212 



tUSriTED STATES NATIONAI, MUSEUM BULLETIN 207 



p. 115, 1908.— McDunnough, Check list, No. 6314, 1939. 

 (New synonymy.) 



Forewing ashy gray on costal half shading to white 

 on costa; lower half of wing shaded with ocherous gray; 

 rather narrow antemedian and subterminal bands 

 strongly contrasted, blackish fuscous, antemedian band 

 slightly curved, nearly vertical, ending just before costa ; 

 discal dots small, blackish, the upper one obscure and 

 frequently absent. Hind wing whitish with a faint 

 gray or ocherous tint. Alar expanse, 16-22 mm. 



Female genitalia with signum very weak, consisting 

 of a cluster of 3 to 5 small disks; bursa copulatrix finely 

 scobinate. 



Type localities: "Senora" [sic], Mexico (sonorella, 

 in Paris Mus.); Yuma County, Ariz, {jplacidella, in 

 USNM). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



Distribution: United States: Arizona, Huachuca 

 Mts., Santa Catalina Mts., Eedington, Yuma County 

 (Colorado Desert). Mfixico: Sonora. 



In some of the female specimens before me from 

 Redington, Ariz., the transverse dark markings are 

 rather faint, almost obsolete in a few examples and 

 there is considerable variation in size, but the general 

 habitus and genitalia easily distinguish the species. 



120. Cassiana, new genus 



Type op genus: Vitula malacella Dyar 



Tongue well developed. Antenna pubescent; in male 

 with a row of 6 or 7 short slender spines along outer side 

 of shaft towards base, shaft somewhat swollen. Labial 

 palpus upturned; in female slightly oblique. Maxillary 

 palpus filiform. Forewing smooth; venation as in 

 Aptunga, veins 2-3 closely approximate from angle of 

 cell; male with a strong costal fold terminating at basal 

 third in an outwardly projecting brush of scales. Hind 

 wing with veins 3-5 stalked; 7-8 anastomosed for most 

 of their lengths (free end of vein 8 a short, weak spine) ; 

 cell about half the length of wing. Abdomen of male 

 with a strong pair of ventrolateral hair tufts from eighth 

 segment. 



Male genitalia with apical process of gnathos small, 

 bifid; aedeagus with a sclerotized, longitudinal, ventral 

 ridge for over half its length from base. 



Female genitalia with signum; ductus seminalis from 

 anterior end of bursa. 



420. Cassiana malacella (Dyar), new combinatioa 

 FiGUEBs 466, 965, 956 



Vitula malacella Dyar, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 47, p. 408. 

 1914. 



Forewing pale grayish fuscous, the area between cell 

 and costa white with a faint, scattered dusting of red- 

 dish scales; costal edge from base to one-third (the extent 

 of the costal fold) blackish; transverse antemedial line 

 obsolete; subterminal line but faintly indicated. Hind 

 wing whitish, the veins outlined by dark scales, and a 

 narrow smoky border along termen and costa. Alar 

 expanse, 15-17 mm. 



Male genitalia with lateral margins of vinculum con- 

 cave, terminal margin straight. Female genitalia with 

 signum variable, consisting of from one small platelike 

 projecting disk to a line of similar disks (examples of 

 the extreme types in two Puerto Rican specimens are 

 shown in figs. 955, 956) ; bursa and considerable part of 

 ductus bursae finely scobinate. 



Type locality : Tehuacdn, Mexico (type in USNM) . 



Food plant: Unknown. 



Distribution: MiSxico: Tehuacdn (May). Puerto 

 Rico: Bayam6n (Sept.), Puerto Real (Apr.), Rio 

 Piedras (Sept.). Virgin Islands : Kingshill (St. Croix, 

 Mar., Dec). 



Genus 121: Mescinia 



[Venational division B. Forewing with 11 veins: 10 from cell, 

 8 and 9 stalked, 4 and 5 stalked, 2 and 3 stalked. Male genitalia 

 with transtilla incomplete.] 



121. Genus Mescinia Ragonot 



Mescinia Ragonot, Monograph, pt. 2, p. viii, 1901. — Hampson, 

 in Ragonot, Monograph, pt. 2, p. 83, 1901. (Type of genus: 

 Ephestia commatella Zeller.) 



Tongue well developed. Antenna pubescent; shaft 

 slightly thickened towards base in male, simple in 

 female. Labial palpus obliquely upturned, reaching to 

 vertex. Maxillary palpus filiform. Forewing smooth, 

 narrowly elongate; termen slanting; 11 veins; veins 2 

 and 3 from angle of cell, stalked; 4 and 5 stalked; 6 

 straight; 8 and 9 stalked; 10 from the cell, separate from 

 the stalk of 8-9 ; male with a short costal fold at base of 

 wing. Hind wing with vein 2 from well before lower 

 angle of cell; 3 and 5 from angle and closely approximate 

 at base; 6 from upper angle of cell; 7 and 8 strongly 

 anastomosed beyond cell (in small species completely 

 fused or showing the free part of vein 8 as a short spur 

 to costa); discocellular vein curved; ceU one-third to 

 two-fifths of wing length. 



Male genitalia with uncus subtriangular, tapering 

 abruptly from broad base, terminal half narrow and 

 apex bluntly pointed (except in indecora), outer surface 

 covered with bristlelike scales. Gnathos terminating 

 in a smaU, or moderately small, bifid apical process 

 (except in indecora). Harpe simple, with costa sclero- 

 tized for most of its length. Anellus U-shaped with 

 long lateral arms. Aedeagus straight, moderately stout, 

 a strong, longitudinal, sclerotized ridge on ventral side. 

 Penis more or less scobiaate and frequently with sclero- 

 tized patch and wrinklings. Vinculum stout, consider- 

 ably longer than broad (except in indecora) and with 

 terminal margin truncate. 



Female genitalia with bursa copulatrix membranous, ■ 

 finely scobinate over part of inner surface (especially 

 about signum and near ductus bursae); signum nor- 

 mally an oval or round sclerotized plate covered with 

 short, blunt or bluntly pointed thorns, or a single stout 

 platelike thorn (indecora), or absent (discella). Ductus 

 bursae membranous except for a sKght sclerotization 

 near genital opening, finely scobinate toward bursa. 



I 



