Antennal Characters of Cosmopliila erosa, Hubn. 300 



The colour- variations of G. erosa range from light to dark, 

 from brightly to dull-coloured, the New- World examples, as 

 a rule, having paler secondaries than those from the Old 

 World ; but even this character is by no means constant, the 

 hind wings being sometimes almost white, sometimes golden 

 ochreous, sometimes again smoky grey with white-tipped 

 fringes j the dark lines on the primaries never seem to vary, 

 only the ground -colouring, and this varies to an extraordinary 

 degree ; so that from the same locality and collection one may 

 receive specimens having these wings of a nearly uniform 

 golden ochreous tint, or divided into two nearly equal light 

 and dark areas, always, however, showing the same silvery 

 spot in the cell and dark (sometimes nearly black) transverse 

 irregular lines. 



Cosmophila erosa. is the only species at present known to 

 me which exhibits this abnormal variability of antennal 

 structure, unless it should turn out that I was correct in 

 referring the Indian specimens of Bombycia (since named by 

 Mr. Hampson B. persimilis) to B. viminalis. This is just 

 possible, but, judging from the constancy of our European 

 examples in this particular, not probable. 



The fact nevertheless that any one species of moth is 

 capable of such marvellous inconstancy in the structure of the 

 male antennae seems quite to justify Mr. Hampson in re- 

 garding peculiarities in these organs as of secondary import- 

 ance when confined to one sex, and should make all lepido- 

 pterists hesitate to use them alone for distinguishing new 

 genera. 



