AMERICAN MOTHS OF THE SUBFAMILY PHYCITINAE 



61 



120. Fundella argentina Dyar 

 Figures 234, 711 



Fundella pellucens Zeller (in part, "var. b"), Isis von Oken, vol. 



41, p. 867, 1848; Horae Soc. Ent. Rossicae, vol. 16, p. 237, 



fig. 41b, 1881. 

 Fundella argentina Dyar, Ins. Insc. Menstr., vol. 7, p. 40, 1919. — 



Heinrich, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 96, p. 109, 1945. 

 Fundella eucasis Dyar, Ins. Insc. Menstr., vol. 7, p. 40, 1919. 



Male antennal shaft with even smaller black basal 

 scale tuft than that of pellucens. Forewing gray with- 

 out the reddish brown, interspersed scaling character- 

 istic of typical examples of pellucens; entire basal area 

 to antemedian line dark fuscous gray (with but very 

 slight dusting of whitish scales toward base in some 

 specimens) ; this dark basal patch contrasted against 

 the paler gray color of the remainder of the wing, ex- 

 tending from costa to inner margin and bordered out- 

 wardly by a narrow whitish line. Otherwise not dis- 

 tinguishable, superficially, from pellucens. 



Female essentially like the male in color and markings 

 except that the basal area of forewing is concolorous 

 with or contrastingly paler than the remainder of the 

 wing. A narrow dark line or a diffused dark shading 

 outwardly bordering the obscure antemedian line. 



Alar expanse, 15-23 mm. 



Male genitalia without sclerotized subanal plate. 

 Terminal projection of gnathos varying from round to 

 pointed (fig. 234b) at apex. Harpe tapering to bluntly 

 pointed apex; clasper a single, straight, sUghtly rough- 

 ened, appressed spine, situated beyond middle of harpe. 

 Aedeagus simple; cornutus a single, straight spine. 



Female genitalia with signima well developed and 

 consisting of a large pear-shaped cluster of thornlike 

 spines; sclerotized band behind genital opening, divided 

 in the middle, simple (fig. 711a) in Argentinian and 

 Brazilian specimens, or armed with a pair of median, 

 spinelike projections (fig. 711), rather long in West In- 

 dian specimens or short and disappearing in Mexican 

 and Venezuelan specimens. 



Type localities: Tucumdn, Argentina (argentina, in 

 USNM); Caracas, Venezuela {eucasis, in USNM). 



Food plant: Cassia spp. (reared examples in Na- 

 tional Collection from Cassia bicapsularis and C. corym- 

 hosa), Poinciana gilliesi. 



Distribution: United States: Florida, Biscayne 

 Bay (May), Coconut Grove (Apr.), Stock Island (Apr.); 

 Texas, Brownsville (Nov.). Mexico: Several examples 

 reared from pods and blossoms of Cassia bicapsularis 

 at Brownsville, Tex., quarantine station. Cuba: Bara- 

 guA (Mar.), Habana, Matanzas, Santiago Province. 

 Puerto Eico: Bayam6n (Mar., Sept.), Vieques Isl. 

 (Apr., July), Coamo Springs (Apr.), Aguirre Central 

 (Aug.), San Germdn (Aug.), San Juan (Nov.). Haiti: 

 Potion viUe (Jime). Virgin Islands: St. Croix (Oct.- 

 Nov.). Jamaica. Venezuela: El Valle (June). 

 Brazil: Bafa (May). Argentina: Tucumdn (Mar.). 



In collections this species has appeared most fre- 

 quently under the name pellucens. Both argentina and 

 pellucens have about the same distribution and are 

 abundant in the West Indies, though, from material 



at hand, pellucens seems to be rarer on the mainland. 

 Throughout its range argentina shows considerable var- 

 iation in female genitalia. West Indian specimens have 

 rather conspicuous spinelike extensions of the sclero- 

 tized band behind the genital opening. These are en- 

 tirely lacking in Brazilian specimens, and if one had 

 only these extremes he would be justified in assuming 

 that they were at least racially distinct. However, 

 Venezuelan and Mexican examples show an intermedi- 

 ate form with very short projections, and Central Amer- 

 ican specimens, when recovered in sufficient numbers, 

 will probably show all intergradations. The male geni- 

 talia are remarkably uniform throughout the range of 

 the species, exhibiting only minor individual variations 

 in the shape of the terminal projection of the gnathos. 



121. Fundella agapella Schaus 



Figure 710 



Fundella agapella Schaus, Zoologica, vol. 5, No. 2, p. 47, 1923. — 

 Heinrich, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 96, p. Ill, 1945. 



Female palpi, head, thorax, and forewing whitish 

 gray; dark markings drab gray; transverse antemedian 

 line of forewing white, defined chiefly bjj^ its narrow, 

 dark outer border, sharply sinuate, indented a trifle 

 just below costa, more deeply at top of cell and still 

 more deeply at fold below cell; discal dot at end of cell 

 obscure; white sub terminal line indented at vein 6 and 

 at submedian fold, bordered inwardly by a distinct dark 

 shade as broad as the white line itself and outwardly 

 by a similar, fainter, dark shading, the latter conspic- 

 uous only at apex. Hind wing as in the other species 

 of Fundella. Alar expanse, 12 mm; 



Genitalia like those of intermediate examples of ar- 

 gentina except that the signum is considerably smaller 

 in proportion to the size of the bursa. 



Type locality: Tagus Cove, Albemarle, Galdpagos 

 Islands (type in USNM). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



Known only from the female type. Superficially a 

 distinct species. The female genitalia, however, would 

 indicate that agapella is only a race of argentina. A 

 male will be needed for exact placement, and until it is 

 available we shall have to treat agapella as a species. 



122. Fundella ignobilis Heinrich 

 Figures 232, 712 



Fundella ignobilis Heinrich, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 96, p. 

 112, 1946. 



Male antennal shaft without any trace of black basal 

 scale tuft. Otherwise partaking of the pattern mark- 

 ings of both pellucens and argentina; in some specimens 

 dark basal patch of forewing roimd and reaching neither 

 costa nor inner margin (as in typical pellucens) , in ma- 

 jority of specimens, however, basal patch occupying 

 whole basal area (as in typical argentina) ; median and 

 outer areas of wing averaging a trifle paler than in 

 argentina and without the reddish brown scaling of 

 pellucens. 



