Publ. 25. I. 1913. ACONTIA. By W. Warren. 301 



of Erons, finely sealed, the third segment half as long as second, bluntly cut off at apex: antennae of o" 1 sub- 

 serrate, pubescent; thorax and abdomen smoothly sealed: [brewing ample, the lerinen rounded, smooth, in the 

 c? with a tendency to be exeised above anal angle; in forewing veins 7, Sand i). 10 are stalked. Larva with 

 only 4 pairs of abdominal prolegs, elongate, uniformly slender, with a few hairs, feeding up in autumn on 

 species of Malva and Lavatera: puliation subterranean. Type .1. malvae Esp. A genus of tropical insects, in 

 Europe found only along the coasts of the Mediterranean. 



Sect. I. Forewing of <f with terme-n excised below vein 4; palpi with downcurved 

 hair in fro n t. 



Subsect. B. Forewing of c? beneath with vein l fringed with long upcurved hair 

 from base to middle. 



A. transversa Gum. (= migrator Walk., flava Moore nee F., dentalis Smith) (52 m). Forewing bright transversa. 

 pale yellow, with sparse black dusting: a -large brown somewhat diffuse terminal blotch between vein 5 and 

 anal angle, projecting at middle into cell, and continued narrowly to apex, the fringe wholly brown; inner 

 and median lines brown, angled in middle, the inner on the median vein, the median on vein 5, and nearly . 

 touching the outer line which is bent above middle; a black spot before apex; hindwing rather deeper 

 yellow, especially towards termen, the fringe brownish; in the cf the median nervure is often brown towards 

 base; the termen of forewing is visibly excised above anal angle in the cf. Larva pale green; subdorsal, 

 lateral, and subspiraeular rows of white spots, the subdorsal series having a large yellow spot on each 

 segment This Indo-Malayan species occurs in Japan, Corea, and China. 



Sect. II. Forewing of cf 1 with termen evenly curved. 



Subsect. A. Palpi of <f with downcurved hair in front. 



A. malvae Esp. ( = stramen Guen., imparata Walk., impellens Walk., inefficiens Walk.) (52m). Forewing malvae. 

 whitish tinged with pale yellow, with a brown flush towards termen, more especially in the 9; lines brown, 

 thickened on costa; inner oblique outwards, kinked in cell; median angled on vein 5, indented on submedian 

 fold: outer and submarginal below vein 6 parallel and close together; a dark line close before termen marked 

 with black brown spots belqw middle: fringe brownish; cf with an oblique brown renilbrm stigma, sometimes 

 with pale centre, before median line; hindwing white, towards termen tinged with yellowish or brownish, 

 especially in $. Larva pale yellow; dorsal and subdorsal lines fine and distinct; oblique dark orange streaks 

 on segments 2 and 3, orange yellow spots on the hinder segments, edged with black: lateral line black, 

 interrupted and marked with orange: head brown marked with black; feet orange. (Another form is described 

 as green with white lateral stripes, swollen into triangles over the fore feet; the head grey green). Feeds in 

 autumn on Malva moschata, and Lavatera olhia. Spain, Sicily, Italy, Dalmatia, Algeria, Syria, and through 

 India and the East to Australia. European examples are less highly coloured than Eastern specimens. 



Subsect. B. Palpi of cf smoothly scaled. 



A. graellsii Feisth. ( = innocens Walk., fimbriata Walk.) . (52 m). Forewing bright pale yellow ; the graellsii. 

 outer lines only indicated by brown spots below costa; a diffuse brown wisp from before end of cell to termen 

 below apex: fringe broad, iron grey, beyond a brown terminal line, which colour often runs shortly along the 

 veins; the whole wing is sparsely dusted with black atoms; hindwing iridescent white, the termen in the ?, 

 the fringe only in the a 71 , tinged with brownish yellow. Larva dorsally green with reddish or reddish yellow 

 tinge or wholly reddish yellow; dorsal line broad, yellowish white; tubercles black: interrupted black lines 

 and oblique streaks along dorsum: reddish or green patches along sides: on species of Lavatera. Found on 

 the coast of S. France and Spain, and recorded from Central China. 



Subfamily Catocalinae. 



This Subfamily belongs to the second great group included in the Family Nochiidae, in which vein 5 of the 

 hindwing is strong and fully developed, closely approximated to the lower angle of cell, and forms part of Guenee's 

 second subdivision, the Qiiadrifidae. Its positive characteristic is the possession of spines on the mid tibiae ; the fore 

 or hind tibiae also, sometimes both, are likewise spined; by this it is at once distinguished from the other large subfamily, 

 the Koctuincw, in which the tibiae are without spines. The eyes are large and naked, without overhanging cilia as in the 

 Plusianae; but in a few small day-flying species the eyes are small and compressed. The species are generally of large 

 size and strongly built: as a rule they are more numerous in Iropical climates; the genus Catocala, however, is an 

 exception, for, while comparatively few in the tropics, they abound in the Palaearctic regions. 



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