28 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



RAMOSIA PRAESTANS (Hy. Edwards) 



Aegeria praestans Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 98, 1882 ; Ent. Amer., vol. 3, 



p. 224, 1888. 

 Pyrrhotaenia praestans Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 144, 



1896; vol. 9, p. 216, 1897. 

 Sesia praestans Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 306, 



pi. 32, fig. 27 (male), 1901. 

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



the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8745, 1939. 



Male. — Antennae blue-black. Palpi, head, and collar orange, eyes black. 

 Thorax blue-black, patagia broadly striped with orange and thorax be- 

 neath well marked with orange. Abdomen with segments 1, 2, and 3 

 blue-black above and at the sides ; segment 4 wholly red above and at the 

 sides, segment 5 wholly black above and segment 6 black, edged with red 

 posteriorly, segment 7 black and red mixed and segment 8 red ; beneath 

 all segments red, each touched with black centrally, forming, a broken 

 black-and-red chain ; the anal tuft fan-shaped, red in the middle and black 

 at the sides. Posterior tibiae bronzy red, tipped with blue-black at the 

 lower spurs ; tarsi black touched with bronze. Forewing with costa, outer 

 margins, and discal mark black, broadly edged with coppery red inwardly 

 and between the veins ; lower margin bright coppery red ; transparent 

 areas more or less diffused with reddish scales. Hindwing transparent 

 with a narrow border, black touched with red at outer margin, increasingly 

 red at lower margin and quite red toward and at wing base; veins also 

 touched with red. Beneath the wings are shaded heavily, orange rather 

 than red. 



Female. — Similar to the male, but with transparent areas on forewings 

 nearly filled with red and margins of hindwings broadly suffused with red 

 inwardly and at the base. The posterior tibiae are wholly coppery red. 



Expanse : Male 20 to 24 mm., feinale 20 to 26 mm. 



Distribution. — Washington, Oregon, inner mountain regions. 



Type. — Male collected in 1882 in Washington Territory. In the United 

 States National Museum. 



Remarks. — The male type, described by Hy. Edwards in 1882, re- 

 mained the sole known specimen until the species was rediscovered by 

 W. W. Baker and J. Wilcox in 1932. It is a root borer in Eriogonum 

 compositufn, a plant robust in growth and with a tough, fibered root. The 

 larvae live in tortuous channels in the crown roots, ascending into the 

 stalks to pupate late in May or in June without constructing a cocoon. 

 The final exit usually is capped by a silk-lined, short tube made of chips. 

 The moths emerge from the middle of June into July. They are active 

 fliers, not easily netted. A fairly large series of specimens shows little 

 variation, either in color or size. In appearance praestans suggests a 

 larger edition of fragariae. The genitalia are alike. Breeding records are 

 limited so far to Titus and Kima Counties in Washington. This is in- 



