218 



TJNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 207 



length. In male a pair of hair tufts on underside of 

 prothorax and lying within grooved forecoxae. Ab- 

 domen of male with two pairs of dorsolateral hair tufts 

 from eighth segment; ventral membranous area of eighth 

 segment covered with enlarged scales, these and the hair 

 tufts set in elongate sclerotized tubercles (fig. 479c). 



Male genitalia similar to those of Nonia except harpe 

 broadly oval, sclerotized costa strongly arched and ter- 

 minating in a short, free spur at apex; apical process of 

 gnathos partially fused ; vinculum long and narrow, with 

 lateral margins subparaUel (very slightly concave), and 

 anterior margin indented. 



Female genitalia with signum a single projecting 

 digitate disk; ductus bursae unsclerotized at genital 

 opening; ductus seminalis from anterior end of bursa. 



The genus is easily identified by its characteristic gen- 

 italia. It is difficult to see how Dyar justified his 

 separation of species into two genera (Bema and Relmis) 

 since he had a female of myja and females of ydda and 

 fijaca before htm and not a single structural character 

 to separate them except a trifling difference in the length 

 of the labial palpi, at best specific, and here no greater 

 between females of myja and ydda than between the 

 females and males of myja. 



436. Bema neuricella (ZeHer), new combination 



Figures 118, 119, 120, 479, 972 



Ephestia neuricella Zeller, Isis von Oken, p. 862, 1848. — Ragonot, 



Monograph, pt. 2, p. 288, 1901. 

 Bema myja Dyar, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 47, p. 336, 1914 



(new synonymy). 



Forewing grayish fuscous, basal area paler; ante- 

 medial white line straight and slanting outwardly from 

 costa to inner margin and with a blackish shading along 

 its outer margin; subterminal line obscure, whitish, in- 

 dented below costa (at vein 8) and, very slightly, at 

 submedian fold; discal dots obscure, blackish; veins 

 more or less outlined by dark scaling. In older speci- 

 mens the dark markings are a pale brownish fuscous. 

 Hind wings semitransparent, smoky white with veins 

 darker and a dark shade at apex and along termen. 

 Alar expanse, 15-19 mm. 



Specific differences in male genitalia are slight in the 

 genus and comparative only, mostly in the size of the 

 aedeagi, the harpes, and the width of the vinculum. 

 Female genitalia with signum very small and of nearly 

 uniform size but variable in shape and number of digi- 

 tate projections. Variations in signa shown in figures 

 972a-d. Equal variability exhibited in a series from 

 one locality. 



Type localities: "St. Thomas," [Virgin Islands] 

 (neuricella, 9, in Mus. Univ. Berlin); Taboga Isl., 

 Panamd (myja, cf , in USNM). 



Food plant: Inga sp. 



Distribution: Cuba: Habana, Santiago (3 moths 

 reared under E. E. A. de Cuba No. 9600, from larvae 

 boring in seeds of Inga sp.; A. Otero, collector; only 

 host record available). Bahamas: Cay Santo Domingo 

 (Sept.). Puerto Rico: Lares (July, Dec). Virgin 

 Islands: St. Thomas, KingshHl (St. Croix, Oct., Nov., 



Dec). Guatemala: Cayuga (Apr., May., June), 

 PanamX.: Taboga Isl. (Feb.). Trinidad. French 

 Guiana: St. Laurent du Maroni. 



This species is represented by 65 specimens (11 c? 

 and 54 9) in the National and Cornell University Col- 

 lections. AU the males are more or less rubbed and 

 show very little of the original color or pattern. The 

 females are in better condition, especially those from 

 Guatemala and St. Croix, and once the sexes are prop- 

 erly associated it is not difficult to identify the species. 



437. Bema fritilla Dyar 

 Bema fritilla Dyar, Ins. Insc. Menstr., vol. 7, p. 59, 1919. 



The only representative of this species is the male 

 type. It is badly rubbed and shows no trace of the 

 original pattern. I suspect that it is nothing but a 

 runted specimen of neuricella (=myja). There is 

 nothing to distinguish it from the type of myja except 

 its smaller size (11 mm.) and proportionally smaller 

 genitalia, which are otherwise identical. The difference 

 in anal tufts which Dyar thought he saw was purely 

 imaginary. The white scaling he mentions is that on 

 the membranous area of the eighth segment and is 

 identical on the two types. I am retaining the name 

 for the present, pending receipt of similar small males 

 from the type locaHty. The female from Cayuga 

 (May) which Dyar associated with his type is not con- 

 specific or even congeneric. It is a Unadilla and prob- 

 ably a small specimen of maturella Zeller, if what we 

 have under that name is correctly identified. 



Type locality: Cayuga, Guatemala (June, type in 

 USNM). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



438. Bema ydda (Dyar), new combination 



Figure 974 

 Relmis ydda Dyar, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 47, p. 337, 1914. 



Forewing dark gray (in fresh specimens with a faint 

 violaceous tint); base (and thorax) darker; antemedial 

 pale hne faint, bordered outwardly by a broad dark 

 band; subterminal line pale, indented as in myja, 

 bordered inwardly by a broad dark shade reaching to 

 cell; outer area beyond subterminal line of a similar 

 dark shade; discal dots obscured, more or less fused. 

 Hind wing smoky fuscous. Abdominal tufts of eighth 

 segment appreciably stouter than those of other species 

 of Bema. Alar expanse, 19-20 mm. 



Male genitalia with vinculum broader in proportion 

 to its length than that of myja or the other species of 

 the genus. The entire genitalia are larger than those 

 of myja, otherwise similar. Female genitalia as in myja 

 except for enlarged signum. 



Type locality: RIo Trinidad, Panam^ (May, June; 

 type in USNM). 



Food plant: Unknown. 



Represented in the National Collection only by the 

 female t3rpe and one other female from the type locality 

 and a male from St. Jean Maroni, French Guiana. 

 The outer border of the antemedial and the inner border 



