MELITTIA; PARANTHRENE. By M. BartEI.. 379 



margins black. Hind legs yellow, mixed with black on the tibia. ■ — Appears to be rare; not known to me 

 in nature. Only from Yokohama (Japan); the larva in Oak according to Pryer. 



S. scribai spec. nov. (50 m). Herr Fritz Scriba has been so kind as to send me a $ of a large species scriha'i. 

 from Japan which I cannot identify with any of the known Japanese species and appears to be new. As 

 in crabroniformis the proboscis distinct and veins 3 and 4 of hindwing stalked; cross-vem of hindwing 

 remarkably straight in position; end-segment of palpi very long and pointed, wings verj^ long and narrow; 

 fore wing black at the base and orange beyond this patch, median band orange. Palpi and irons yellow; 

 prothorax black, with yellow spots beneath. Antenna brown, red-brown on outside. Inner margins of patagia 

 and hair-tufts of metathorax yellow. Abdomen denuded, apparently with yellow belts above on all the seg- 

 ments, segment 1 with very distinct yellow dorsal belt. On underside segment 2 with narrow belt, 4 with 

 broad one and 5 and 6 almost entirely yellow. Anal tuft yellow. Legs ochreous; femora, tibiae and upper 

 part of hind tarsi black on outside ; hind tibia (less so also middle one) conspicuously spotted with black befoi'e 

 the apex on the inside. 



3. Genus: Jflelittia Walk. (1856). 



Antemiae in (J with fasciculate cilia, in $ non-ciliate; they are very thm at the base, strongly dilated 

 before the tip and bear some small bristles at the apex. Palpi vertical and rather slender, the second segment 

 rather strongly hairy. Tibia and tarsus of hind leg with the exception of the last 2 or 3 tarsal segments 

 densely clothed with extraordinary long bushy hair, which probably aids the moths in keeping afloat in the 

 air when it sucks at flowers. The proboscis well-developed. Anal tuft feeble. Contour and venation of wings 

 nearly as in Paranthrene; in the hindwing vein 3 thrown off before apex of cell and 6 present. — Widely 

 distributed in the Nearctic and Neotropic Regions, South and West Africa, the Oriental Region as far as 

 Java and the Moluccas; only 3 species extend to Northern China, Japan and Kashmir and are to he consi- 

 dered forms of the boundary districts. • — • Type: satyrinijormis Hbn., from North America. 



M. bombyliformis Cr. (= chalcidiformis F.) (51 a). Expanse 32 — 36 mm. Wings transparent, slightly hombyli- 

 yellowish brown at the base; fringes brown; longitudinal patch of forewing extending to the median band; /"'■'"is-, 

 the latter with a black vein-like projection into the cell; distal vitreous area composed of 5 partitions, 

 narrowing towards costa. Forewing slightly covered with brown and grey scales. Head brown, thorax yellow- 

 ish brown. The first two abdominal segments yellowish brown, the others black with narrow yellow hind 

 margins; venter yellowish white. Breast and palpi yellow and white. Hind leg black, the hind tibia and tar- 

 sus with very long bushy hair which is yellow and brown on outside. — Distributed throughout India and 

 Java, extends on Palearctic territory to Northern China and Japan (Yezzo, Nikko, Yokohama, Tsuruga, Sa- 

 tsuma: May^ — June). 



M. kuluana Moore (51 a). Expanse 30 mm. The vitreous areas larger than in the other two species, kuluaim. 

 only a narrow outer border remaining. The median band likewise narrower, with shorter projection into 

 the cell. Hindwing without blue colouring at the abdommal margin. Head, thorax, collar and the first 

 2 abdominal segments olive-brown, the other segments black-brown, all segments above with narrow yellowish 

 hind edges. Breast and venter yellowish white. Hmd legs with long black bushy haii-, mixed with some yellow- 

 ish brown and yellow hairs on the outside of the tibia and tarsus. — Kulu, Kashmir. 



M. eurytion Westw. (51 c). Expanse 24 — 30 mm. Black, the vitreous areas of the forewing similar eun/don. 

 to those of bombyliformis, and the middle band as in that species with a black vein-like projection in the cell. 

 The outer hyaline area strongly narrowing costally, consisting of 5 partitions, of which the uppermost is 

 very small and the lowest longest; the broad distal border with white scaling at the margin. Base and oviter 

 margin of hindwing black. Antenna yellow, above black in the first as well fs the last third, with some white 

 scales before the tip. Palpi whitish, clothed with blackish hair. Thorax olive-green; abdomen black-blue, 

 with distinct silvery white belts. The tibia and tarsus of the hind leg black, with very long hair, outwardly 

 with some brown hairs, the tibia \vith a whitish ring in the middle, and like the tarsi with some wliitish hairs 

 at the apex. — ■ Japan (Yezzo, Nikko, Yokohama, Tsuruga: June), North India, Moluccas, Java. 



4. Genus: Paranthrene Hbn. (1822) (Sciapteron Stgr.). 



Palpi with the end-segment short, as in Aegeria, the second segment, however, clothed with long erect 

 hair, especially in the (^. Proboscis a homy spiral. Antennae with small bristles at the tip, in o lamellate 

 and bearing 2 rows of fascicles of cilia, the last fifth not lamellate and without cilia. Body considerably 

 slenderer than in Aegeria and Sphecia; anal tuft present in both sexes, but much longer in (J than in $. Ti- 

 biae but sligh'^ly hairy, not thickened by pelty hair. Forewing somewhat truncate at the apex, narrower, and 

 usually very densely scaled with the exception of the base. In the vitreous hindwing veins 3 and 4 distinctly 



