AMERICAN MOTHS OF THE SUBFAMILY PHYCITINAE 



173 



lobe of bursa near junction of bursa and ductus bursae. 

 As here defined the genus is limited to its type 

 species. None of the other species that have hitherto 

 been assigned to Elasmopalpus fits comfortably into the 

 genus. 



360. Elasmopalpus lignoselliis (Zeller) 

 Figures 33, 417, 906 



Pempelia lignosella Zeller, Isis von Oken, 1848, p. 885; Verh. zool.- 

 bot. Ges. Wien, vol. 22; p. 544, 1872; vol. 24, p. 430, 1874; 

 Horae Soc. Ent. Rossicae, vol. 16, p. 180, 1881. — Riley, in 

 Rep. [U. S.] Comm. Agr. for 1881, pp. 142-145, 1882. 



EUasmopalpus angustellus Blanchard, in Gay, Historia fisca y 

 politica de Chile. Zoologica, vol. 7, p. 105, 1852.— Berg, Bull. 

 Soc. Imp. Nat., Moscou, p. 228, 1875; Anales Soc, Cient. 

 Argentina, vol. 4, pt. 4, p. 209, 1877 (makes synonym of 

 Pempelia lignosella) . 



Pempelia lignosella tarlarella Zeller, Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 

 vol. 22, p. 544, 1872; Horae Soc. Ent. Rossicae, vol. 16, p. 

 180, 1881. 



Pempelia lignosella incaulella Zeller, Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 

 vol. 22, p. 544, 1872; Horae Soc. Ent. Rossicae, vol. 16, p. 

 180, 1881. 



Pempelia lignosella major Zeller, Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, vol. 

 24, p. 430, 1874. 



Elasmopalpus anlhracellus Ragonot, Nouv. Gen., p. 23, 1888; 

 Monograph, pt. 1, p. 428, 1893 (new synonymy). 



Dasypyga carbonella Hulst, Ent. Amer., vol. 4, p. 114, 1888. 



Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Zeller) Ragonot, Ent. Amer., vol. 5, p. 

 115. 1889; Monograph, pt. 1, p. 425, 1893.— Hulst, Phyci- 

 tidae of N. Amer., p. 159, 1890. — Chittenden, U. S. Dep. 

 Agr. Div. Ent. Bull. 23, pp. 17-22, 1900.— LuginbUl and 

 Ainslie, U. S. Dep. Agr. Bull. 539, 27 pp., 1917.— Forbes, 

 Cornell Mem. 68, p. 628, 1923. — Metcalf and Flint, Destruc- 

 tive and useful insects, ed 1, pp. 338-339, 1928; ed 2, pp. 367- 

 368, 1939.— McDunnough, Check list, No. 6231, 1939.— 

 Costa-Lima, Insetos do Brazil, p. 2, p. 93, 1950. — Craighead, 

 U. S. Dep. Agr. Misc. Publ. 657, p. 454, 1950. 



Elasmopalpus puer Dyar, Ins. Insc. Menstr., vol. 7, p. 53, 1919 

 (new synonymy). 



Ground color of forewing (on male) dull ocherous 

 fawn, transverse lines obsolete; on paler specimens a 

 subbasal black spot on vein lb, one on lower vein of cell 

 beyond middle and another at lower outer angle of cell ; 

 a row of faint, more or less confluent blackish dots along 

 terminal margin; a blackish shade of varying width 

 along costa and inner and outer margins ; on females the 

 dark shading more extended, reducing the ocherous 

 ground color to a narrow, longitudinal shade, or com- 

 pletely suffusing the wing; many female examples en- 

 tirely black, with some occasional sparse reddish scaling 

 at extreme base of wing. Hind wing translucent white, 

 with a faint darkening of the outer veins and a narrow 

 brownish shade along terminal margin. Alar expanse, 

 16-24 mm. 



Male and female genitalia: as given for the genus. 



Type localities: Brazil {lignosellus, in BM); Rio 

 Negro, Brazil {anlhracellus, in Paris Mus.); Concepcion, 

 Chile {angustellus, in Paris Mus.); Valparaiso, Chile 

 {major, in BM); Santiago Province, Cuba {puer, in 

 USNM); Texas {tartarella and incaulella, in BM; car- 

 bonella, in AMNH, ex Rutgers). 



Food plants: Beans, corn, cowpeas, chufa {Cyperus 

 exculentus), crabgrass, sudangrass, Johnsongrass, Japa- 



nese cane, milo maze, sugar cane, sorghum, peanuts, 

 turnips, wheat, strawberry plants, flax, cotton, black 

 locust. Larvae boring into the stems of growing plants 

 and, to a lesser extent, feeding on the leaves. 



Distribution. — United States: Florida, Everglade 

 (Apr.), Fort Myers (Apr.), Hastings (Sept., Oct.), Lake 

 Alfred (July), Lakeland (Oct.), Miami (Oct.); Georgia, 

 Savannah (July); Alabama, Auburn (Aug.), Eufaula; 

 Louisiana, Baton Rouge (July, Aug.), New Orleans 

 (June); Texas, Blanco County (Mar.), Brownsville 

 (Mar., June, Oct.), Burnet County (Mar.), College 

 Station, DaUas (Oct.), Dickinson (Oct.), Gainesville 

 (Aug.); KerrviUe (Aug.), San Benito (Apr., June, July), 

 Smith Point (Sept.), Victoria (Apr., July); Arizona, 

 Baboquivari Mts. (Oct.), Mesa (Aug.), Phoenix (Aug.), 

 Tempe (Oct.); California, San Diego (Aug.); Soulh 

 Carolina, Columbia; Virginia, Cape Henry (June), Nor- 

 folk (Sept.); District of Columbia, Washington (Aug., 

 Oct., Nov., Dec); Neto Jersey, Montclair (Sept.); 

 Massachusetts, Cohasset (July, Aug.), Newton High- 

 lands. Bermuda (Mar., Apr., May). Cuba: Havana, 

 Matanzas, Santiago de las Vegas (Apr.), Santiago 

 Province (Oct.). Puerto Rico: Anasco, Coamo Springs 

 (Apr.), Puerto Real (Vieques Isl., Apr.), Rio Piedras 

 (Aug.), San German (Apr.), Villalba (July). Virgin 

 Islands: St. Croix (Apr.). Tobago (June). Jamaica. 

 M:6xico: Barmos {Sinaloa, Mar.), Chiapas, CoUma 

 (Mar.), Guadalajara, Iguala (June), Mexico City (Nov.), 

 Orizaba, Tehuacdn (May, June, Aug.). Guatemala: 

 Cayuga (Apr., June, July), Chejel (June, July, Aug.), 

 Guatemala City (Mar.), Perulhi (July), Quirigud 

 (Mar.), Volcan Santa Maria (Nov.), PanamA: Alha- 

 juela (Apr.), Corozal (May, July), La Chorrera (Apr., 

 May), Paraiso (May), Porto Bello (Mar., Apr., May, 

 Sept., Oct.), Rio Trinidad (Mar.). Venezuela: Las 

 Cruces, Coldn (Dec). French Guiana: Cayenne, St. 

 Jean Maroni. Brazil: Castro (Parand), Rio Negro, 

 Santa Catarina (Oct.), Sao Paulo (Sept.). Paraguay: 

 Paraguayan Chaco (Makthlawaiya, Nov., Nanahua, 

 Mar.), Villarrica (Feb., Sept., Oct., Nov.). Argentina: 

 Tucumfin (Nov.), Villa Cina (Feb., Mar., Nov.). 

 Chile: Valparaiso (Apr.). Per6: Canete (Oct.). Gen- 

 erally distributed throughout the tropical and temperate 

 regions of the New World. 



An insect of some economic importance in our 

 Southern States and known in economic Uterature as 

 the "lesser cornstalk borer." It is individually variable 

 in color and the sexes are markedly dimorphic. As a 

 result it has received several names. The latter have 

 no taxonomic value for they represent at most only 

 color forms. As far as I know the species is confined 

 to the New World, where it is abundant and widely 

 distributed. 



The Luginbill and Ainslie paper (1917) gives all avail- 

 able information on the life history of the species. 

 There has been no contribution of any importance since 

 its publication. 



