KYRTOLITHA; LARENTIA. By L. B. Prout. 157 



4. Genus: Kyi'tolitha Stc/r. 



Face nearly smooth. Palpus rather short, rough-scaled. Antenna in cf simple. Metathorax with small 

 tuft. Abdomen not crested. Forewing with apex pointed, distal margin strongly oblique; areole double, first 

 radial vein stalked. Hindwing with costal margin produced, running to a rounded point at the end of the 

 2""^ subcostal, distal margin nearly straight; discocellulars biangulate. — Early stages unknown. 



Erected for a single Asiatic species. Distinguished by the shape of the hindwing. 



K, obstinata Stgr. (8 c). Forewing whitish grey with a tinge of brown, the markings brown-or but obstinaia. 

 not very sharply defined. A dark bar bounding the basal patch and a narrow median band the most conspicuous; 

 the latter is really postmedian, its proximal edge running from about or just beyond middle of costa to middle 

 of hindmargin, with deep, angular indentations on 2"** radial, 2"'' median and 2""* submedian, its distal edge 

 slightly indented on all the veins and the submedian fold and with a moderate projection between the 3'''* 

 radial and P' median. Hindwing and underside almost unmarked, thus appearing whiter. Ferghana to the 

 Tarbagatai Mountains. — cinerata Stffr. froni Kashgar ? (Issyk-Kul is given as the locality in the original dnerata. 

 account) differs in being ash-grey without the brownish tone of the type-form. — roseata Th.-Mier/ from roseata. 

 the Alexander Mountains has the forewing, excepting the median band, and the fringes of both wings strongly 

 mixed with rosy scales. 



5. Genus: liarentia 2 



r. 



Characters of the following genus, but the palpus rather shorter, distal margin of both wings more 

 crenulate, discocellulars of the hindwing biangulate. cf antenna bipectinate, with moderate (or rather short) 

 branches. — Larva elongate, rugose laterally, the head rounded. Feeds on Malvaceae. 



This genus, which I formerly called Plerocijmia Rhn., is certainly the Larentia of Treitschke, as I have 

 elsewhere shown (Trans. City Lond. Ent. Soc. vol. 17, p. 21); the type (Treitschke's first species) was selected 

 by Curtis in 1830. So far as is yet known it contains only a single species, inhabiting the western 

 Palearctic Region. 



L, clavaria Haw. (= cervinata Schiff. in err. = fasciaria Wrnbg. nee L) (6i). Forewings fawn-colour davaria. 

 with browner basal patch, median band and distal shade, all finely and delicately white-edged distally, the 

 median band also accompanied by a fine white line proximally, sharply indented on the submedian fold and 

 more shallowly in the cell. Hindwing pale, becoming browner at the distal margin. The type form is 

 generally known by SchiffermIjller's name of cervinata, which was applied under a misapprehension, being 

 simply an emendation of cervinalis Scop., and must be abandoned. Retzius in 1783 called it Phalaena grisea 

 fasciata, but this is not a binomial. Haworth's is thus the oldest valid name known. — pallidata Stgr. is pallidata. 

 a pale race which occurs in Asiatic Turkey, Ferghana and about lake Zaisan. Forewing ochreous-brownish 

 or brownish-grey. Unknown to me. — datinaria Oh. (6i), also unknown to nie, seems likely to be another datinaria. 

 pale race of clavaria, or possibly a mere aberration. It was described from a single cf taken at Kef, Algeria, 

 in November, and is said to be much greyer than typical clavaria (which also occurs in Algeria), with the 

 course of the white lines which bound the central area somewhat different. — fumosata Trti., also from North fumosata. 

 Africa (Frenda, Oran), is a much darker form, described as of a blackish brown or smoke-colour, the lines 

 thicker and more sharply expressed than in typical clavaria. Two cfcf taken in February. Should datinaria 

 prove to be, as Oberthijr believed, a separate species, fumosata may probably represent a dark form of it. 

 — Tne egg of clavaria is said to be spherical with the surface smooth, the colour light yellow; laid in autumn, 

 not hatching till April or May. The larva is green, more yellowish at the incisions, which are well marked: 

 traces of darker longitudinal lines, sometimes a pink mediodorsal line; tubercles white; spiracles black. It 

 feeds on Malva, Althaea and allied plants, resting generally on the underside of the leaves. It drops to the 

 ground when the plant is touched, and rolling itself up bears a remarkable resemblance to the seeds of the 

 maUow. It feeds up rapidly and often pupates at the beginning of June, though some larvae linger on into 

 July. They are generally plentiful where they occur. The pupa is rather stout, red-brown, the cremaster 

 with a pair of strong, projecting points and some very slender curved hooks; enclosed in a slight cocoon on 

 the surface of the ground. The moth appears in September-November and is not often disturbed by day, but 

 may be captured with the net in the evening and is strongly attracted to light. It is widely distributed in 

 Europe except the extreme north and south and is also recorded from Asia Minor, Transcaucasia and the Altai. 



