100 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



LITHOCOLLETIS. 



L. NECOPINUSELLA, W. sp. f 



The nearest American congeners of this species are L. cratcegella Clem. 

 and L. hageni Frey. The latter I know only through Professor Frey's 

 description. Possibly the insect before me may be that species, though 

 I am unable to detect any trace of saffron-yellow in the ground-color of 

 the fore wings, which are dark golden-brown; the third dorsal spot, 

 which seems to be distinct in hageni, is here only indicated by its dark 

 margin, there being no white scales; and the two last costal streaks do 

 not cross the entire wing as they do iu hageni, if I understand Pro- 

 fessor Frey's description of that speeies. 



It cannot be mistaken for cratcegella Clem., because the thorax and 

 basal portion of the fore wing (except the costal margin) are white here, 

 while in cratcegella they are golden-brown (marked, however, by median 

 and dorsal basal white streaks, which are frequently continued on to 

 the thorax) ; the face and palpi are here pure white, and the upper side 

 of the antenna} is darker fuscous than in cratcvgella. (Dr. Clemens's de- 

 scription of cratcvgella is not very accurate. He says, "Antenna}, tuft, 

 and front dark silvery-gray." I should c;ill the face and under side of 

 the auteuna} silvery-white, while the tuft is rather a brownish than a 

 silvery gray. He makes no mention whatever of the white streak which 

 extends along the base of the dorsal margin as far as the basal fourth 

 of the wing-length, nor of the apical black spot; and what he describes 

 as "the streak of black scales in the middle of the wing at the apex, ex- 

 tended backward between the streaks as far as the second dorsal and 

 costal streaks", is only the extended dark margins of the costal and 

 dorsal streaks, and frequently extend back to the apical spot.) 



This species is also larger than cratcegella, having an alar expansion of 

 over four lines, whilst cratcegella varies from scarcely three to something 

 over three and three-fourths; the third dorsal streak in cratcegella, though 

 small, is distinct, while iu this species it is only indicated by its dark 

 margin; in this species, too, the dark margins of the first costal streak 

 are produced to the base of the wing, the anterior dark margiu separat- 

 ing the narrow golden-brown basal portion from the wide white por- 

 tion, and the posterior dark margin exteuding along the extreme costa. 

 The second costal streak is a little more oblique in this species than in 

 cratcegella, while the fourth is perpendicular to the margin here, and 

 points obliquely forward in cratcegella. In this species, too, there is a 

 brown ciliary apical streak extending out from the apical spot — some- 

 thing like the hook in some species of Gracilaria — and this is the only 

 American Lithocolletis thus far seen by me which possesses this peculiar 

 mark ; the dorsal cilia are also tipped with brown ; all the dark marks of 

 the wings shine with a peculiar bluish-black lustre. But in all other 

 respects the fore wings seem to be marked exactly as in cratcegella; that 

 is, the ground-color is brownish-golden, and the position and number of 



