122 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



THAMNOSPHECIA MARICA (Beutenmuller) 



Sesia marica Beutenmuller, Journ. New York Ent. Soc, vol. 7, p. 254, 1899; 



Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, p. 305, 1901. 

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



the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8744, 1939. 



Male. — Antennae black, with fine pectinations. Labial palpi smooth, 

 orange. Head black, eyes narrowly edged with white inwardly. Collar 

 orange. Thorax lustrous blue-black, patagia striped with orange to a 

 transverse basal band of the same color; beneath a large orange patch at 

 the sides. Abdomen blue-black, narrowly banded with orange on seg- 

 ments 2, 4, 6, and 7 above and beneath; anal tuft short, rounded, black 

 above, orange beneath. Femora of middle legs and hindlegs blue-black; 

 tibiae of hindlegs orange, banded with black at posterior spurs; tarsi 

 orange. Forewing transparent, costa heavily scaled with black and with 

 a thin orange edge on inner margin ; apex narrowly bordered and fringed 

 with brownish black ; orange rays between veins 7 and 8 to stalk and veins 

 8 and 9 to discal mark, which is red ; orange rays between veins 7 and 4, 

 or thin orange streaks on inner, lower wing margin to near the wing base ; 

 underside similar, more heavily shaded with orange on basal half of the 

 wing. Hindwing transparent, narrowly bordered and fringed with brown- 

 ish black. 



Female. — Only one fragmentary specimen, lacking left forewing, abdo- 

 men, and hindlegs, is available. Nevertheless its identity is hardly in doubt. 

 Antennae, palpi, and thorax agree with those of the male. 



The main sexual difference is in the forewing, which is nearly opaque, 

 blue-black at the costa and violaceous a,t the margin and the inner space ; 

 only two narrow, clear streaks, extending from the wing base between the 

 veins to near the discal mark, remain. The discal mark is lustrous black 

 above and on the underside bears an orange spot. Beneath, the forewing 

 is shaded more heavily with orange on the costa and at the base. The 

 borders of the hindwings are violaceous, the fringes brown-black, and both 

 are broader than those of the male. 



Expanse : Male 22 to 24 mm., female 28 mm. 



Disfribiition. — Central and northern Florida. 



Type. — Male (Jacksonville, Fla.). In American Museum of Natural 

 History. 



Remarks. — Judged by its greater size and the opaque forewing of the 

 female, marica should prove to be a valid species when its food plant and 

 habits become known. At present it is very rare in collections. 



The United States National Museum collection contains three males, all 

 from Jacksonville, Fla., but not dated. These were collected by Mrs. A. T. 

 Slosson during her winter and spring sojourns in Florida years ago. 

 Hence, the dates should be in the spring. The female example at the 

 United States National Museum came from Gainesville, Fla., September 

 13, 1914, captured in fiat, open woods. 



