CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 25 



most suitable for breeding purposes. Between typical polygoni and the 

 extreme color variety animosa there are so many intergradations it is 

 difficult to draw dividing lines. The forewings of both sexes always are 

 opaque. The hindwings of the males are transparent, those of the females 

 opaque, red, broadly margined with black, to wholly black. Tlie abdomen 

 and posterior tibiae range from black and red to all black. 



Breeding records of series with mixed variations are from Laguna 

 Beach, Orange County, Calif., April-May 1936 (Hower) ; Mint Canyon, 

 Los Angeles County, Calif., 3,000 feet, June 26, 1936 (Henne) ; Santa 

 Rita Mountains, Pima County, Ariz., 2,000 feet, March-June 1935 

 (Engelhardt) ; Sierra Ancha Mountains, Gila County, Ariz., 4,000 feet, 

 June 1928. 



Records of captured specimens cover California from San Diego to San 

 Francisco and from sea level to elevations of 8,000 feet. Many of the old 

 records are labeled only California or Arizona. 



RAMOSIA POLYGONI race HELIANTHI (Hy. Edwards) 



Pyrrhotaenia helianthi Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 203, 1881. — Beutenmullek, 

 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 95, 1894; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 

 vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 307, 1901. 



Pyrrhotaenia behrensii Hy. Edw.a.rds, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 123, 1882. — Beutenmullek, 

 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 174, 1892; vol. 5, p. 26, 1893; vol. 8, p. 143, 

 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 307, figs. 1, 2, 1901. 



Pyrrhotaenia elda Hy. Edwards, Ent. Amer., vol. 1, p. 49, 1885. — Beutenmulles, 

 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892. 



Synanthedon helianthi McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and 

 the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8747, 1939. 



Male. — Compared with the male of polygoni the most obvious differ- 

 ences are the red abdominal segments 4, 5, 6, and 7 ; segment 5 is broadly 

 banded with black in typical polygoni. The posterior tibiae are red, barely 

 touched with black at the upper and lower joints. 



Female. — Hindwings opaque, red with narrow, even, black margins, 

 not broad and suffused as in typical polygoni. The abdominal segments 4, 

 5, 6, and 7 are wholly red or slightly shaded with black in the center above 

 and beneath; segments 1, 2, and 3 are black above and beneath and red at 

 the sides. The posterior tibiae are red, black at the upper joints. 



Expanse : Male 20 to 22 mm., female 20 to 24 mm. 



Distribution. — Central and northern California, Oregon. 



Type. — In American Museum of Natural History. 



Remarks. — This race differs from typical polygoni in the banding of the 

 abdominal segments 4, 5, 6, and 7, which are red or only slightly touched 

 with black posteriorly. The hindwings of the females are red, bordered 

 narrowly and evenly with black. A smaJl series of captured specimens, 

 three males and three females, in the United States National Museum, 



