LYTHRIA. By L. B. Prout, 155 



little from subrosearia except in their larger average si^e. The yellow forms, on the other hand, show a 

 characteristic broad rosy outer stripe and a rosy distal band, the fringes remaining clear yellow. In all the 

 forms the hindwing is more or less dark, with pale spot and band. Treitschkk's type, from Corfu, was one 

 of the intermediate forms, (he yellow ground-colour dusted with rosy. Only known from that island and from 

 Greece, the Corfu forms particularly fine and large. We (Igure an example from Athens, from my collection. 

 — elvira Th.-Mieg, said to be from Spain (probably Albarracin) is described as a variety of rosearia, forewing elvira. 

 sulphur yellow with costal edge, postmedian band and terminal band carmine, the latter ending at about the 

 second median vein, hindwing rather paler yellow, the bands blackish brown: forewing beneath infuscated, 

 hindwing nearly as above but with the bands carmine. — The larva of the form anthophUaria is unknown; 

 according to Pungeler (in litt.) they would not accept any plant which was offered them. That of rosearia 

 was discovered by Erber on Corfu, feeding on Alisma sp. ?, and is slender, grey-green, dark-dusted; pupa 

 light brown, in a slight cocoon on the earth, the moth emerging in 10 days. Erber found rosearia common 

 in a few spots but exceedingly local; a few specimens, small and dark, were obtained in March, but the 

 largest emergence was fi-om the middle of May to the middle of June. 



3. Genus: L^ythria Hhn. 



Face rough-scaled. Palpus long, with long projecting hair. Antenna short, in d' with long pectinations, 

 in ? ciliated. Pectus and femora hairy. Hindtibia with all spurs. Forewing with single areole, the point of 

 origin of the P' and 5"" subcostal nervules very variable, the P' commonly from the apex of the areole or 

 even very shortly stalked with the others, as in the Acidahids; P' radial not stalked. Hindwing with 2"'' 

 subcostal shortly stalked. — Egg oval, with the ends flattened. Larva very slender, smooth, cylindrical; feeds 

 on Rumex and other low plants. The genus is a small and rather isolated one, confined to the Palearctic 

 Region and indeed chiefly to Europe. Its nearest relatives are found in New Zealand and Meyrick considers 

 it an ancestral form. 



L. plumularia J'Vr. (= rheticaria Lah) (5g) differs from the other species in the 3 broad bands of the plumularia. 

 forewing (the middle one at times interrupted), the presence on the hindwing of a black discal dot and distinct 

 postmedian line or band, and especially in the strong dark olivaceous or blackish suffusion at the base of 

 both wings and often along the inner margin. Otherwise all the European species agree in having a bright 

 ochre-yellow ground-colour and purple-red markings, though plumularia is rather less bright than the others. 

 It varies a good deal in the width of the bands; the first two are not infrequently more or less confluent, 

 the third almost invariably remains separate and is never very narrow, nor broken up into dots, as sometimes 

 occurs in the other species. It is extremely unlikely that there is more than a single generation and as the 

 aberrations intergrade it is unnecessary to give them names. The larva is said to live on Rumex acetosa, 

 but is apparently undescribed. The moth flies by day and is extremely local, being confined to the high 

 Alps of Switzerland (Orisons and Valais) and the Tyrol. It is met with in June and July and according to 

 Favre at elevations of 2000 m and upwards. 



L. venustata Stgr. is unknown to me in nature. Structurally it is said to agree with plumularia, venustata. 

 only the apex of the forewing and the inner angle of the hindwing appear somewhat sharper. Reddish leather- 

 yellow or cream-yellow, traversed by three sharply defined, uninterrupted dark bands, more regularly parallel 

 than in the other species, the first slightly convex, the third slightly bicurved, the second straight. The base 

 of forewing and inner margin of hindwing are dark shaded. The under surface distinguishes venustata at 

 once, showing no trace of a transverse band. Described on a o^ from Zaisan. 



L. purpuraria is more variable even than plumularia. It is distinguishable from that species by the 

 characters indicated above and structurally by the somewhat less extremely long hairs of the palpus, femora, 

 etc. It has only two bands on the forewing, not three. cT genitalia with valves large, subtriangular, bearing 

 small, soft, hairy papillae at apex. — purpuraria L. (? = cruentaria Hufn.) (5g) is the ordinary summer-brood purpuraria. 

 form, the forewing yellow, more or less tinged with olive, the two bands rosy, the proximal incomplete, the 

 distal rather narrow. A short and interrupted median very occasionally present costally. Hindwing brighter 

 orange-yellow, rather narrowly shaded in inner-marginal area with olive grey, fringe rosy; no other markings 

 or merely a weak postmedian line. Both wings beneath show the outer line, on the hindwing usually complete, 

 on the forewing commonly reduced to a costal mark. — ab. conjunctiva ah. nov. (= cruentaria Bkh. i\Qc conjunctiva, 

 Hufn). The two bands of the forewing meet before the hindmargin (Hbn. fig. 199). — ab. tnevesi Lampa mevesi. 

 seems to be merely an unimportant transition to the following form; described as "ochre yellow, the bands 

 of the forewing indistinct". Staudinger adds that they are grey. — lutearia Vill. (5g) is almost unicolorous lutearia. 



