134 



PTYCHOPODA. By L. B. Prout. 



relatives, and is fond of steep hill-sides; it neither reaches great altitudes, nor, so far as my information 

 goes, the depths of the valleys. In suitable situations the most abundant of the group, but not extending 

 far north ; otherwise almost throughout Central and Southern Europe ; N.W. Africa, Asia Minor and Transcaucasia 



niiidata. Pt. nitidata H.-Sch. (^teetaria Leech) (4f). Pale glossy straw-colour vnthout discal dots or dots in 



fringe and with no dark dusting except a sprinkling of slightly deeper straw-colour or yellowish light-brovsni. 

 The lines yellowish light-brown, all present (on forewing 5, on hindwing 4) though often more or less vague; 

 strongly undulate, about equidistant, the median and postmedian of hindwing apparently the most variable, 

 sometimes approximated, sometimes rather widely separate. Under surface rather paler and weaker-marked, 

 especially of hindwing. cf antenna shortly and closely ciliated ; hindtibia short, with rather strong hair- 

 pencil, tarsus scarcely one-half as long as tibia. Differs from clihitaria in its much larger size, more uniform 

 aspect (the lines generally yellower and weaker), lack of dark dusting at costal margin of forewing, etc. I 

 can find not even the slightest varietal difference in tectaria Leech, from Chang Yang and Korea, to separate 

 it from typical nitidata. It is observable that Staudinger also notes no difference for the Amurland and 



Ti)'' Otitic C1t~ • 



aria Ussuri specimens, which I have not seen. — promiscuana Leech, not recognizable from the description, is an 

 aberration (? sport) with the ground-colour almost while, the usually yellowish dusting greyer, the yellowish 

 lines weak, but the median of the forewing thickened about the discocellulars so as to give some slight 

 impression of a large discal spot. Fusan, Korea, ?, taken in June. — The larva of nitidata is stout and 

 compact, somewhat flattened, carinated laterally and tapering anteriorly, transversely folded; head small, bifid, 

 red-brown; thoracic segments with ring-shaped protuberances, the first 5 abdominals with the segment- 

 incisions deep, each broader anteriorly than posteriorly; ground-colour grey-brown, the middle segments 

 with lozenge-shaped dorsal markings, divided by the black-edged dorsal line; dorsal line most distinct on the 

 last few segments; before the lozenge-shaped marking stands on each segment two distinct black dots; 6"^ 

 V^ and 8"' abdominals lighter and more yellowish than the rest of the surface ; lateral area also light; venter 

 dark, with light longitudinal lines. Probably polyphagous on low plants; May reared it on lettuce. The 

 moth appears in June and July and frequents warm sunny clearings in woods, resting among low bushes 

 or grass; the ? is sluggish and less easily disturbed than the cf. Inhabits N. Italy, S.E. Europe and Eastern 

 Asia; the only intermediate locality indicated by Staudinger, and this only doubtfully, is Russian Transcaucasia. 



hicerlaria. Pt. bicertaria Stgr. Only known from Staudinger's original description, founded on a single, somewhat 



defective ? from Tunis. Somewhat smaller than nitidata, light grey-yellow with sparse blackish dusting, both 

 wings with sharp black discal dot and irregularly dentate dark postmedian line, forewing in addition with a 

 weakly bent antemedian line ; the dark shades which bound the subterminal are very faint and narrow. Thus 

 the markings slightly recall those of the circe/lafa-hTm of straminata, which is smaller and quite differently 

 coloured. Under surface whitish grey with a little scattered dark dusting, the discal dots sharply black, the 

 lines (except the antemedian) indicated but only extremely weakly. 



degeneraria Pt degeneraria Hhi. (4f). This species and those which follow (as far as aversata) form a very 



natural group, being closely allied in structure, shape, facies and in the larval stage; they are in general 

 among the largest Ptychopoda species. The typical form of degeneraria, however, is very easily recognized 

 by the reddish brown band which occupies the area between the antemedian ami the median line of the 

 forewing and sometimes also extends as a more or less strong suffusion as far as the base. The hindwing 

 also often shows a reddish suffusion from the- median line (here proximal to the cell-spot) to the base. The 

 postmedian line of the forewing is as a rule rather strongly elbowed or angled on the first radial, but is 

 somewhat variable, as also in most of the group. Distinct, but usually small, black discal dots are present 

 on both wings throughout the group. Shading distally to the postmedian line weak; terminal line slight, 

 occasionally altogether absent; no dots in fringe. Under surface scarcely marked except for the discal dots; 

 postmedian line sometimes indicated, and sometimes an obscure greyish basal suffusion to the forewing. cf 

 antennal ciliation very short; hindtibia shortened and thickened, with strong hair-pencil, tarsus extremely 

 short. Variable in colour, the variations being in part local and in part seasonal, so that a series collected 

 at one time and place would generally give the impression of a rather constant species. The name-type, 

 strictly speaking, is somewhat intermediate between the two former differentiated by Milliere, for such an 

 intermediate form was figured by Hubner. But as the French author was the first to call attention to the 

 dimorphism, it is best to follow his nomenclature, including as typical degeneraria those that agree with 



meridiaria. Hubner's figure and the darker (redder-tinged), dark-banded forms. — meridiaria Mill, was expressly erected 

 for a form which, according to its author, is constant in Provence, with more yellowish or olivaceous ground- 

 colour and light, redder band. He says further that the larva is so differently coloured that one might 

 almost think of a separate species. In general, however this light meridiaria form seems to be associated 

 with the second brood and in any case it is not so constant as Milliere thought; it may be due to the 

 action of increased temperature on the adult larva, but I do not think this has been experimentally tested. 

 FucHs, in establishing the validity of his bilinearia, subjected some degenaria-la,rva.e to heat, and reports that 



