ODEZIA; PAL^OMYSTIS. By L. B. Peout. 7 



clay-colour, the hind, wing yellow. — In the form alpherakii Stgr., which occurs in the Zerafshan and Fergana alphcmkU. 

 districts, both wings are yellow, the forewings with costa, fringes and a discal spot grey, thus more nearly approx- 

 imating to discoidaria. — herzi Stgr., from one or two localities in Zerafshan, is smaller, the forewing wholly herzi. 

 grey, the hindwing orange with a grey border. — christophi Alph., described from a single ^, and unknown to chrisiophi. 

 me in nature, is said by Staudinger to be probably an abnormal aberration of iliensis. The forewing above 

 and hindwing beneath are whitish-ashy, the hindwing above and forewing beneath grey. Near Kuldja. 



10. Genus: 0<1ezia Bdv. 



Face with projecting scales. Palpus moderate, rough-scaled. Antenna rather short, in ^ shortly and 

 evenly ciliated. Hindtibia with all spurs. Forewing with first and second subcostals stalked, second often anasto- 

 mosing with third to fourth. Hindwing with cell short, costal vein closely appressed to the cell to nearly its 

 end, second subcostal stalked. This is again an isolated genus. The older systematists classed it with the Laren- 

 tiinae, and it certainly seems to show some signs of affinity therewith, but not sufficient to allow of its being 

 classified among them. Its supposed close relationship to Baptria tibiale is almost entirely fictitious. The single 

 species has a wide range in the Palearctic Region. 



1. 0. atrata L. (= chaerophyllata L.) (1 c). Almost entirely black, the extreme apex and apical atrata. 

 fringe of the forewing white. — In pyrenaica Gumpp. (= costal Calh.), from the Pyrenees and Central ■pyrenaica. 

 Italy, the wings, but especially the forewing, are more or less strongly dusted with brownish-yellow. — In ab. 

 nigerrima Th.-Mieg, described from a single $ without exact locality, the white apex and apical fringe are absent, nigerrima. 

 — The life history has been fully worked out by Chapman. The egg is unlike any other yet described in the 

 possession of two remarkable sulci, one on each side, running nearly from end to end and giving the aspect, when 

 only a single face is considered, of agrain of wheat. It is laid in the summer and does not hatch until the follow- 

 ing spring. The larva feeds on Conopodium denudatum (Bunium flexuosum), perhaps occasionally on other 

 allied plants. It is long and slender, nearly cylindrical, without protuberances, green in the first and second 

 instars, either green or brown in the third and fourth. The markings are longitudinal, and show considerable 

 variability; there are usually a dark dorsal line and dark subdorsal band and a pale lateral band; some- 

 times the dorsal area has diamond-shaped markings as in many Eupithecia. Pupation takes place in a slight 

 cocoon. The pupa is light brown, of about the ordinary form, wing-veins very prominent, cover of prothoracic 

 spiracle a raised dark button, anal armature consisting of two sharp spines. The moth appears in the summer, 

 the exact date varying with the locality. It flies in the sunshine about the bracken or other plants among which 

 its foodplant grows. It is common and widely distributed in the Palearctic Region, though absent from the 

 extreme north, and apparently confined in the south to high altitudes. 



11. Genus: Palaeomystiis Warr. 



Palpus short. Antenna in both sexes nearly simple, rather short. Hindtibia with all spurs. Wings 

 smoothly and rather thinly scaled. Forewing slightly produced at apex, first and second subcostals stalked, 

 the second anastomosing with the third and fourth. Hindwing sharply produced at the end of the second sub- 

 costal, cell rather short, in ^ with a much produced posterior arm, second subcostal arising from cell, radials 

 normal in $, the second in the ^ from lower arm of cell, thus much nearer to the third than to the first, ab- 

 dominal margin in ^ somewhat cut away. Early stages imknown. The genus, easily recognized by the 

 shape and texture of the wings, consists of only two species, both occuring just within the Palearctic 

 Region but probably Indo-Australian rather than Palearctic in their origin. The other genera with which 

 they appear to have most in common — Abraxaphantes, Doratoptera, Loxorhombia and Heteralex — ■ are 

 entirely Indo-Australian. 



P. falcataria Moore (Id). Bluish or greenish white with a silky gloss. Both wings with ioxn falcataria. 

 grey transverse lines, somewhat variable in distinctness and thickness, the second and third on both 

 wings meeting at inner margin, the third on hindwing nearly always angled or strongly bent in middle. 

 Discal marks weak or wanting. Under surface with the third line distinct, often thickened, the others 

 usually weak or wanting; occasionally a well-marked discal spot on forewing. N. India to W. China and Tibet. 



P. mabillaria Pouj. (1 c). Much smaller than the preceding, with less lines and these very ill-defined, maUUaria. 

 a postmedian on forewing manifesting itselv chiefly by strong dark spots on second radial and at inner margin. 



