AMERICAN MOTHS OF THE SUBFAMILY PHTCITINAE 



31 



well contrasted, black dots (these a rather characteristic 

 feature of most of the species of the genus); on the 

 female a conspicuous whitish patch on inner margin at 

 inner edge of the subterminal line (this whitish patch 

 not present on the males before me). Hind wing 

 semihyaline, shaded with smoky fuscous towards apex, 

 on the veins and nan-owly along termen. Eighth 

 abdominal segment of male with a single moderately 

 long pair of ventrolateral hair tufts. Alar expanse, 

 22-26 mm. 



Male genitalia with central part of transtilla quadri- 

 form (the horns flattened and with flattened lobes from 

 their bases, the space between the horns even through- 

 out); harpe with costa not produced at apex; apex of 

 cornutus enlarged, sharply bent and bearing a row of 

 thornlike spines. Female genitalia with ventral plate 

 at genital opening smooth or nearly so ; granulations of 

 ductus bursae dense and forming a continuous sclero- 

 tized mass. 



Type locality: Chanchamayo, Peru (type in Zool. 

 Mus. Univ. Berlin). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



Distribution: Feench Guiana: Cayenne. Brazil: 

 Par^. Perij: Chanchamayo. 



53. Hemiptilocera bigrana (Zeller) 

 Figures 180, 660 



Myelois bigrana Zeller, Horae Soc. Ent. Rossicae, vol. 16, p. 200, 



1881. 

 Hemiptilocera bigrana (Zeller) Ragonot, Monograph, pt. 1, p. 145, 



1893. 



Male antenna with hair tuft strong, black. Antenna 

 of female pubescent. Thorax and base of antenna dull 

 whitish dusted with fuscous. Forewing pale gray dusted 

 with dull rosy and dark grayish fuscous ; the dark dust- 

 ing more evenly distributed than in chinographella; 

 lower discal spot at end of cell large, strongly contrasted ; 

 upper spot weak or not distinguishable ; antemedial line 

 not defined; subterminal defined by its dark borders, 

 which consist of blackish streaks on the veins. Hind 

 wing hyaline white with a faint smoky fuscous shade at 

 apex, on the outer half of the veins and narrowly along 

 termen. Eighth abdominal segment of male with a long, 

 strong pair of ventrolateral hair tufts and two other 

 pairs of modified scale tufts. Alar expanse, 25-29 mm. 



Male genitalia with central part of gnathos a stout 

 crescent-shaped projection with the horns widely 

 spaced ; harpe with apex of costa produced into a short 

 spine ; cornutus a spatulate ribbed blade. Female with 

 ventral plate at genital opening deeply wrinkled ; ductus 

 bursae with a central, elongate, irregular patch of scob- 

 inations, extending into adjacent area of bursa. 



Type locality: Honda, Colombia (type in BM). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



Distribution: Mexico: Guerrero (Aug.), Iguala 

 {Guerrero, June), Popocatepetl Parks (Distrito Federal, 

 June). Colombia: Honda. 



The Mexican records are from specimens in the U. S. 

 National Museum. 



54. Hemiptilocera plumigerella (Ragonot), new combination 



Figure 179 



Nephopteryx plumigerella Ragonot, Nouv. Gen., p. 14, 1888; 

 Monograph, pt. 1, p. 261, 1893. 



This species is known only from the male t3rpe. From 

 Ragonot's description the forewing color and markings 

 must be similar to those of chinographella except much 

 more heavily overshaded with vinous brown. The lower 

 discal spot is conspicuous as in bigrana and the antennal 

 tuft is stout and ochraceous in color. Hind wing iri- 

 descent, semitransparent, grayish brown. Eighth 

 abdominal segment of male with a single pair of long, 

 stout [ventrolateral hair tufts and another pair of 

 much shorter, central tufts. Alar expanse, 21 mm. 



Male genitalia with transtilla as in bigrana, except 

 that the crescent-shaped central projection is much more 

 slender ; cornutus a short bluntly pointed plate with a 

 row of short, blunt spines near apex. 



Type locality: "America Meridionalis" (type in 

 Paris Mus.). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



55. Hemiptilocera letharda (Schaus), new combination 

 Figure 662 



Chloropaschia letharda Schaus, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, 

 vol. 24, p. 237, 1922; Ann. Carnegie Mus., Pittsburgh, vol. 

 16, p. 112, 1925. 



Forewing olive buff shaded with vinaceous fawn on 

 subcoastal, median, and basal areas ; the wing markings 

 black, and some faint scatterings of black scales on fore- 

 wing and thorax; antemedial line indicated only by 

 broken fragments of its narrow outer border; discal 

 black spots at end of cell both conspicuous, the lower 

 one large ; black dots on veins forming the inner margin 

 of the pale subterminal line and black dots along termen 

 also conspicuous. Hind wing semitransparent, smoky 

 white, the veins slightly darkened ; a dark shade towards 

 apex and a narrow dark line along termen. Alar 

 expanse, 29 mm. 



Female genitalia similar to those of bigrana but with 

 a heavier concentration of scobinations in ductus bursae 

 and a much stronger signum. 



Type locality: Cabima, Panamd (May; tj^e in 

 USNM). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



In addition to the female type I have before me a 

 British Museum female from Presidio, Mexico, origi- 

 nally identified as H. bigrana. It is paler than the 

 Schaus type, but this apparently is due to its faded and 

 slightly rubbed condition. Schaus recognized his 

 original misplacement of the species in the Epipaschiidae 

 and in his 1925 paper referred it to the Phycitinae, trans- 

 ferring the specimen to Hemiptilocera in the National 

 Collection; but I am unable to find any published 

 reference of his or Dyar's giving of the generic reference. 



