ff 



/y- /^ 3 ^ 



691). 



TERAS EXCAVANA. 



The iron Notchwing. 



Okder Lepidoptera. Fam. Tortricidae. 



Type of the Genus, Pyralis caudana, Fab. 

 Teras Treit., Dupch., Curt. — Pyralis, Fab. — Tortrix, Hub., Haw. 

 AntetiTKS inserted close to the eyes on the crown of the head, 

 shorter than the body, setaceous, composed of oblong joints, 

 scaly above, pubescent beneath (1). 



Maxilla scarcely so long as the palpi, spiral, rather stout, with 

 short tentacula at the apex (3). 



Labial palpi rather long, porrected far beyond the head, parallel, 

 clothed with short scales which make the 2nd joint convex above 

 and leave only a small portion of the apical joint apparent (4) ; 

 triarticulate, basal joint short, cleaver-shaped, 2nd very long, 

 stout and somewhat clavate, straight beneath, convex above from 

 the middle, the base slender, the apex narrowed ; 3rd joint about 

 ^ as long, elliptic-conic (a). 

 Head short, densely scaly : eyes hemispherical. Thorax subglobose. 

 Abdomen subdepressed ; linear in the male, with a tolerable t%ift at 

 the apex ; trigonate and scaly at the apex in the female. Wings very 

 slightly deflexed in repose, forming an elongate triangle ; superior 

 hooked at the apex, the costa very much arched with a large notch at 

 the middle : inferior harp-shaped ; cilia moderate. Legs stoutish : 

 thighs, middle pair the longest : tibiae, anterior short, with an in- 

 ternal spine, intermediate with a pair of spurs at the apex, one very 

 long ; hinder tibia the longest and stoutest, with unequal spurs at the 

 apex, and a pair a little below the middle : tarsi rather short and 5- 

 jointed, basal joint very long, 4th and 5th very small: claws and 

 pulvilli minute (Sf). 

 Metamorphoses unknown. 



ExcAVANA Haw. Lep. Brit. 408, 44.— Curt. Guide, Gen. 965. 2. 

 Tn the Author s and other Cabinets. 



The moths forming this natural little genus are usually of 

 the same size, and 1 think it not improbable that the 2nd and 

 4th are only varieties of the preceding species. They are all 

 well characterized by the curious excavation of the anterior 

 margin of the superior wings ; they are principally found in 

 the early part of autumn, by the sides of pathways in woods. 



