104 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 255 



color. Furthermore, the male and female genitalia of A. pallida are 

 proportionately more elongate than those of barberella. 



As an indication of the size differences between Agavenema pallida 

 and barberella, the lengths of their forewings have been siunmarized 

 below (for explanation of symbols, see p. 10). In addition, the 

 populations of A. pallida were tested for an F value against the 

 combined samples of the two recognized species, and the differences 

 were found to be highly significant (**). The females of A. pallida 

 originated from three localities in southern California (see paratype 

 data), and all were reared from Agave deserti. The 37 specimens of 

 Agavenema barberella represent two localities in southern Arizona; 

 29 females were reared from Agave palmeri, whereas the host of the 

 remaining 8 moths is not known. 



Three specimens, deposited in the collections of the United States 

 National Museum, resemble A. pallida, in all respects except in color 

 pattern; their forewings, instead, are heavily marked (fig. 81) as in 

 A. barberella. The specimens were collected near Paradise, Cochise 

 Co., Ariz, and bear no information as to host. For now, it seems 

 preferable to leave these unnamed until additional specimens can 

 be collected, and the host plant discovered. 



From the rather superficial information presented above and in 

 the preceding discussion under A. barberella, it should be evident 

 that considerable work remains to be done m this genus of moths. 

 The taxonomic key included in this paper, of course, should prove 

 adequate for essentially all known specimens of Agavenema, but future 

 collecting may show the systematics of this genus to be far more 

 complicated than now indicated. The relatively large sample of 

 moths reared from Agave deserti exhibit a high degree of uniformity 

 and are believed to represent a distinct species (A. pallida). The 

 situation, however, is not so clear in those specimens collected from 

 southern Arizona; instead, considerably more variation is to be 

 noted, especially in regard to overall size. Futiu-e investigations, 

 involving all species of Agave, eventually may reveal the existence of 

 several sibling species or food plant races of Agavenema. Such a 

 situation would not be sm-prising, considering the comparatively 

 rapid rate at which the host plants may have speciated. 



