INSECTA TRANSVAALIENSIA. 81 



4. Phyllalia patens. (Tab. VII., fig. 5.) 



Bombyx patens, Boisduval, in Delegorgue, Voy. Afr. Austr. ii. p. 599 (1847). 



Homochroa /latms, Wallengr. Kongl. Vet.-Ak. Haudl. (2) v. |4) p. 29 (1865); Kirby, Syn. Cat. Lepid. 



Heteroc. i. p. 799 (1892). 

 Dreata concoJor, Walk. Cat. Lepid. Heteroc. Brit. Mus. iv. p. 908 (1855). 

 Phyllalia concolor, Walk. he. cit. vi. p. 1495 (1855) ; Kirby, Syn. Cat. Lepid. Heteroc. i. p. 807 (1892) ; Dist. 



Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) xx. p. 205 (1897). 

 Phyllalia patens, Aurivill. Bihang, Svenska Vet.-Ak. Handl. Bd. 27, Afd. iv. No. 7, p. U (1901). 



Hab. — Transvaal ; Johannesburg (Hyde), Barberton (Harrison), Belfast (Fawcett), northern Natal 

 frontier (Coll. Dist.). — Natal. — Caffraria. 



In the Transkei, Miss Barrett observed many of these Moths lying dead, after a sharp 

 wind, on the road to Nggeleni.* Col. Fawcett found the larvaj feeding on the grass of the 

 veld, and very common at Belfast, 6500 feet elevation, in the Eastern Transvaal. He 

 describes their hairs as having an irritating effect when handled.! 



Genus POLOMA. 



Poloma, Walker, Cat. Lepid. Heteroc. Brit. Mus. iv. p. 858 (1855) ; Aurivill. Bihang, Svenska Vet.-Ak. Handl. 

 Bd. 27, Afd. iv. No. 7, p. 11 (1901). 



A small Ethiopian genus containing three South African species, only one of which is at 

 present known in the Transvaal. 



As Aurivillius remarks, Poloma differs from Phjllalia by the almost straight lower 

 discocellular vein of the anterior wings, and by having three or four spurs to the posterior 

 tibise. 



5. Poloma castanea. (Tab. VII., fig. 6.) 



Poloma castanea, AuriviUius, Bihang, Svenska Vet.-Ak. Handl. Bd. 27, Afd. iv. No. 7, p. 12 (1901). 



Hab.— Transvaal ; Johannesburg (Hyde and Fry).— Natal ; Newcastle (Coll. Dist.). 



I submitted the specimen here figured to Dr. Aurivillius for comparison with his type, 

 and he states: "Your specimen differs considerably from the type of Poloma castanea, but 

 belongs, however, I think to the same species. The type wants the great blackish-brown 

 patch at the hind margin of the fore wing, but is somewhat rubbed in this place." I did not 

 meet with this species in the Transvaal, but Mr. J. Hyde, Jun,, has recently taken a series 

 of specimens at Johannesburg,! and has enriched my collection with a set of the same. 

 Mr. Harold Fry has also kindly sent me a specimen labelled " Taken in a Johannesburg town 

 shop window, Nov. 2, 1901." 



Genus PHIAL A. 



Phiala, Wallengreu, Wien. Ent. Men. iv. p. 165 (1860) ; Kougl. Vet.-Akad. Handl. (2), v. (4), p. 33 (1865) ; 



Aurivill. Bihang, Svenska Vet.-Ak. HandL Bd. 27, Afd. iv. No. 7, p. 15 (1901). 

 Heteromorpha , Herr.-Schiifi". Aussereurop. Schmett. p. 11, f. 375 (1855). 



About eleven species are now enumerated under this genus, all (with two exceptions from 

 West Africa) being found in South Africa, one of which also extends its range to the Congo. 



■■■■ Ent. Mouth. Mag. ('2) vol. xii. p. 287. f Trans. Zool. Soc. xvii. p. 173 (1903). 



\ Of course, when habitats such as Pretoria or Johannesburg are given, the outside neighbourhoods are included. 

 December 9, 1903. m 



