116 



body thickly and lengthily haired ; size small ; labial palpi heavily fringed, 

 extending beyond the front ; fore wings lanceolate, hind margin long, obliquely 

 rounded, internal angle not prominent. Fore tibiae abbreviate, with a dispro- 

 portionately heavy claw, else all the tibiae without spines. Eyes constricted ; 

 no clypeal tubercle as in Omia. DiflFers from Melicleptria in the shape of the 

 primaries. The clypeus, while full, is not projected ; the thorax is square, 

 broad, and the whole body lengthily haired. 



Heliolonche modicella, Orote, Plate 3, fig. 13 s . 



$ 2 . — Fore wings obscure purple, with a wide, roundedly oblique, pale 

 yellowish fascia running from costal region, below the apices and costal margin, 

 to just above internal margin, at about basal third, not attaining the base of the 

 wing nor internal margin, which are covered with blackish olivaceous scales 

 that, extending upwardly, partially border the central fascia. On the cell a 

 longitudinal, pale yellowish shade streak ; fringes pale. Secondaries rounded, 

 small, wholly black, with pale fringes. Body blackish, clothed with olivaceous 

 hair. Beneath without markings, pale ; on the fore wings a faint indication 

 of the fascia of the upper surface, preceded at the base of the wing, and suc- 

 ceeded subterminally, by dusky scales. 



Expanse, 17 m. m. Habitat, California (Theo. L. Mead, 



No. 70). 



HELIOTHIS, Ochsenheimer (1816). 

 Subgenus, Melicleptria Hiibner '' (1816). 



Type : Noctua cardui, Esper. 



Heliothis mitis, Crrote, Plate 3, fig. 7 2 . 



$ . — Ocelli ; eyes naked ; front bulging, very full ; antennae simple, scaled ; 

 palpi and body without the very heavy fringing and vestiture of Heliolonche. 

 Size small. Fore wings dark, olivaceous yellow, tinted with bright ochreous. 

 A rounded, oblique, pale yellowish transverse exterior fascia, attaining internal 

 margin. The narrow subterminal darker ground shade between this and the 

 broader terminal pale yellowish space is, by contrast, distinct. A narrow ter- 

 minal linear continued shade of the darker ground color ; fringes bright 

 ochreous. A hardly perceptible discal longitudinal paler shade. The orna- 

 mentation of the fore wings recalls that of the preceding species. The shape 

 of these is, however, diiferent, the external margin being shorter and the 

 internal angle more determinate. Hind wings black, with pale yellow fringes. 



■7 This section seems to me of at least equal value with Dianthoecia, and might be raised to 

 generic raiili. 



