74 



ACIDALIA. By L. B. Peout. 



thick, the cilia little longer than its diameter. Hindtibia strongly thickened, tarsus only about one-fourth 

 of its length. Baikal, S. Siberia; described from a single cJ in coll. Pungeler. 



mgropune- 

 tata. 



subcandi- 

 data. 



A. nigropunctata Hufn. (= nemorata BhTi. = strigilaria Hhn. — exemptaria Hbn. = prataria Bdv. 

 = incanata Z.) (4k). Closely related to umbelaria but smaller, less whitish, the ground-colour being appre- 

 ciably more testaceous and on an average more strongly dusted. The forewing looks slightly shorter and broader, 

 its distal margin being more strongly curved or bent in the middle so that its anterior part becomes less 

 oblique; the black discal spot nearly always distinct, often large; the median shade, which in the typical 

 form is strong and dark, and the postmedian line are both angled near the costa of the forewing, and the for- 

 mer runs rather more obliquely than in umbelaria ; the hindwing has the angle in the middle rather stronger 

 on the average, though very variable; both wings have usually a dark terminal line, interrupted at the 

 vein-ends and often thickened between; the black dots in the fringe are very slight or are wanting. Both 

 sexes are sharply marked beneath and differ very little; the basal half, or more, of the forewing is more 

 or less suffused with fuscous, especially on the veins, the inner line wanting; the hindwing has a zigzag 

 outer line. The hindleg in the ^ more resembles that of floslactata, the tarsus being very short. The egg 

 has the normal longitudinal and finer transverse ribbing. The larva is very slender, tapering slightly anteriorly 

 the head rounded, skin transversely ribbed, the spiracles very small, brown; the general colour is greenish 

 grey with a narrow, distinct dull green dorsal line; on the extreme anterior edge of each of the middle seg- 

 ments there is a square black spot, divided down its centre by the dorsal line. It feeds on various low plants. 

 The pupa has s i x minute hooks on the cremaster in addition to the strong pair of central spines. The moth 

 appears in June and July, or into the beginning of August, and is normally only single-brooded, though 

 larvae will sometimes feed up more rapidly and produce a partial second generation. Central and parts of 

 Southern Europe and through Asiatic Turkey to Persia. The European forms, though somewhat variable 

 in shape and in the strength of the markings, are well understood, and I suspect that those from the other 

 countries named agree with them, though I have no material before me. — In China and Japan, however, 

 with Korea and probably S. E. Siberia, occur a succession of more puzzling forms, extremely variable in size 

 and shape, in ground-colour and in distinctness of markings, which I can only deal with collectively as 

 subsp. subcandidata Walk. (= imbella Warr.) and which will still need much study. It is greatly to be desired 

 that resident entomologists would investigate them in a state of nature and especially work out the life 

 history. The $ genitalia of the only examined specimen agree in every detail with typical nigropunctata. 

 In general these subcandidata forms differ from the European in having the discal dots considerably reduced 

 in size, occasionally obsolete; the central shade less strong, sometimes somewhat less oblique; the under 

 surface of both wings much more weakly marked. Typical subcandidata from Shanghai, is very little dusted 

 with dark and has the angle in the hindwing rather slight. Some of the specimens are as white as umbelaria, 

 and some very small ones (about the size of emutaria) occurring in September doubtless represent a second 

 generation. Some Japanese examples agree closely with these forms while others have as sharp an angle 

 in the hindwing as in any European example and sometimes as strong (perhaps even stronger) dark dusting, 

 but still differing in their weak markings. Sometimes the distal margin of the forewing is more oblique, produ- 

 cing a somewhat different impression. Possibly there are two or three very similar and variable species 

 mixed up. I think the ^ hindtarsus is a little less shortened in the true subcandidata than in the other forms, 

 but the difference in any case is light. Warren's imbella was a rather small, worn $ from Japan. Occasio- 

 nal more ochreous-tinted specimens become, when the angle in the hindwing is weak, confusingly similar to 

 ignobilis Warr., although the (J hindtarsus of that species is rather longer. 



mbdicaria. A. modicaHa Leech (5 e) closely resembles nigropunctata in shape, colour and arrangement of mar- 



kings, both above and beneath, and might almost have been taken for a small variety of that species but for 

 a few details in the markings and especially the fact that the <^ hindtarsus is fully half as long as the tibia. 

 The forewing has no black discal dot, but bears in its place a less small, rather ill-defined brown spot. The 

 postmedian line of the forewing is less dentate than in some nigropu7ictata, but rather more incurved between 

 the radials; that of the hindwing, though variable, is usually rather straighter than in nigropunctata. The 

 distal area of both wings is slightly darker-shaded, containing a very distinct pale subterminal, more irregular 

 than that of nigropunctata. In size, and in having the forewing rather broad and the hindwing only quite 

 weakly angled, modicaria may best be compared with the small (second brood ?) examples of the subspecies 

 subcandidata; but it has been taken in April and again in June, July and August, and shows neither seasonal 

 nor sexual variation. Omei-Shan, Chung-King, Kweichow and Fu-chau. 



polystig- A. polystigtnaria Hmpsn. (5 d) differs from the small forms of nigropunctata in having the hindwing 



viana. more quadrate, almost smooth on each side of the angle, whereas in nigropunctata it is appreciably crenulate. 



The ground-colour is much more yellowish and with much sparser dark dusting. Postmedian line of forewing 



