460 WILLIAM T. M. FORBES 



31. CTMOLOMIA Lederer 



(Exartema Clemens; Eccopsis, in part) 



Similar to Olethreutes; hind wing with a thickened and specialized folded lobe 

 on inner margin (fig. 267) projecting beyond the general outline of the wing, 

 but quite variable in size. Hind wing with LI 2 strongly curved, but often well 

 separated from M 3 and CUj, which are connate at origin. 



The numerous species as a whole show excellent genitalic characters, but they 

 have not been fully worked out, and the present arrangement is tentative, await- 

 ing Heinrich's revision of the Olethreutes group. On the whole a single species 

 seems to prefer a single food-plant, but the rule is not absolute, and too little 

 breeding has been done. 



The pattern in most of the species is characteristic. The ground is of a 

 somewhat lighter shade, usually becoming quite pale along the edges of the 

 markings and tending to be dusted with paler scales and broken into strise. It is 

 usually slightly shining or iridescent. The markings are usually laid on in 

 broader shades and have definite boundaries, often edged with dark; they are 

 often shaded with yellow, or paler brown or gray, but rarely powdery, and 

 hardly ever striate. The thorax and basal third usually show a confused mixture 

 of the two colors, ending in an excurved antemedial line, which may run to the 

 costa, or turn in to the base below the costa; the median band is typically broad 

 in the middle, where it extends out in two long teeth along the upper and lower 

 edges of the cell; and is usually deeply constricted or divided below the lower 

 tooth, often cutting off a large dorsal spot. The upper tooth and costal portion 

 are also often cut off as a separate oblique patch. There is an oblique subterminal 

 patch or fascia, running from below the costa to the middle of the outer margin, 

 and also a series of small costal spots beyond the median band, the second one 

 often joining the subterminal fascia, and the fifth one apical. There is a patch 

 at the anal angle, sometimes connected with the dorsal end of the median 

 patch, especially if the latter is separate from the rest of the median band. The 

 hind wing is almost constant, being mouse-gray with a pale fringe. The basal line 

 of the fringe on the fore wing is continuous, often fading out toward the anal 

 angle; the outer part is usually blackish at the apex and at the end of the sub- 

 terminal fascia, and pale between and at the anal angle, but is often wholly dark. 



The genus is almost wholly North American, with a couple of species in 

 Europe. 



Key to the species 



1. Fore wing rather evenly marked with numerous wavy transverse lines. 



1. monetiferana. 

 1. Fore wing irregularly marked. 



2. Large smooth brown patches on basal fourth and near apex of costa. 



34. ferriferana. 

 2. Without two large smooth brown patches. 



3. Thorax red-brown, contrasting with ground color of wings; rarely, with 

 only the posterior tuft brown. 



4. Base of costa contrastingly pale 31. ochrisuffusana. 



4. Base of costa grayish. 



5. Fore wing with stem of cubitus and three or four veins subterminally 



pale ; base of inner margin not brown 32. quadrifida. 



5. Fore wing with a broad pale shade on Cu only; base of inner margin 



with a red-brown patch 33. inornatana. 



3. Thorax concolorous. 



4. Most of wing almost evenly blackish, contrasting with the pale, clearly 

 marked outer margin 10. conoinnana var. terminana. 



