CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGEKIIDAE 15 



white beneath ; anal tuft fan-shaped, usually folded, not spread, black 

 aboA'e, beneath claspers and outer edge white. Coxae and femora of front 

 legs white, of middle legs and hindlegs black ; tibiae of hindlegs more white 

 than black on anterior half, on posterior half black between the spurs, 

 which are sordid white ; tarsi black, sparsely mixed with white on first 

 tarsal joint. Forewing opaque, dull black, heavily scaled on margins and 

 veins, less so between the veins, a narrow pale-yellow patch before the 

 obscured discal mark and a few yellow scales between the veins near 

 apex and before the wing base ; on the underside the yellow scaling 

 heavier and the discal mark more distinct. Hindwing heavily shaded and 

 very broadly margined with blackish scales, only the inner half remaining 

 transparent; underside well shaded with yellow. Out of a long series of 

 rearings onlj'^ one dwarfed specimen has the hindwings nearly wholly 

 transparent. 



Female. — Antennae black. Palpus yellow, mixed with black scales on 

 terminal joint. Head black mixed with tawny scales, face and collar 

 yellow. Thorax purplish black, patagia edged with yellow on inner side 

 and metathorax with yellow tufts and scales ; underside yellow before and 

 at the wing base. Abdomen black ; segments 2, 4, and 6 broadly banded 

 with bright yellow above and beneath and segment 5 yellow only beneath. 

 Some examples also with a sprinkling of yellow scales on segments 1, 3, 

 and 5. The anal tuft short, rounded, yellow and black in alternating 

 stripes, the yellow predominating. Legs like those of the male but marked 

 with bright yellow instead of sordid wliite. Wings wholly opaque in a 

 streaked mixture of black and dull orange, the orange shadings mostly 

 between the veins and most pronounced on the upper half of the forewing 

 and before the wing base of the hindwing. On the underside the orange 

 shading much heavier than on the upper side. 



Throughout the range of the species the color is subject to much varia- 

 tion, particularly in the females. Examples from Arizona average darker, 

 more black than orange, while others from Utah are more dull orange 

 than black. This latter variation Beutenmuller described as a distinct 

 species, Sesia utahensis, based on a single female. Long series, including 

 numerous intergradations now available, prove Sesia utahensis to be a 

 synonym of the present species. 



Expanse : Male 18 to 20 mm., female 20 to 25 mm. A series of reared 

 specimens from Arizona contains several males and females measuring 

 only 13 to 15 mm. ; they are dwarfs, not normal. 



Distribution. — Arid canyon and mesa regions of southwestern Colorado 

 and Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. 



Type. — Female. In American Museum of Natural History. 



Remarks. — The t}'pe from Colorado is imperfect, and Beutenmiiller's 

 description and illustration are inaccurate in details. Not attracted to 

 flowers because of an abortive tongue, the species has been collected rarely 



