EHYPAEIOIDES. By Dr. A. Seitz. 93 



antenna in the ^ with rather long pectinations, in the $ setiform; palpi short, with moderately long 

 shaggy hair, slightly down-curved; tongue aborted; logs strongly hairy; forewing triangular with straight 

 margins and rounded angles, hindwing rather largo, with the apex somewhat pointed and the outer margin 

 very shghtly excurved in the centre. The larvae are very hairy and have strong mandibles, so that they 

 sometimes gnaw their way through the gauze of the breeding-cage. The genus is wholly Palearctic, its 

 three species being distributed over the North of the Old World from the Canary Islands throughout 

 Europe and North Asia to Japan. The genotype is B. ■pur'purata L. 



R. leopardina Men. (14 g). Eeserabling Cletis in facies. Forewing of ^ yellowish brown, of the $ Icoimrdina. 

 dark brown, with black basal streak below the cell and only slightly darker shadowy spots, of which 

 usually only a small one at the apex of the cell and a larger one below the apex before the outer margin 

 are distinct. Hindwing spotted with black, in the ^ pale pink, in the $ dark pink. In Amurland and 

 Tibet, according to Oberthuk also in Syria. 



R. rufescens BrulU (= fortunata Stgr.) (14 h). ^ yellowish brown, $ darker brown, both wings rufescens. 

 suffused with rose-red. ^ with four dark brown costal spots on the forewing, which are continued as very 

 pale transverse bands to the inner margin, and with a small discocellular spot. In the $ the transverse 

 shadowy bands are more distinct, but without a real sharp costal spot. Hindwing yellowish brown, 

 suffused with rose-red, less in the ^ than in the $ . Only found in the Canaries. — Larva with long 

 silky hair, brown, in ditches at the sides of roads, on cabbage and also on a species of tobacco (Nicotiana 

 glauca). The species is, it seems, distributed over all the Canary Islands, and is not rare. 



R. purpurata L. (=■ purpurea L.) (14 h). Forewing bright yellow with transverse rows of pale grey pwpurata. 

 or brownsih spots; hindwing brilliant deep purple-red with black spots. Throughout Europe with the 

 exception of the West, and in North Asia to Japan, but local. — In the foun atromaculata Galv., which «''"o»»acM- 

 has long been known under this name in the trade, and which occurs at many places on the German " "' 

 North Sea coast, the dark spots of the forewing are very sharply defined, and those on the hindwing 

 also larger and confluent. — There also occurs an inconstant melanistic form, such as is found in all 

 Lepidoptera (ab. obscura Schultz), or in which the otherwise dark spots of the forewing appear light (ab. 

 infuscata SpuL). ■ — On the other hand, towards the East we observe a reduction of the spots of the fore- 

 wing. According to a communication received from the noissionary Herr Klapheck the specimens 

 of 'purfu y-ata are much less spotted in Shantung than for instance in Germany ; in the countries of the 

 Caucasus the spots are sometimes quite obsolescent, this being ab. caucasica Alph.; even in East Germany "('■I'^'^o^sica. 

 there is a slight reduction of the spots of the forewing in ab. berolinensis F«cfes, and this is stronger in sis 

 ab. immaculata Fuchs. — • ab. flava Stgr. are specimens with the hindwing dark yellow instead of purple- immam- 

 red, which Hubner already knew and wliich probably occur as exceptions everywhere, ab. transiens h'i^'^' 

 Spul. with the hindwing yellow distally is a transition to flava, and ab. flavescens Spul. with pale yellow 

 hindwing is the extreme aberration. — Larva dark iron-grey, with velvety black transverse rings on which 

 are placed small white stars and spots. The hairs are dorsally bright foxy-red and laterally whitish grey. 

 A variety of the larva has lemon-yellow hair dorsally. From the autumn until the end of May on all 

 kinds of plants, especially on Genista and allies, but also on all sorts of herbs and oven on oak and 

 willow bushes. It is advisable to collect the larvae when rather young in the spring, as they are later 

 much infested by parasites. They have cannibal tastes, especially attacking specimens of their own kind 

 in the pupal stage. The species occurs especially in sandy districts in the plains, in warm, sunny localities. 

 The moths in June and July. The (J(^ are on the wing on hot days between 11 a. m. and 1 p. m. and 

 fly upwards slowly in a spiral until they disappear from sight ; after a few minutes they slowly come 

 down again into the bushes where they crawl away. The $? seem to fly at night. The moths are other- 

 wise sluggish. The larvae are easy to rear on withering lettuce-leaves, etc. 



61. Genus: Rhyparioides Bull. 



More slender than the species of the preceding genus, which they resemble in the arrangement of 

 the markings and in colour. Thorax of ^^ considerably narrower, abdomen thinner and longer. Palpi 

 much longer than in Rhyparia, porrect, not obliquely down-turned. Antennae of ,^^ with shorter pecti- 

 nations. Larva of R. metelcana longitudinally striped with light yellow and grey, and with grev-brown 

 hairs; habits as in the preceding genus. The area of distribution is also almost the same, but a few 

 species occur in the tropics of India. 



R. metelkana Led. (= flavida Brem.) (14 i). Forewing in the ^ lemon-yellow, in the $ darker; mcldkana. 

 a few dispersed black small spots; a reddish brown longitudinal smear on the median vein through the 

 median area to the apex of the cell. In the $ the forewing is moreover traversed by angulate transverse 

 rows of small dark red spots. Distributed in East Asia, in Amurland, Corea, and in Japan on Hokkaido, 

 the Main Island and the Eiu-Kiu Islands (Matsumura), also in restricted localities in Europe, in 



