana has an almost rectangular emargina- 

 tion which is broader than that of latijasciana. The lower angle of the 

 sacculus of comariana is rather less pointed. In the female genitalia 

 of this species, the lateral lobes of the sterigma are very typical, being 

 slightly bent inward. The antrum is somewhat shorter than in 

 latijasciana, separated quite indistinctly from the ductus bursae, and 

 not sclerotized at all. 



It is important to mention that in the European literature coma- 

 riana is known as feeding on Comarum palustre and strawberries, 

 but the closely related latijasciana Ha worth {schalleriana auctorum, 

 non Linne) became laiowu as "Azaleenwickler," that is, "azalea leaf 

 roller." This latter species reportedly damages azaleas and roses in 

 greenhouses, and in nature is also injurious to Rhododendron, Vac- 

 cinium, Salix, and some other plants, being rather a general feeder 

 (Pleddergott, 1953, p. 107). This mention of azaleas and Rhodo- 

 dendron as food plants of latijasciana is rather suspicious, especially 

 in connection with the fact that Kaven (1934, p. 124), reporting this 

 species as damaging Rhododendron, named it "der an Erdbeeren 

 vorkommende Wickler," (strawberr}^ leaf roller). Inasmuch as 

 comariana (but not latijasciana) is commonly known as a pest of 

 strawberries, we can suppose an error in the identification of the 

 species attacking azaleas and Rhododendron in Europe. This error 

 seems to be the more possible because the genitalia of comariana and 

 one of the individual forms of latijasciana (aberration comparana) 

 were reversely confused by Pierce and Metcalfe (1922) whose book 

 is the basic work generally used for identification of European tor- 



