NO. 1140. NOETH AMERICAN XOCTUIDAE— SMITH AND DYAB. 25 



CHARADRA DERIDENS Guen6e. 



(Plates IX, fig. 12, male adult; XV, figs. 1, 2, autennae, male; XVII, fig. ;">, legs; 

 XIX, fig. 8, male geuitalla.) 



Diphtera deridens Guenee, Spec. Gen., Noct., 1852, 1, p. 35, pi. iii, fig. 8. — Waucer, 



Cat. Brit.Mus., Het., 1856, IX, p. 36. 

 Charadra deridens Guote and Robinson, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, 1868, II, p. 86. 

 Acronycta circnUfera Walker, Cat. Brit. Mus., Het., 1857, XI, p. 709. — Grote and 



Robinson, Trans. Am. Eut. Soc, 1868, II, p. 78, pr. syn. 

 Charadra contigita Walker, Cat. Brit. Mus., Het., 1865, XXXII, p. 446. — Grote 



and Robinson, Trans. Am. Eut. Soc, 1868, II, p. 86. pr. syti. 



Ground color a creamy white, the ornamentation and powdering 

 black. Antennae of male brownisb. Collar witb a central black band 

 and inferiorly a little dusky. Patagiae witb a black band and black 

 tipped. Disc of thorax black powdered. Primaries with the ornamen- 

 tation black and contrasting. Basal half line black, single, broken on 

 the subcostal vein. Transverse anterior line black, vSingle, bent on the 

 costa and then almost upright to inner margin, giving off an acute out- 

 ward tooth at its middle to meet a similar indentation of the transverse 

 posterior line. Transverse posterior line single, black, slender, start- 

 ing from a black blotch on the costa, beneath which it is sharply bent 

 over the cell, denticulate on the veins and drawn in to meet the tooth 

 of the transverse anterior line. Median shade diffuse, brownish rather 

 than black, a little bent on the costa, and then evenly oblique between 

 the ordinary spots to the inner margin. Subterminal line black, 

 inwardly diffuse, outwardly defined by a white shade, very irregular 

 but not dentate, best marked toward the margins and often quite 

 vague centrally. There is a series of black terminal lunules, beyond 

 which the fringe is dusky. Orbicular large, round, incompletely out- 

 lined, with a large central black spot. Reniform narrow, upright, best 

 marked in black, outwardly. As a whole the basal space is well pow- 

 dered, there is a clear shade before the transverse anterior line, the 

 median space is quite clear except for the median shade, a clear shade 

 follows the transverse posterior line, and this is bounded by a dusky 

 area that sometimes becomes emphasized so as to form a dentate outer 

 line. Terminal space moderately powdered. Secondaries smoky, some- 

 what paler basally; a dark line at the base of the fringes, which are 

 whitish and cut with smoky. Beneath, primaries smoky on the disc, 

 gray outwardly beyond a dusky outer shade ; secondaries paler, gray, 

 with an extra median dusky line and a discal lunule. 



Expanse, 1.40 to 1.80 inches (35 to 45 mm.). 



Habitat. — Canada south to Florida and Texas, west to Colorado, 

 Canada in February; Kittery Point, Maine, June and July; Massa- 

 chusetts in July; Evans Center and Sharon, New York, in July; "IS^ew 

 York" in May. 



This species is easily recognized by its large size, peculiar creamy 

 tinged primaries and united median lines. The variation is confined 



