84 



SPILAECTIA. Bv Dr. A. Seitz. 



graiiosu. 



qlauca. 



piwngeleri. 



amabilis. 



kinder- 

 manni. 



pomona. 



erschoffi. 

 ferghana. 



Iransversata. 

 issyka. 



mongolica. 



i. 1. (16 k); alj. gratiosa N/i/r. (ItJi) are specimens in which the central lunule is uhscnt, ami ali. glauca .S'^gr. 

 has the ground-colour of the forewing violet-grej-, while the hindwing is pale brown; in ab. puengeleri /i67^ 

 chcr the hindwing is black. In ab. amabilis Bottcher a broad white median band runs transversely across the 

 forewing. — All these forms occur in Ceutial Asia, mostly in Ferghana, where the species is apparently 

 verj- common. 



M. kindermanni Stgr. Forewing coffee-^jrown, streaked and banded with wliite, but the spots of 

 th(^ brown ground-colour not sliarjjly angulate and with straight edges as in (jlaphyra, but cloud-shaped and 

 with rounded corners and margins. \n the typical form from the Ural the hindwing is orange-yellow: 

 the same is the case in ab. pomona >'/;/'■.. in which, however, a broad white raj' traverses the middle of 

 the forewing from the base almost to the outer margin and the base of the hindwing is not blackish 

 as in true kindermanni. — erschoffi .!/;)/(. (16 k), probablj- specifically different from idndernidtmi, has the 

 hindwing scarlet, and the wings of the $ are often aborted; from Tian-Shan. — ferghana Styr. (= sel- 

 monsi Biiticher) (16 k) is a verj" small form from the Pamir, in which the brown spots (ui the forewing 

 and the black ones ou the hindwing are reduced. In ab. transversata Bottcher the light median band of 

 the forewing is continued to the inner margin. • — In issyka Styr. (16 k) the black spots of the hindwing 

 are larger, especially that before the apex being linear, and the cream-coloured bands of the forewing are 

 tinged with yellowish; from the Issyk-kul. — mongolica J/p/i. (16 k) is the largest form; the very stout 

 thorax has distinct bright markings, the tegulae being edged with dark, and the black dorsal stripe 

 contrasting with the light sides of the thorax; the abdomen is dark scarlet with black median stripes; 

 the bands of the forewing are narroAV and strongl}' flexuose, the spots of the hindwing strong and nume- 

 rous; from South- Western j\Iong(jlia. — ■ We here draw attention to our remark on page 78 that freti- 

 osa Styr., placed by Hampson with Ocnoyynu, is a species closely allied to lindermanni and perhaps only a 

 snuill aberration of pomona. 



5. Subfamily: Spilosominae. 



In the ,, Ermines'" the habitus of Arctiids is united with a monotonous white or grey colouring quite 

 uimsual in tlie other groups of this brightly coloured family. But tliis superficial and unimportant character- 

 istic goes liand in hand with a number of other very conspicuous pecuharities. Abroad head with the antennae 

 sometimes quite short, a very woolly broad thorax which is almost without markings, a narrow and often long 

 forewing, very slender o abdomen and short strong legs are characteristic of most of the species belonging to 

 this subfamily, which Hampson lias mostly placed in one genus, Diacrisia, with about 150 forms, including 

 the varieties. The venation is not only exactly the same in all these forms, but it is almost exactly a Hombycid 

 venation aiul aijrees with that of even quite heterogeneous species, e. g. certain Lymuutria. We do not at all 

 maintain llial the Spilosominae form an anatomically different group from the other Arctiidae, but as in the 

 case of the Mirrarciiinae, only introduce this division here in order to attain the lucidity of arrangement, 

 which is the main object of the present work. We characterise the Spilosominae as stout strong moths, usually 

 with light colouring, frequently thin scaling and sparse markings, often reduced to dots. The insects are protected b>- 

 oily secretions from glands of the thorax, and bear ,, warning colours" only on the abdomen, the bright colouring 

 of which at once distinguishes the moths from the often similar Liparids. The larvae on the whole are clothed 

 with longer hairs than many of the preceding grotip and like nearly all larvae of Arctiids feed almost iiulis- 

 criminately on low-growing plants, being usually common wherever they occur. The moths are pronounced 

 nocturnals, and are distributed over all five continents. There seems to be a distant connection, especially 

 expressed in the larvae, with the American genus Palustra, whose larvae live in the water, and with the more 

 Central and North American Ecpnntheria. 



lubricipeda. 



50. Genus: ^pilarctia Butt. 



This genus contains about 50 forms of ,, Ermines" placed by Hampson together with many others 

 in the genus Diacrisia. They all inhabit the Old World and about 20 of them occur in the Palearctic 

 region. No species is known to me from Africa, and even Palearctic Mauretania has no representative of 

 the genus, while Spilosoma, with much fewer species, is represented both in America and Africa. 



Head moderately large; eyes hidden in the downy wool of the frons. Thorax with long shaggy 

 hair; abdomen of the ^ slender, that of the 9 stout, heavy, and usually extending far beyond the anal 

 angle. Palpi fairly short, porrect; tongut^ aborted; antennae of (^ moderately pectinated. Legs usually 

 brightly coloured or dotted, contrasting sharply with the light colour of the moth. Forewing usually with 

 the costal margin strongly curved tow-ards the apex, and with the outer margin convex; hindwing oval. 

 The ground-colour of the wings and body is almost without exception creamy-wdiite, more or less tinged 

 with yellow, this coloiu-ing being only aberratively darker. The larvae are clothed with short but dense 

 and stiff bristly hair, and have mostly a light dorsal line, and the ground-colour lighter laterally and 

 ventrally. They seem to have only one brood in the North, living until the autumn on sorrel, dandelion, 

 plantain, etc., run very rapidly, and pupate in a cocoon at the surface of the earth. The moths usually 

 belong to the commonest species of their district. 



S. lubricipeda L. {= hitea Hufn.) (15 a). Creamy white above, q tinged with orange-yellow, $ with 

 pale yellow. The forewing w-ith a few black dots at the costal and inner margins, as well as with an 



