136 BULLETIN 190. UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



through and escape. On maturity they drop out of their burrows and 

 construct tough, leathery, oval cocoons in the soil, 1 or 2 inches below 

 the surface. The principal season for the moths is May and June. In 

 rearing experiments emergence records are given for nearly every month 

 of the year. Mitchell accepted late emergences, September and October, 

 as indicating a double-brooded species. This is difficult to confirm. 

 Larvae maturing late in the season spin their cocoons and the great ma- 

 jority winter as larvae', transforming to pupae during the following spring. 

 As far as known moths have never been captured in the field, all having 

 been obtained by rearing. They are perfect mimics of a species of Polistes 

 common in the region. While records as yet are confined to San Antonio 

 and vicinity, evidence of the larval work at various places from San An- 

 tonio to Del Rio indicates a distribution following the food plant, which 

 is common across the border in Mexico. 



A general resemblance of the moths to species in the genus Paranthrene 

 is deceptive. The male antennae are pectinate, not bipectinate. Veins 7 

 and 8 of the forewings are stalked and vein 9 arises from this stalk. Most 

 surprising and unique are the harpes of the male genitalia. They are 

 elongate-ovate and have pointed apices, the costal area is covered with 

 palmate scales, and the dorsal area is without scales. Such structural dif- 

 ferences set the species apart from all others in the family. It stands 

 alone, representing a distinct genus. 



THE PARANTHRENE GROUP 



Genus PARANTHRENE Hubner 



Paranthrene Hubner, Verzeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge, p. 128, 1819. (Geno- 

 type, Sphinx asiliformis Schiffermtiller, synonym of Sphinx tabaniformis 

 Rottemburg.) 



Tongue long, spiraled. Antennae stout, dilated, with apices tufted, in 

 the male bipectinate, in the female simple. Labial palpi erect, reaching 

 vertex; second joint roughly scaled, terminal joint short, with scales 

 projecting beyond apex. Forewing with 12 veins, 7 and 8 long-stalked 

 to costa, 9 approximate to stalk of 7 and 8, 10 and 11 separate, parallel. 

 Hindwing with 8 veins, 3 and 4 well separated, but 3 much closer to 4 

 than to 2. Posterior tibiae roughly scaled above; first joint of posterior 

 tarsus smooth. Male genitalia with elongate, erect socii clothed with long, 

 soft hairs, which are not bifurcate as in the Synanthedon group ; a narrow, 

 straight ventral plate supporting the anal tube; harpe elongate-ovate, 

 clothed on the edges with inwardly directed hairs and scales, leaving a 

 naked place in the middle ; the scales on the costa tri furcate, not bifurcate, 

 as in the Synanthedon group; the cucullus clothed with a row of long 

 single hairs, terminating in the succulus ridge, which is clothed with strong 

 spines ; vinculum moderately long, slender ; aedeagus bulbous at the base, 

 slightly curved and with a downward-pointed hook just below apex. 



