CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 89 



Hindwing pellucid, with a narrow orange costal border, the broad margins 

 violaceous, the fringes dull black. 



Female. — Very similar to the male. Abdomen with only the three last 

 segments red, instead of four as in the male ; anal tuft short and blunt with 

 a central indentation, black. 



Expanse: Male 13 to 20 mm., female 18 to 22 mm. 



Distribution. — Florida. 



Type. — Male. In the British Museum of Natural History. 



Remarks. — Priority in nomenclature dictates the elevation of a color 

 variety to specific rank and reduces the actual species to the status of 

 a variety. Collecting records of sapygaeformis have been few and far 

 apart since its description in 1856. Its food plant and habits remained 

 unknown until extensive rearing experiments with fioridensis proved this 

 to be conspecific and only a color variety of sapygaeformis. From identical 

 lots of breeding material, consisting of cynipid oak galls, 4 sapygaeformis 

 were obtained as against 96 fioridensis per hundred. There are onlv color 

 differences between the two, and these are restricted to the banding of 

 the abdominal segments. In sapygaeformis segments 4, 5, and 6 are con- 

 colorous, whereas in fioridensis segments 4 and 6 are red and segment 5 

 is black. Intermediate color forms are not lacking. 



Records : Daytona Beach, Fla., males and females, April 14, 1929 

 (Engelhardt) ; Jacksonville, Fla. (Ashmead). 



One unique female example, labeled East Florida (Ashmead), lacks 

 all the red abdominal bands above but has segment 4 banded with red 

 beneath and segments 2 and 3 red at the sides. If not substantiated by 

 additional specimens, it may be regarded as a freak. 



SYNANTHEDON SAPYGAEFORMIS variety FLORIDENSIS (Grote) 



Pyrrhotaenia fioridensis Grote, Can. Ent., vol. 7, p. 174, 1875. — Beutenmuller, Bull. 



Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 175, 1892; vol. 8, p. 145, 1896; vol. 9, p. 220, 



1897. 

 5" mo fioridensis Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 309, 



1901. 

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



the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8751, 1939. 



Differs from typical sapygaeformis only in the banding of the abdominal 

 segments. Male with segment 4 red, 5 black, 6 and 7 red ; female with 

 segment 4 red, 5 black, and 6 red. 



Expanse: Male 16 to 21 mm., female IS to 22 mm. 



Distribution. — Florida. 



Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History. From 

 Enterprise, Fla. 



Remarks. — Long series of fioridensis have been reared from woody 

 cynipid galls on various species of oaks in Florida. Material from the 

 following sources is available : Royal Palm State Park, galls on live oak. 



