691. 



SIONA DEALBATA. 



The black-veined Moth. 



Order Lepidoptera. Fam. Phalaenidae. 



Type of the Genus, Phalaena dealbata Linn. 

 SioNA Goda, Curt. — Ida;a Och. — Phalsena Linn., Haw. 



Antenna setaceous, a little the stoutest in the male (1), clothed 

 with scales above, with very short pubescence beneath. 

 Maxilla as long or a little longer than the antennae, slender and 

 spiral, with minute tentacula at the apex (3). 

 Labial palpi short and slender, porrected obliquely beyond the 

 head, the points approximating, clothed with short scales (4), 

 the apical joint distinct ; triarticulate, basal joint the longest 

 and stoutest, a little curved at the base, 2nd nearly as long, 

 slightly attenuated, 3rd small and ovate-conic (a). 

 Head small subglohose: eyes lateral large and globose. Thorax ovate. 

 Abdomen long and slender in the male, stouter in the female, the 

 apex conical with a horny jnlose ovipositor. Wings subtrigonate and 

 forming a triangle in repose ? the margins entire, nervures strong : 

 cilia short. Legs long and slender : thighs moderate : tibiae, ante- 

 rior not very short, with a long internal spine, intermediate with a 

 pair of long spurs at the apex, hinder with a shorter pair and a longer 

 and unequal pair a little below the middle : tarsi long slender and 

 5 -jointed : claws and pulvilli minute (of, « hind leg). 

 Larva and metamorphoses unknown. 



Dealbata Linn. — Curt. Guide, Gen. 92G. 1 . 



Silky white or pale cream colour : palpi, antennae and eyes 

 blackish : nervures of wings dusky above, quite black beneath, 

 especially in the superior ; a narrow transverse stripe beyond 

 the middle on the under side, but very faint in the inferior 

 wings, and the transverse discoidal nervure blackish. Abdomen 

 beneath with 3 blackish longitudinal lines in the female, which 

 sex is the most strongly marked beneath in the wings also. 



In the Author's and other Cabinets. 



This simple-coloured but elegant moth is what is termed by 

 collectors an uncommon species, yet occasionally it is found 

 in great plenty, the seasons probably at various periods con- 



