NO. 1465. TEXAN TINEID MO THS—B USCK. 729 



nivosella, which is a female. The male of this species, however, shows a strong costal 

 tuft of diverging hairs near the base of the hind wing.s, which separates it at once from 

 Psecadia. It possesses veins 7 and 8 of the forewing from a common stem, a character 

 which also somewhat misled me as to its aflBnities; the length of the cell, however, and 

 the general character of the neuration, together with the roughened head, seem to indi- 

 cate an alliance with the Hyponementidfe rather than with the Oecophoridx. I would 

 therefor revive the generic name Tamarrha Walker, retaining nievoi^eUa as the type. 



The writer has only latel}', during studies of the West-Indian Micro- 

 lepidoptera, met with Wallcer's two species, and has thus become 

 acquainted with their true generic characters, which could not be 

 divined from either Walker's descriptions or Lord WalsinghanTs 

 remarks; the synonomy of his genus Bahaiaxa"- was at once evident. 



I am unable to agree with Lord Walsingham that Walker's tirst 

 sipecies, g elide/la is a true Psecadia; it is congeneric with ^u'/^^^c^v/Za, 

 and is evidently the species which Zeller subsequently described as 

 Psecadia exornatella.^ 



Lord Walsingham placed the genus Tamarrha in the family Ypone- 

 TTieutidce^ but I fail to find any near relation in that family, or any jus- 

 tification for that position. The stalked veins 7 and 8 in the fore- 

 wings, both terminating in the costal edge, the hairy posterior tibise, 

 the obsolete maxillary palpi, the connate veins 3 and 4 in the hind- 

 wings, and the general habitus of the species seem to place the genus 

 in the family Oecophoridte, in spite of the connecting vein between 

 veins 7 and 8 in the hindwings equally heterogeneal in both families, 

 and the consequent partial obliteration of the basal part of vein 7, 

 which I'emains as pointed out in my original description the salient 

 distinctive character of the genus. 



On the other hand, the close resemblance to the genus Ethmia 

 {Psecadia)^ which caused such careful workers as Zeller, Moschler, 

 and Fernald to describe the species as members of that genus, seems 

 to me only superficial and not indicative of close relationship 



The tufted head which Zellar mentioned as a unique character of 

 the male of niveosella is not, as supposed by Lord Walsingham, a 

 family character, equivalent to the tufted head of the Tlneida'. The 

 head is probably normall}^ smooth in both sexes, but the species seems 

 to have the remarkable ability of raising the scales on the vertex and 

 even on the face. Li a large series of perfect specimens of Tamai^ha 

 niveosella before me this character is not confined to the males, and 

 some of the specimens of both sexes exhibit as typically tufted a head 

 as any T'mea^ while others have the scales of the head perfectly smoothl}- 

 appressed; in some specimens the face is smooth and the vertex onl}' 

 tufted, and in two specimens the one side of the head and face is tufted, 

 the other side smooth, proving that it is a changeable character, prob- 

 ably in control of the individual and subject to the mental condition 

 of the insect. 



« Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc, X, 1902, p. 95. » Florae Soc. Ent. Ross., XIII, 1877, p. 238. 



