00 PHISSAMA; CREATONOTUS. By Dr. A. Seitz. 



time near the ground. Outside the Palearctic region the moth is widely distributed in tropical India, 

 being found as far as Java, and occurring in a slightly different form in Ceylon, where I caught the moth 

 at various times of the year. 



A. lineola. Less than half as large as laciinea. Forewing ivory yellow, costal margin and foretibiae 

 much duller red, hindwing without spots. Uniformly dull white beneath, forewing with red, hindwing 

 with dull yellow costal margin. Abdomen blood-red with a row of dots dorsally and sometimes also a 

 lineola.ievf dots laterally. In true lineola F. (= strigata Walk.) (17a) a black stripe only sHghtly interrupted bj' 

 the median branches runs from below the cell towards the outer margin of the forewing. The forms 

 emiiteyis Walk., candidula Walk., flora Sivinh., piinciistriga Walk., and rubricosta Moore represent a series 

 showing the gradual reduction of the black longitudinal line of the forewing, which in ruhricosia is only 

 indicated by a dot at the lower end of the cell. On the hindwing, which as a rule bears no spots, there 

 may also be black dots on the disc and before the apex. Widely distributed in India and reaching the 

 Palearctic Eegion in Kashmir. The moths are not rare, settling on stalks of grass on broad forest-roads, 

 where they can be flushed by sweeping the gi'ass; they only fly for a few yards, and in their flight 

 somewhat recall Leucania fallens. I often caught several forms in one locality; in the Xilghiris and in 

 Ceylon I found emittens to be the predominant form, to which belongs the specimen figured. 



55. Genus: Phissaiua Moore, 

 Only two species should bo placed in this genus, one of which is distributed throughout India and 

 is conmion almost everywhere, occurring on Palearctic territory in Central China, the other inhabiting 

 Syria and Arabia. Although in shape very like the preceding, they resemble in facies Spilarctia, being 

 ivory with semitransparent wings and brightly coloured abdomen. Head large, with flat, broad, smoothly 

 hairy frons; palpi and tongue small; antennae very short in the $, about half the length of the costa 

 in the (^, and with quite short ciliae, so that they appear simply setiform to the naked eye. Thorax 

 very strongly convex, smoothly hairy; legs spotted, with black at the knees. The larvae with shorter 

 hairs than in the preceding genus, with the warts less large and the dorsal stripe more distinct ; the pupa 

 with the abdomen less swollen. The moths rest in the bushes or in the grass, and at night come to 

 the lamp. 



transiens. P. transiens Walk. (= isabellina Walk.) (17 a). The name-typical form almost uniformly cream- 



coloured, with very transparent hindwing; at once recognised by four black dots at the apex of the cell 



vacillans. of the forewing, which almost exactly form an oblong, ab. vacillans Walk. {17 a) has the ground-colour 

 darker, dull grey-brown, and sometimes a few spots between the four on the forewing. Widely distributed, 

 from Kashmir throughout India to China and Formosa, sometimes one form being predominant and 

 sometimes the other. — Larva black with reddish spots and red-brown hairs; dorsal stripe broad, ivory, 

 laterally with dark spots; on Dioscorea, Cissus, etc. The moths are common; they rest on low bushes 

 on grass plots, from which they can easily be beaten, and only fly in day-time when flushed. I found 

 the grey and the white forms together at the same place and in the same month. 

 gracilis. P. gracilis Stgr. Thorax and forewing creamy yellow; two black dots on the thorax, which is 



slightly suffused with rose-red anteriorly. Forewing with a few black dots in the basal area, a dot at 

 the apex of the cell, a curved row beyond the centre and a small costal dot before the apex. Hindwing 

 light grey with dark median dot. Abdomen red with black dots. Palestine; undoubtedly closely allied 

 to Creatonotus arahica Havtfs. from Aden, but the latter has spotted tegulae. 



56. Genus: Creatonotus Hbn. 

 This genus also only contains one species, which is distributed over the greater part of India 

 and extends from China in the north to Australia in the south. This single species is considerablj' more 

 brightly coloured than the preceding forms. Tongue present, more than twice the length of the head; 

 palpi obsolescent; antennae short; thorax flesh-colour with dark centre; abdomen bright scarlet. Shape 

 of wings as in Pkissama. Larva with much less dense but longer hair than in Phissama; pupa slenderer, 

 and more pointed at the apex of the abdomen. The moth common, in daytime resting on herbs, often on 

 the underside of leaves. 



C. gangis. Forewing pale flesh-colour; a dark olive-green longitudinal stripe runs from the base 

 to near the outer margin and is broadly interrupted in wedge-shape by the gi-ound-colour on the first 

 ganpis. median branch. Hindwing semidiaphanous. In the $ the ground-colour of both wings is lighter. Two 

 »u(rt/!(.s' ^^"""^^ ^™ known: gangis L. (= interrupta L., francisca F.) (17 a) and continuatus Moore, in which latter 

 the median stripe of the forewing is completed by dark spots at the apex of the cell. From the Yang- 

 tse-kiang throughout India to North Australia. — Larva with long hairs and broad yellow dorsal stripe 

 on which there are orange spots. Head with white markings. It pupates in a very loose cocoon and in 

 hot countries the moth appears already after 7 days (Slater). Common. 



