246 



•UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BXHiLETIN 207 



harpe with apex evenly rounded; vinculiun short; 

 anellus with base of plate narrowly sclerotized, arms 

 moderately long and l-ather slender, slightly twisted, 

 very finely serrate on outer edges toward apices; 

 aedeagus stout, moderately long. 



Female genitaUa with signum developed as a series of 

 more or less fused plates; bursa copulatrix weakly and 

 very finely scobinate; ductus seminalis from bursa at 

 jxmction of ductus bursae and bursa copulatrix. 



Larva bright orange or red, with rows of large black 

 spots resembling broken crossbands; two setae in group 

 VII on abdominal segments 7 and 8. 



The larvae feed gregariously in the joints of Platy- 

 puntia, Cylindropuntia, Trichocereus, Echinopsis, and 

 Denmoza. 



Eggs laid in long chains. 



The genus as here defined is distinguished from other 

 cactus-feeding phycitids by the following combination 

 of characters: Antennae of both sexes pubescent; labial 

 palpi upcurved in the male, porrect in the female; veins 

 7 and 8 of hind wing shortly anastomosed ; veins 3 and 5 

 shortly stalked; apical process of gnathos partially 

 fused; eighth abdominal segment of male simple; larvae 

 bright orange or red, with rows of large black spots 

 resembling broken crossbands, gregarious in habit. 



Four (possibly five) species are recognized as belong- 

 ing to the genus. Its natm^al distribution is apparently 

 limited to South America south of the Equator, but at 

 least one of its species (cactonim) has been introduced 

 and become established in Australia. 



507. CactoblaBtis cactonim (Berg) 

 Figures 66, 535, 1024 



Zophodia cactorum Berg, Anales Soo. Cient. Argentina, vol. 19, p. 

 276, 1885. 



Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg) Ragonot, Monograph, pt. 2, p. 16, 

 1901. — Dodd, Council for Sci. and Ind. Res., Australia, Bull. 

 34, p. 30, 1927; Bull. Ent. Res., vol. 27, p. 509, 1936; Bio- 

 logical campaign against prickly-pear, Brisbane, Australia, 

 177 pp., 1940.— Dyar, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 30, 

 p. 135, 1928.— Heinrich, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 86, p. 

 356, 1939. 



Head sordid whitish ocherous. Palpi pale cinereous, 

 the tips of the maxUlary palpi and the ends of the seg- 

 ments of the labial palpi blackish fuscous. Thorax dull 

 ocherous fuscous rather heavily dusted with blackish 

 fuscous on posterior half. Forewing ocherous fuscous 

 more or less dusted with white on costal half between 

 antemedial line and apex; antemedial line black, angu- 

 late, the apex of angle at vein lb, sometimes obscure 

 except on costal half; sub terminal line black, with a 

 narrow whitish outer border and beyond this a faint 

 fuscous band, the black line straight from near apex to 

 vein 6, thence sinuate and dentate to inner margin, the 

 ends of the dentations roimded; a black spot at end of 

 ceU and a few scattered black scales on disc; along 

 termen at vein ends a row of seven distinct black dots. 

 Hind wing white, semihyaline, costal margin narrowly 

 bordered with fuscous and on termen a fine black line, 

 the latter not extending to inner angle, on the female 

 the fuscous shading is rather broad at apex and along 



termen for a short distance from apex. Midtibia pale 

 cinereous with a narrow, black, transverse band at 

 outer fourth. Alar expanse, 23-40 mm. 



Genitalia not exhibiting any marked specific char- 

 acters. 



Type locality: Argentina (location of type un- 

 known). 



Food plants: Opuntia {Platypuntia) spp. Appar- 

 ently limited to the Platypuntias. 



Distribution: Argentina: La Plata, Concordia, 

 Tacanitas, Santiago del Estero. Uruguay: Piridpolis. 

 Australia (introduced and established). 



According to Dodd "cactorum is a native of Uruguay 

 and the northern Argenttae provinces of Entre Rios, 

 Corrientes, Sante Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tuciundn, 

 Salta, and Chaco." He also includes Paraguay and 

 southern Brazil in its possible range, but we have no 

 adult specimens from the latter localities. 



This is the species that has been used with such 

 remarkable success in the biological campaign against 

 the prickly-pear in Queensland and New South Wales. 

 AH available information on the species is given in 

 Dodd's 1940 paper. 



508. Cactoblastis ronnai (Brethes) 



Neopyralis ronnai Br&thes, in Ronna, Chacaras e Quinaes, vol. 



20, No. 1, p. 18, 1920. — Costa-Lima, Terceiro catalogo dos 



insectos que vivem nas plantas do Brazil, p. 268, No. 1031, 



1936. 

 Cactoblastis ronnai (Brfethes) Heinrich, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 



vol. 86, p. 357, 1939. 



Probably a synonym of cactorum. Its identity will 

 have to wait upon rearing of Cactoblastis from southern 

 Brazil. 



Type locality: Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (type 

 lost?). 



Food plant: "Spineless cactus." 



509. Cactoblastis doddi Heinrich 

 Figures 536, 1025 



Cactoblastis bucyrus Dodd (not Dyar), Council for Sci. and Ind. 



Res., Australia, Bull. 34, p. 30, 1927. 

 Cactoblastis doddi Heinrich, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 86, p. 



358, 1939. — Dodd, Biological campaign against prickly-pear, 



Brisbane, Australia, pp. 39, 59, 75, 1940. 



Similar to that of cactorum except as foUows: White 

 dusting on forewing less contrasted, sparser; general 

 color darker, decidedly grayish fuscous in specimens 

 from Tucumdn; dentations of subterminal line of fore- 

 wing acute and their ends pointed; black dots along 

 termen very faintly indicated, normally altogether 

 absent. Hind wing of male semihyaUne white; of 

 female dark smoky fuscous throughout. Alar expanse, 

 31-41 mm. 



Male genitalia similar to those of cactorum, differing 

 chiefly in the shorter cleft between the prongs at apex 

 of gnathos. This character, however, is subject to 

 some individual variation, and should be used with 

 discretion. Female genitalia with scobinations of 

 bursa somewhat more uniformly distributed than in 



