AMERICAN MOTHS OF THE SUBFAMILY PHYCITINAE 



143 



Male genitalia with harpe simple; clasper vestigial. 

 Aedeagus deeply divided; one of the divided elements 

 slightly forked at apex. Female genitalia with strongly 

 sclerotized, convulute bands in bursa; genital opening 

 simple. 



Type locality: British Columbia (type in AMNH, 

 ex Rutgers). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



Distribution: British Columbia, Goldstream (Aug.), 

 Necola (July), Saunichton (July). 



The only specimen in the Rutgers Collection is a large 

 male (30 mm.) from British Columbia labeled "Dioryc- 

 tria jasciolalis Hulst, Type." I think we may safely 

 assume this to be the actual type although in his original 

 description Hulst gives "Nevada" as the type locality, 

 probably one of his characteristic lapses. A perfect 

 match for the typ^ in color, markings, and genitalia, is 

 foimd in a specimen from Necola, in the Canadian Na- 

 tional Collection. The other records cited above (Gold- 

 stream and Saanichton) are from specimens in the U. S. 

 National Collection. 



Also before me are four examples of what I take to be 

 a variety of Jasciolalis — two males from Gunnison 

 County, Colo. (July), and 2 females from Wallace, 

 Idaho (Aug.). Their blackish markings on forewing 

 are a trifle stronger, the vinculum of male genitalia (fig. 

 363) is somewhat shorter than in iypxc&l Jasciolalis. The 

 convolute bands in the bursa of the female are also a 

 trifle longer. I doubt very much if these differences 

 ndicate anything more than a possible local race. 



290. Pyla impostor, new species 

 FiQUHES 364, 850 



Maxillary palpus of male in the form of an aigrette. 



Forewing color and markings similar to those of 

 Jasciolalis except: Somewhat duller and darker; white 

 dusting sparser; the transverse pale lines fainter, in 

 some specimens much obscured; their blackish borders 

 less strongly contrasted against the ground color of the 

 wing. Hind wing pale smoky fuscous, the brownish 

 tint oi Jasciolalis very faint or altogether lacking. Alar 

 expanse, 23-30 mm. 



Male genitalia with a long, slender, somewhat flat- 

 tened, outwardly curved clasper on harpe; base of costa 

 not modified. Aedeagus divided for about half its 

 length, moderately slender, the divided elements rigid, 

 pointed and unforked at their apices. Female with 

 convolute, sclerotized folds extending from bursa shortly 

 into ductus bursae; ductus bursae itself partially sclero- 

 tized, the sclerotization forming broad ventrolateral 

 bands extending from just beyond the convolute folds 

 of the bursa to genital opening. 



Type locality: Slate Peak, Whatcom County, Wash. 

 (6,000-7,000 ft.; type in USNM, 61350; paratypes in 

 USNM and Canadian Nat. CoU.). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



Described from male type and one female paratype 

 from the type locality, collected by J. F. G. Clarke, Aug. 



2, 1940; and paratypes from the following localities: 

 Bogachiel Peak, Olympic Mts., Wash., Aug. 9, 1936, 

 Dr. A. F. Braun (9); Chimney Gulch, Golden, Colo., 

 Oslar (cf); Colorado with only the state locality (a 

 pseudotype, cf , of Jascialis Hulst, from the Fernald 

 Collection); Big Belt Mts., Mont., July 18, 1928, J. 

 McDunnough (d'); upper GaUatin Canyon, Mont., 

 7,000 ft., July 4, 1928, J. McDunnough (c?); Banff, 

 Alberta, July 20, 1925, Owen Bryant, (cf ); Lethbridge, 

 Alberta, July 3, 1922, H. L. Seamans (cT); Moraine 

 Lake, Alberta, July 3, 4, 7, 1923, J. McDunnough (4 cf 

 and 2 9); Waterton Lakes, Alberta, July 23, 28, 1923, 

 J. McDunnough (cf and 9); Hope Mts., British Co- 

 lumbia, July 22, 1932, A. N. Gartrell (cf ); Mount Rev- 

 elstoke, British Columbia, 6,000 ft., July 12, 1923, E. 

 E. BuckeU (cf ). 



Most of the foregoing were in our collections as 

 Jasciolalis on the basis of the false Hulst type in the 

 National Museum. It is superficially like Jasciolalis, 

 but a distinct mountain-top species easily identified by 

 its genitalia. 



291. Pyla aequivoca, new species 

 Figures 366, 855 



Maxillary palpus of male in the form of an aigrette. 



Superficially like impostor; the ground color of the 

 male forewing a trifle more brownish gray, and the dark 

 outer border of antemedial line somewhat broader and 

 diffused into the ground color at costa, differences that 

 could not be expected to hold in any extended series. 

 Distinguished by its genitalia. Alar expanse, 26-29 mm. 



Male genitaha with clasper arising from midbasal 

 area of harpe as in impostor, but much shorter and angu- 

 late. Anellus U-shaped, its lateral arms long and 

 slender. Aedeagus much shorter and somewhat stouter; 

 its divided elements broader, decidedly flattened, termi- 

 nating in sharp spines and more or less laterally spined 

 towards apices. Eighth abdominal segment of male 

 with two pairs of hair tufts. 



Type locality: Banff, Alberta, Canada (type in 

 Canadian Nat. Coll., paratype in USNM, 61351). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



Described from male type and three male paratypes 

 from the type locality, collected by C. B. D. Garrett, 

 June 21 and 30 and Jidy 6, 1922; and one male parat3rpe 

 from Hymers, Ontario June 8, 1915. In addition to the 

 type series I have before me a female from the Canadian 

 National CoUection collected at Aweme, Manitoba, 

 Aug. 26, 1921, by Norman Criddle. Its genitalia differ 

 markedly from those of impostor. The membrane of 

 bursa is thickened near jimction with ductus bursae but 

 lacks the sclerotizations of impostor; the ventrolateral 

 bands of the ductus bursae are differently shaped and 

 fuse into the ventrolateral sclerotizations of the inter- 

 segmental area before the eighth-segment collar. While 

 I have little doubt that this female is conspecific with 

 the males, I am not designating it as a paratype. 



