AMERICAN MOTHS OF THE SUBFAMILY PHYCITINAE 



291 



from pachytaeniella, easily distinguished by its genitalia, 

 the more extended drab suffusion and less distinct 

 transverse lines on forewing. 



179. Vezina, new genus 



Type of genus: Vezina parasitaria, new species. 



Tongue well developed. Antenna pubescent, simple. 

 Labial palpus oblique; reaching as high as vertex; 

 rather broadly and roughly scaled; third segment 

 shorter than second. Maxillary palpus short, filiform. 

 Forewing smooth; 11 veins; vein 2 from before but 

 rather near lower outer angle of cell; 3 from the angle; 

 4 and 5 stalked for half their lengths, separated from 3 

 at base; 6 from below upper angle of cell, straight; 8 

 and 9 long stalked; 10 from the cell, separated from 8 

 at base; male with a strong costal fold enclosing hair 

 tuft. Hind wing with vein 2 from well before lower 

 outer angle of cell; 3 and 5 from the angle, approximate 

 at base; 7 and 8 anastomosed for most of their lengths 

 beyond cell; cell about one-third the length of the wing 

 in male, one-half in female; discocellular vein curved. 

 Eighth abdominal segment of male with two pairs of 

 dorsolateral hair tufts. 



A'lale genitaha with apical process of gnathos a short, 

 bluntly pointed hook. Uncus broad; terminal margin 

 broadly rounded. Transtilla incomplete; its elements 

 weakly sclerotized. Harpe with a short angulate pro- 

 jection from costa near middle and with apex of costa 

 produced into a free hook at apex (as in Anagasta 

 kuhniella). Anellus a stout, broad, semicircular band 

 with broad, deep, V-shaped ventral incision. Aedeagus 

 long, stout; penis armed with a thin, narrow, sclerotized 

 band and a stout, thornlike, broadly based spine. 

 Vinculum stout; tapering slightly; terminal margin 

 moderately broad. 



Female genitalia with signum a small cuplike disc or 

 discs; bursa minutely and sparsely granulate; ductus 

 biu-sae granulate towards junction with bursa, with a 

 strongly sclerotized collar surrounding a broad genital 

 opening and with a broad, projecting, sclerotized shield 

 behind genital opening; ductus seminalis from bursa 

 close to signum. 



This genus, like Volatica, is close to and obviously 

 related to Vitvla despite its forewing venation. It is 

 distinguished by the following combination of charac- 

 ters: Vein 9 of forewing present; eighth abdominal 

 segment of male with paired dorsal tufts; transtilla in- 

 complete; penis armed with a stout, thornlike cornutus; 

 anellus a broad, semicircular band with V-shaped ven- 

 tral incision; ductus bursae with broad sclerotization 

 surrounding broad genital opening. 



601. VeziDa parasitaria, new species 

 Figures 598, 1068 



Forewing dark gray (grayish brown on worn and 

 faded specimens); transverse lines white and strongly 

 contrasted from inner margin to cell, thence to costa 



pale but more obscure, narrowly bordered inwardly and 

 outwardly by black lines ; these most obvious from lower 

 margin of cell to costa; antemedial line at middle of 

 wing and nearly vertical; sub terminal line oblique and 

 well back from termen ; the interspace between the lines 

 short; discal spots at end of cell, confluent and forming 

 a thin black line along discocellular vein ; terminal dots 

 obsciu-e. Hind wing shining white, with a fuscous 

 shade along costa, some fuscous shading at apex and a 

 narrow dark line along termen. Alar expanse, 17-25 

 mm. 



Male genitalia with vinculum but slightly longer 

 than broad; terminal margin angulate. Female geni- 

 talia with a short, thornlike pouch projecting from 

 venter of ductus bursae near genital opening. 



Type locality: Jose C. Paz, Province of Buenos 

 Aires, Argentina (type in USNM, 61392; paratypes in 

 Mus. Argentino Cienc. Nat., Buenos Aires, and BM). 



Food: Larvae feeding in larval cases of Oiketicus 

 kirbyi Guilding. 



Described from male type and one male and one 

 female paratype from the type locality; one male para- 

 type from Juan B. Gonnet, Province of Buenos Aires; 

 five female paratypes from Tigre, Argentina; and one 

 female paratype from southeast Brazil, F. D. Jones, 

 1920, this last from the British Museum Collection. 

 The Argentinian specimens were received from Dr. 

 Everard E. Blanchard, Director and Seiior Jos6 A. 

 Pastrana, Ingeniero, of the Instituto de Sanidad 

 Vegetal of the Ministerio de Agi'icultura in Argentina. 

 They had been reared by Seiior Pastrana and Dr. Pablo 

 Kohler from small larvae in the larval cases of the 

 psychid Oiketicxis kirbyi Guilding. Dr. Kohler identi- 

 fied them as a new species to which he gave the manu- 

 script name "Canarsia parasitaria" upon the assump- 

 tion that the species was parasitic on the Oiketicus. 

 With Dr. Kohler's permission I am adopting his manu- 

 script specific name, but am in doubt as to the parasitic 

 nature of the larva. According to Senor Pastrana the 

 actual feeding habits have not been noted, and I am 

 inclined to believe (from its close affinities to the 

 Moodna-Vitula complex) that parasitaria is a scavenger 

 rather than a parasite or predator upon the living 

 Oiketicus larva or pupa. In a letter of Dec. 29, 1947, 

 Dr. Blanchard states that, in the Province of Jos6 C. 

 Paz, Senor N. Jauch has observed larvae of parasitaria 

 on the remains of bagworms and a few days later aU 

 traces of bagworms had disappeared, suggesting that 

 the larva are feeders upon the bagworms at least to the 

 extent of eating the larval and pupal exuviae or the 

 remains of the dead females of Oiketicus. 



The species is a striking one easily recognized by its 

 bright white transverse lines with narrow black borders 

 contrasted against the otherwise dark gray ground color 

 of the forewing. The female genitalia are different in 

 the armature about genital opening from any other in 

 the subfamily. 



