34 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 7: 1994 



Description of adult specimen 



Wingspan 23 mm. Head and tegula fuscous mixed with white. Antennae simple, 

 fuscous, segments of basal third ringed whitish. Underside of first and second segments 

 of palpi brilliant white, upperside and all of third segment fuscous-tinged orange mixed 

 with white. Thorax similar to head and tegula, but with less white. Upper surface 

 of fore- and mid-legs fuscous with tawny and white scales, hindlegs bright shining 

 white, foreleg tarsi ringed with white, foreleg femur covered with long scales. Underside 

 of legs and body bright shining white. Forewing costa strongly arched towards base, 

 termen rounded. Forewing colour white mixed fuscous, giving an overall grey 

 appearance to the naked eye. The fuscous scales, especially towards the costa, have 

 a tawny appearance. Costa edged with a small row of tawny orange scales. There 

 is some black scaling at the base, forming a basal spot at the costa and extended 

 into the wing to form a short black basal streak. An intermittent black fascia runs 

 obliquely outwards from above (not touching) the dorsum towards (not touching) 

 the costa, passing just beyond the end of the basal streak. There is an indistinct 

 darker triangular area at mid-costa. Veins marked by dashes of black scales from 

 about mid-way, those near the costa forming continuous black lines. Cilia light 

 fuscous. Body fuscous. Hindwing shining white with fuscous terminal shade, veins 

 fuscous. Cilia white, shading to whitish fuscous towards costa. 



Classification 



Pardasena virgulana (Mabille) falls within the noctuid subfamily Sarrothripinae. 

 The only other British members of this subfamily are the two recorded species of 

 Nycteola. If it is deemed necessary, an English vernacular name for this species already 

 exists in the African literature (Pinhey, 1975), namely the 'grey square'. 



References 



Gaede, M. 1935. In: Seitz, A. 1913-1939. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 15. iii + 358pp. 



Stuttgart. 

 Hampson, G. F. 1912. Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum 11. 



xvii + 689pp. London. 

 Mabille, P. 1880. Annls Soc. Ent. Belg. 23: xvi-xxvii. 

 Pinhey, E. C. G. 1975. Moths of Southern Africa. 273pp. Cape Town. 



BOOK NOTICE 



Tachinid flies. Diptera: Tachinidae, by R. Belshaw. Handbk Ident. Br. Insects 

 10(4ai). Royal Entomological Society of London, 1993, 170 pp, paperback, £20.— 

 Not a rewrite of van Emden's 1954 Handbook, but a new book completely. The 

 artificial key, of 60 pages, is illustrated with diagrams throughout. Ecological notes 

 for each species are given in the central part of the book. Following the recent trend 

 of the Handbooks, further illustrations are grouped together at the end. A new check 

 list is included. Despite numerous books on the family, (Lundbeck, 1927; Wainwright, 

 1928 etc; Day, 1946, 1947; van Emden, 1954), the Tachinidae remain an under-worked 

 group. As important lepidopterous (and other) parasitoids, the flies ought to be better 

 studied, and perhaps Belshaw's book will enhance this possibility. 



R. A. Jones 



