﻿PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  issued 
  |^.frvJa- 
  y^mii 
  ^^ 
  '^^ 
  

  

  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION 
  

   U. 
  S. 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Vol. 
  98 
  Washington: 
  1948 
  No. 
  3223 
  

  

  STATUS 
  OF 
  THE 
  PYRAUSTID 
  MOTHS 
  OF 
  THE 
  GENUS 
  

   LEUCINODES 
  IN 
  THE 
  NEW 
  WORLD, 
  WITH 
  DESCRIP- 
  

   TIONS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  GENERA 
  AND 
  SPECIES 
  

  

  By 
  Hahn 
  W. 
  Capps 
  

  

  A 
  PYRAUSTID 
  species, 
  listed 
  in 
  the 
  literature 
  as 
  Leucinodes 
  elegantalis 
  

   Guenee, 
  has 
  recently 
  attracted 
  considerable 
  attention 
  as 
  a 
  pest 
  of 
  toma- 
  

   toes 
  in 
  South 
  America, 
  particularly 
  in 
  the 
  states 
  of 
  Parana 
  and 
  Minas 
  

   Gerais, 
  Brazil, 
  where 
  severe 
  damage 
  to 
  crops 
  has 
  been 
  reported. 
  In 
  

   addition 
  to 
  actual 
  damage 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  larvae, 
  further 
  losses 
  have 
  been 
  

   incurred 
  by 
  the 
  application 
  of 
  regulatory 
  measures 
  by 
  some 
  countries 
  

   restricting 
  the 
  movement 
  of 
  shipments 
  from 
  areas 
  where 
  the 
  insect 
  

   is 
  known 
  to 
  occur. 
  

  

  In 
  1942 
  adults 
  of 
  Leucinodes 
  elegantalis 
  Guenee 
  were 
  reared 
  by 
  in- 
  

   spectors 
  of 
  the 
  Division 
  of 
  Foreign 
  Plant 
  Quarantines, 
  Bureau 
  of 
  

   Entomology 
  and 
  Plant 
  Quarantine, 
  United 
  States 
  Department 
  of 
  

   Agriculture, 
  from 
  larvae 
  intercepted 
  at 
  Laredo, 
  Tex., 
  in 
  shipments 
  of 
  

   tomatoes 
  from 
  Tampico, 
  Tamaulipas, 
  Mexico. 
  

  

  Critical 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  Leucinodes 
  material 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  

   the 
  United 
  States 
  National 
  Museum 
  revealed 
  that 
  the 
  series 
  were 
  

   mixed, 
  often 
  containing 
  several 
  species, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  characters 
  hereto- 
  

   fore 
  used 
  for 
  recognizing 
  the 
  species, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  relative 
  lengths 
  of 
  sec- 
  

   ond 
  and 
  third 
  segments 
  of 
  labial 
  palpus 
  or 
  slight 
  differences 
  in 
  macu- 
  

   lation, 
  were 
  inadequate. 
  This 
  study 
  w^as 
  undertaken 
  to 
  furnish 
  reli- 
  

   able 
  characters 
  by 
  which 
  elegantalis 
  could 
  be 
  separated 
  from 
  the 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  it, 
  and 
  also 
  to 
  determine 
  definitely 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  

   its 
  distribution. 
  

  

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