124 



UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 207 



As here defined the genus includes a number of 

 species with two types of maxillary palpi, several of 

 which have been hitherto referred to either Salebria or 

 Myrlaea. The reference of some of our North American 

 species to the latter genus on the strength of a slight 

 obliqueness of their labial palpi is not warranted as 

 none of them agrees with the Old World type of Myrlaea 

 (albistrigella Staudinger) on either male or female 

 genitalic characters. The ductus bursae and bursa of 

 albistrigella are perfectly smooth, without granulations, 

 scobinations, or sclerotizations of any kind; and its 

 harpe lacks the hair brush characteristic of Meroptera 

 and Nephopteryx. 



The two types of male maxillary palpi (aigrettelike 

 and squamous) do not justify generic separation of the 

 species here any more than they do in Dioryctria or 

 Ortholepis although such a difference should be, and in 

 the Phycitidae usually is, of generic significance. On 

 basilaris, the palpus is midway between the two types, 

 though somewhat more aigrettelike than squamous. 

 The uniform type of their male and female genitalia and 

 the similar habitus of the included species indicate a 

 distinct and natural group. Nephopteryx is very close 

 to Meroptera but is distinguished by its simple, slender 

 clasper, simple female genital opening, and differently 

 sclerotized ductus bursae. 



Genus Nephopteryx, Species 250-267: N. sub- 

 fuscella to N. celtidella 



[Males with aigrettelike palpi.] 



250. Nephopteryx suhfuscella (Ragonot), new combination 

 FiauHES 337, 821 



Salebria suhfuscella Ragonot, N. Amer. Phycitidae, p. 8, 1887; 

 Monograph, pt. 1, pp. 329, 360, 1893.— Hulst, Phycitidae 

 of N. Amer., p. 151, 1890.— McDunnough, Check list. No. 

 6123, 1939. 



Salebria semiobscurella Hulst, Phycitidae of N. Amer., p. 151, 

 1890. — Ragonot, Monograph, pt. 1, p. 352, 1893. — Barnes 

 and McDunnough, Contributions, vol. 3, p. 197, 1916. — 

 Forbes, Cornell Mem. 68, p. 626, 1923.— McDunnough, 

 Check list. No. 6212, 1939.— Craighead, U. S. Dep. Agr. 

 Misc. Publ. 657, p. 454, 1950. (New synonymy.) 



Meroptera pravella (authors not Grote) Hulst (in part), Phyci- 

 tidae of N. Amer., p. 148, 1890. — Ragonot (in part). Mono- 

 graph, pt. 1, p. 314, 1893. — Grossbeck, Bull. Amer. Mus. 

 Nat. Hist., vol. 37, p. 130, 1917.— Forbes, Cornell Mem. 68, 

 p. 624, 1923. 



Color and maculation resembling those of Meroptera 

 pravella. Forewing gray; the basal area contrastingly 

 paler with some dark shading at extreme base and more 

 or less reddish or orange scaling on base of inner margin 

 (at least a trace on all except badly rubbed specimens) ; 

 antemedial line obscure, indicated chiefly by its fused 

 dark inner and outer borders which form a rather broad, 

 oblique, blackish band, the antemedial line itself distin- 

 guishable on most specimens only as an incomplete, me- 

 dian, pale (whitish) streak in the dark band;subterminal 

 line obscure but complete, narrow, sinuate, pale gray with 

 fine dark bordering lines; some whitish dusting over 

 central area of wing, especially on pale examples; discal 



dots blackish, occasionally separated, more often fused 

 into a curved line; dots along terminal line fine, weak, 

 blackish, usually separated, on some specimens con- 

 fluent. Hind wing pale brown to smoky fuscous; veins 

 darkened, especially on the darker females; a narrow 

 dark shade along termen. Alar expanse, 18-22 mm. 



Male genitalia with apical process of gnathos triangu- 

 late. Clasper bent downward, parallel to sm-face of 

 harpe. Female genitalia with granulate sclerotized 

 patch on bursa a continuous band across posterior 

 ventral surface and forward on right side of bursa. 



Type locality: Not given (subfuscella, in Paris 

 Mus.) ; Blanco County, Tex. (semiobscurella, in AMNH, 

 ex Rutgers). 



Food plants: Rhus, locust [?]. Larva a leaf-folder. 



Distribution: United states: Maine, Augusta 

 (June) ; Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard (May, July) ; 

 Connecticut, East River (June); Rhode Island, Weeka- 

 paugh (Aug.); New York, Ilion (June), Rossville (Long 

 Island, Feb., Mar.), Shore of Lake Ontario (near 

 Rochester, May, June); Pennsylvania, Oak Station 

 (Aug.); District of Columbia, Washington; North Caro- 

 lina, Tryon (May); Florida, Fort Myers (May), Lake 

 Alfred (July); Texas, Burnet County (Apr.), Kerrville 

 (May, Aug.); Missouri, Kirkwood (Mar., Apr., May); 

 Illinois, Decatur (July, Aug.); Washington, Almota 

 (July), BeUingham (Nov.), PuUman (Feb., May, June, 

 July, Aug., Nov.), Snake River (Jan., Feb., July), 

 Walla Walla (July), Wawawai (May). Canada: Que- 

 bec, Levis, Meach Lake (July), Mount St. Hilaire (July) ; 

 Ontario, Merivale (Mar.), Ottawa (Mar.), Trenton 

 (May, June, July). 



Many of the above records are from reared examples 

 from sumac, and all such had been identified by Riley 

 and Dyar as Meroptera pravella. Barnes and McDun- 

 nough (1916) were the first to question and correct this 

 identification, assigning the name Salebria semiobscurella 

 Hulst to the sumac feeder. At that time subfuscella 

 had not been recognized by American lepidopterists. 

 It resembles pravella but has the reddish scaling on base 

 of inner margin of forewing. Unquestionably it is the 

 same as what Hulst later described as semiobscurella. 

 No other American species that could have been referred 

 to Meroptera or Salebria has this red-scale character 

 with the habitus, otherwise, of pravella. The food 

 plant record of dried peaches ("peches dess^ch^es") given 

 for subfuscella by Ragonot (Monograph, pt. 1, p. 352) 

 on the basis of two imperfect specimens sent him so 

 labeled by Riley is obviously incorrect and can be 

 ignored. I question also "locust" as a probable or even 

 occasional food plant. That record, given above, is 

 based on four males from the Fernald collection that 

 had been identified by Dyar as pravella. They had been 

 reared (Apr. 1889, May 1893) from larvae collected by 

 Miss Murtfeldt at Kirkwood, Mo., on locust. Her note 

 ("324M") states that most of the larvae in the lot were 

 "Salebria contatella Grote" but that a few seemed to be 

 a different species. I suspect that the latter (the sub- 

 fuscella larvae) had merely migrated to the locust after 

 feeding on nearby sumac. 



