Pnhl. 9. HI. 1910. LITHOSIA. By Dr. A. Seitz. 65 



C. alpina Hamps. (l"2g). The fif^nire (froiu IIampson) shows that the dark bands of the forewmg alpina. 

 are more complete than in the preceding species, only the upper one being obsolete before the outer mar- 

 gin. Costal area of forewing suffused with sooty. Yatung in Tibet, at an altitude of 10 000 feet. 



28. Genus: I>it]i08ia F. 



This genus with its over 120 forms might be sejiarated into over 20 genera, if all the divisions 

 proposed by Moore and Wat.ker could be considered valid. But the Palearctic forms, about 60 inciuil- 

 ing the varieties, can be arranged quite naturally in one genus if the group of species is accejjted in 

 TIampson's sense, who dealt with it under Hubxer's name of Ilema {Eilema). — Lithosia is especially 

 characterised by the vei-y long linear forewings, and the broad hindwings, which latter are generally folded 

 in a very complicated fashion when the insect is at rest. All 4 wings are kept close together and one 

 over the other, so that when at rest they extend far beyond the relatively short abdomen, but project 

 only slightly laterally. The proboscis is well developed, as in the preceding genus; head broad, with especi- 

 allj' broad vertex and large prominent eyes; palpi very short and rather rough-hairj^ below, with the 

 a])ical segment quite vestigial ; antennae of (J variable, setiform or with very small teeth or delicately 

 plumose; thorax short, abdomen very stout, wich a very stumpy apex in the $, very rough-hairy in thee?- 

 Forewing broadened directly Ijehind the base, with the costal and inner margins almost parallel, hindwing 

 generally slightly incurved below the apex. — Larvae moderately hairy, usually with longer hairs at both 

 ends and often with coloured warts nv knobs; on lichens. Pupae, as far as they are known, dark, glossy, 

 with stumpy tail-end, in a loose cocoon. The moths appear in the summer, and rest in daytime in the 

 foliage of bushes, or on stalks or twigs, with the wings folded; thej- are easily flushed, and then fly for 

 short distances in a straight line, settling again on branches close by, usually on the underside of leaves. 

 In dull weather they often drop down into the grass, where the_y can easily conceal themselves on account 

 of their slender build. The representatives of this genus are mostly found at the southern lioundarj^ of 

 the Palearctic region, but some other districts are also rich in species, e. g. the island of Madagascar. 

 No species is known from America. 



L. basinota Moore. One of the largest species of the genus. True basinota inhabits the Indian 

 Himalayas, but in Palearctic Kashmir occurs also a form, lurida i?«(/. (12 g). Like the Indian race it luis Jurida. 

 dark violet-brown thorax and forewing, and the head, collar and a spot at the base of the inner margin 

 of the forewing yellowish grey; the disc of the hindwing, however, is paler yellow than in specimens from 

 Sikkim, being only slightly brownish at the margin; the hindwing of the Palearctic form, moreover, has 

 the base bright yellow\ Kashmir, on the southern slopes, Kangra, Dalhousie. 



L. deplana Esp. (= depressa Esp., luteola Hbn.) (12 g). Both wings dark brow'n-grey, with the depJana. 

 costa of the forewing and the fringes light bright yellow, especially in the $. The ground-colour is 

 often more or less lightened with ochreous, sometimes almost clay-colour {ochreolSi Hbn.), or nearly whitish i!g/,!5ojl'' 

 (helveola 0. = helvola Hbn.), or of an indefinite intermediate shade (luteola Hbn.). In pavescens Buil.. hdeola. 

 from Hokkaido (Island of Yezo), the wings are dirty greyish yellow; the hindwing lighter in the al>- parescens. 

 dominal region. — From Scandinavia and Northern Russia ; found also eastward in Japan (form pacescen.^), 

 but specimens are not known to me from Amurland or Central Asia. — Larva dirt}- lead-grey, bearing a 

 yellow dorsal stripe with dark edges and 3 raised black transverse spots anteriorly, posteriorly and in the 

 centre, and black markings laterally. Until June, on lichens on trees. Pupa glossy red-brown. The moths 

 singly but not rare, in Julj' and the beginning of August, may especially be beaten from young conifers. 



L. griseola Hbn. (12 g, h). In typical specimens of this form, which is distributed over the greater firisrohi. 

 part of the globe, the forewing is very glossy, silky, light lead-grey, with pale sulphur-yellow costal margin, 

 which is, however, narrowed at the middle of the costa and only extends to the apex as a very fine 

 line. Hindwing pale yellowish grey, uniform in the $, slightly darker marginally in the (J. At once 

 distinguished from the preceding species by the underside (12 h) on which the sulphur-yellow- hindwing and 

 abdomen contrast sharply with the ash-grey forewing and thorax. Central Europe, especially not rare in 

 Crermany, northward to Finland, southward to Northern Italy, westward to the Atlantic coasts, eastward 

 to Anterior Asia. — In Great Britain a form occurs which is analogous to the form ochreola of deplana, 

 with the forewing yellow above; this is f lava Haw. (= stramineola DbL). — In the East the species varies (lava. 

 considerably. In Amurland it is much smaller, and the ground-colour of the forewing is so light that the 

 costal stripe only slightly contrasts with it; this is vetusta Walk. (= amurensis Stgr.). — aegrota Bull. nf^J.*'^"" 

 (= adaucta Bw<L, cinerea Pouj., lenta Leecfe) (12 h), on the other hand, is larger than European griseola, 

 and the forewing darker, the hindwing, which is yellow above, contrasting sharply with it; from Japan. — 

 This moth also occurs outside the Palearctic region, e. g. as lilacina Moore and fuscicilia Hamps. in India, 

 serva Walk, in the Malay Archipelago (and Japan?) and subumbraia in West Africa. — Larva black-grey, 

 with reddish yellow* spots behind the head, from segment 3 backwards two reddish yellow longitudinal 

 stripes dorsally, between which there is a black dorsal line. Until the beginning of June, on lichens on 



II 9 



