7- / ^3c^ 

 384. 



ACID ALIA DEGENERARIA. 



The Portland ribbon Wave. 



Order Lepidoptera. Fam. Phalaenidae. 



Type of the Genus, Phalsena aversata Linn. 



AciDALiA Treit. — Dosithea Dup. — Ptychopoda Steph., Curt. Guide 

 Gen. 938. — Phalaena Linn. 



Antennce inserted on each side the crown of the head, rather short, 

 setaceous, composed of numerous joints, clothed with scales 

 above, hairy or ciliated beneath, especially in the males (1). 

 MaxillcB spiral, slender, nearly as long as the antennae (3). 

 Labial Palpi small, porrected horizontally, sparingly clothed 

 with short scales (4) ; triarticulate, basal joint curved, the 

 longest, 3rd the shortest ovate-conic (4 a). 

 Head transverse, the scales on the face not projecting beyond the large 

 globose Eyes (7). Wings extended horizontally when at rest, supe- 

 rior elongate trigonate, inferior rounded, the margin entire. Coxae, 

 anterior long. Thighs slender, posterior very short. Tibiae, anterior 

 short, with an internal spine, intermediate spurred at the apex, pos- 

 terior hollow in the male, inclosing a long brush of hairy scales on 

 the inside, which are sometimes expanded like a fan (Sf) ; termi- 

 nated by a pair of spurs in the female (8?). Tarsi 5-jointed, 

 anterior very long, posterior very short in the male. Claws and 

 Pulvilli concealed beneath the projecting scales. 

 Larvae loopers, without tubercles, with 6 pectoral, 2 abdominal and 

 2 anal feet. 



Degeneraria //iife. Geom.pl. 1 1. f 57. mas. — Dup. v. 8. pi. 175. A.var. 

 Female pale fuscous ochre ; face dull chestnut, crown of head 

 whitish : superior wings with the costa red, a reddish brown 

 fascia a little before the middle, with a black dot towards the 

 costa, the edges waved, between it and the posterior margin are 

 2 parallel sinuated fuscous strigae, the inner one angnlated and 

 divaricating at the costa ; and at the base of the cilia is a fuscous 

 line : inferior wings with the reddish brown fascia continued 

 across them and occupying the base, beyond it and near the 

 centre is a black dot, the two waved strigas are also continued 

 round these wings but are further apart and there is a third one 

 scarcely visible, cilia the same as in the other wings. 



In the Cabinet of the Author. 



In my Guide I adopted Mr. Stephens's name for this genus ; 

 and supposing that he had studied the group I followed his 

 arrangement of the species, leaving out his division C, which 

 evidently had nothing to do with the others ; he has subse- 

 quently divided these 21 species into two genera not formed 

 of his own divisions but of species from both, transferring siib- 

 roseata to Timandra, and taking the hint from me has cast off 



