154 RHODOMETRA. Ry L. R. Prout. 



occasionally with a rosy mark along the median vein from the 2°'' submedian to the end of the cell. Hindwing 

 white, unmarked. The ?? are on an average rather less bright yellov^r, with the oblique stripe more brownish red, 

 usually becoming fainter, or even obsolete, before the hindmargin. Roth sexes are very variable. Zeller ("Isis" 1847, 

 p. 491) gave a good analysis of the seven principal forms, but it is not necessary to provide them all with 

 labda. names, as some differ only in a small mark. — ab. labda Cram. (=; atrifasciaria Stefan. = sarothamnaria 

 R. Brown = ochracearia Fuchs) (6 a) is a form of frequent occurrence in the ?, but rare in the cf. The 

 yellow gromid-colour is changed to ochreous or buff and the stripe is brown or blackish, entirely without a 

 . rosy tinge, and very rarely reaches the hindmargin; it is usually accompanied distally by a pale line. — ab. 

 ^"naria sanguioaria Esp. (= lividaria Costa = rosea 0&.) (6 a) has the forewing entirely or in great part suffused 

 with rose-colour, the stripe usually but little darkened, but in the ? sometimes in part blackish; the hindwing 

 is often smoky, not white. The ?? of this form are generally less completely red than the cfcf, some traces 

 ■ of the pale ground-colour remaining. Costa's figure shows a sub-aberration, with a conspicuous oblique 

 yellow stripe on the rosy ground-colour, no doubt an extension of the pale line observable in ab. lahda. — 

 excaecaria. ab. excaecaria Fuchs, founded on several examples from Jerusalem, is unicolorous yellow, without markings. 

 minervae. I have never seen such specimens. — ab. minervae Gistl is very briefly described (as a separate species) as 

 whitish with an oblique chestnut-coloured stripe from the apex both above and beneath and must be a pale 

 form of sacraria — unless possibly it was founded on a faded specimen. It was taken in Greece. It should 

 be added that philaearia Brabant, doubtfully cited by Staudixger to sacraria, is clearly, according to the 

 description, identical with Pseudosterrha gayneri N. Rthschd., the African representative of the Indian Ps. 

 paullula Swinh., which will be discussed in Vol. 12. The egg of sacraria is very distinct from those of all 

 other known Larentiids, being remarkably elongate; it is covered with small round red spots, somewhat as 

 in Acidalia or Cosymhia. Larva elongate, cylindrical, smooth; dark green, mixed with white dorsally, the 

 ventral surface whitish, a fine browm dorsal line and a broad yellowish white lateral stripe. ■ Polyphagous on 

 low plants, feeding up rapidly. Pupa elongate, yellowish, dotted with black, the wing-cases dark. The moth 

 occurs throughout a great ]3art of the year, in a succession of broods. It is easily disturbed by day, but no 

 doubt flies at night, and may be captured at light. The resting posture is somewhat like that of certain 

 Pyralidae, the wings forming a steep triangular roof. Throughout S. Europe, S. W. Asia, India and Africa, common 

 as far south as the Cape of Good Hope. In Central and Northern Europe it only appears as an occasional 

 immigrant, being evidently unable to withstand the northern winter. Cramer's type of lahda was said to be 

 from Surinam, but this must be an error, as the species does not occur at all in the New World. 



R. anthophilaria is an exceedingly variable species (or group of species) closely related to sacraria, 



but distinguishable by the position of the line and generally by the hindwing. The line of the forewing always 



reaches the posterior margin and anteriorly does not run into the apex but to the costal margin near the 



apex. The base of the costal margin is only extremely narrowly marked with rosy. The hindwing is usually 



dark grey, not white, and is marked with a white or very pale yellowish discal spot and postmedian line or 



band; in the (rarer) cases in which the hindwing is white it is generally less pure white than in sacraria and a 



a.ntho- grey line and grey distal border are nearly always discernible. — anthophilaria Hhn. (6 a) is the form which 



philaria. inhabits S. E. Russia and Transcaspia to Palestine and is said to occur with other forms in N. Africa. The 



forewing is coloured nearly as in typical sacraria, or slightly less bright; hindwing usually dark grey, in 



suhsacraria. the ? somewhat more whitish. — ab. subsacraria Stgr. (=: gegenaria Aljih) differs in having the line of the 



forewing fuscous, perhaps on an average narrower, the hindwing whitish, though usually with traces of dark 



line and border. It is, according to Staudinger, the sacraria of Eversmann and perhaps belongs entirely to 



the summer generation, as the early specimens (April) are said to be always small and dark, with rather 



uniformly dark hindwings, while the more extensive second brood (June-July) shows greater variation. Recorded 



from Sarepta and the 111 district. According to Christoph (Rom. M6m. L6p. vol. 3, p. 103) gegenaria is a 



variety of albidaria and certainly neither belongs to anthophilaria^ though he thinks they may be forms of 



subrosearia. sacraria. — ab. subrosearia Stgr. (6 a) is a not infrequent form in which the ground-colour of the forewing 



is rosy, only a discal spot and outer line remaining yellow; hindwing dark, sometimes blackish. Russia, 



albj- Balkan Peninsula, Palestine. — ab. albipunctaria Alph., described from the Kuldja district, is of a brownish 



punc ana. ^^^^ ^j^^ ^j^^ ^ more tinged with olivaceous), the whitish discal spot and outer line well expressed, the hindwing 



consecraria. nearly as white as in sacraria. Recorded also from Transcaspia and North Africa. — consecraria Rbr. is of 



a rather indefinite colour, the yellowish ground-colour of the forewing being more or less strongly dusted 



with rosy, leaving the basal part, the discal spot and outer line more or less clear. Hindwing pale, though 



with distinct traces of the grey markings. Andalusia, Corsica and a transitional form in North Africa. Also 



albidaria. as an aberration at Sarepta. — albidaria Ersch., from Turkestan, seems to differ very little from the preceding. 



It was described as red with yellow fascia, the hindwing white as in sacraria, and only distinguished from 



subrosearia Stgr. by the hindwing. It would thus appear to be more densely and uniformly irrorated with 



rosearia. rosy than consecraria. — rosearia Tr. (7 f) will very likely prove to be a distinct species, as the wings appear 



to be somewhat broader than in the other forms. It is extremely variable, and the reddest examples differ 



