120 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



THAMNOSPHECIA REFULGENS REFULGENS (Hy. Edwards) 



Plate 7, Figxjres 40, 40a ; Plate 14, Figure 72 



Aegeria refulgens Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 199, 1881. 



Sesia refulgens Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 132, 1896; 



Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 283, fig. 21, pi. 32, 1901. 

 Synantliedon refulgens McDunnough, Check list of the Lepidoptera of Canada and 



the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8703, 1939. 



Male. — Antennae metallic black, strongly pectinate. Labial palpi 

 yellow. Head black, striped with white at the eyes inwardly. Collar, 

 a yellow circle. Thorax shiny black, the patagia with a yellow stripe 

 and a transverse yellow band at the base; beneath banded with yellow 

 at the sides. Abdomen shiny black, with segments 2, 4, 6, and 7 con- 

 trastingly banded posteriorly with yellow above and beneath ; segments 



3 and 5 also sometimes banded, but only faintly; anal tuft short, rounded, 

 not wedge-shaped, black above, yellow beneath at the tip. Legs yellow 

 and black ; femora black ; posterior tibia black before the anterior spurs, 

 then yellow to a black band at the posterior spurs ; spurs and tarsi yellow. 

 Forewing transparent, lustrous black marked with orange between the 

 veins at outer margin, discal mark black toward base, red toward apex, 

 lower costa streaked with orange, fringes coppery ; underside with orange 

 shadings more pronounced. Hindwing transparent, narrowly margined 

 and fringed with coppery black. 



Female. — Similar to the male but much more heavily shaded with 

 orange along the costa and between the veins at outer margin, giving 

 a deep golden luster to all shaded portions of the wing, above and be- 

 neath; abdominal segments 2, 4, and 6 with yellow bands posteriorly, 

 the anal tuft short, inverted, black, yellow at the sides. 



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



Distribution. — Coastal regions of the Southern States, South Carolina 

 to Mississippi. 



Type. — Female. In Michigan Agricultural College. From Georgia 

 (Morrison). 



Remarks. — Represented in the United States National Museum col- 

 lection by only a small series of captured specimens, all more or less worn. 

 A precise definition of the species on external characteristics has been 

 difficult. 



Records in the United States National Museum : Spring Creek, 

 Decatur County, Ga., July 16-29, 1912, 1 male, 1 female; Chickasaw 

 (Mobile), Ala., April 13, 1930, 2 males, 1 female; September 13, 1931, 



4 females (Engclhardt) ; Southern Pines, N. C, August 24, 1930, 1 

 female. 



The habitat, as observed at Mobile, Ala., was open woodland on a 

 sandy ridge. Specimens were captured in a low, hovering flight or rest- 

 ing on foliage. 



