41 



NOTES: NEW GENERA AND SPECIES 

 NOCTUIDAE 



AGROTINAE 



Rhizagrotis polingi, sp. nov. 



Male: front; pale, tinged with olivaceous-brown; vertex, with an oHvace- 

 ous-brown bar between the antennal bases, passing above them to the eyes. 

 Palpi : pale, more or less tinged with olivaceous, blackish on the sides of the last 

 two joints. Collar: pale at base, followed by a lavender stripe, then a white 

 stripe, with olivaceous-brown tips separated from the white basal region by a 

 few black scales tending to form a distinct line. Patagia; pale at base, tipped 

 with olivaceous-brown which is separated from the pale base by a line of black 

 scales. Thorax and abdomen white, or nearly so. 



Primaries: with the ground color evidently white. Costa white with a 

 considerable suffusion of black scales. All veins marked conspicuously with 

 white. At the point of origin, on the cell, of veins 3, 4, and 5 (Cu^, M.^, and 

 M ), there is a conspicuous enlargement of the white scaling into a distinct 

 blotch. A suffusion of black scales practically surround the median vein, above 

 and below which are olive-brown shadings. A suffusion of black scales present 

 above and below vein 1. The s. t. area, a distinct olivaceous-brown shade, bor- 

 dered distally by a few black scales which form a faint s. t. line,— the only 

 transverse line on the wing proper. The terminal area is violaceous. A whitish 

 basal dash present, extending from base, below cell, about one-fourth the length 

 of the wing, edged below by a few black scales. Fringe pale, with a double 

 interline of olive-brown. Secondaries : white, with more or less fuscous along 

 outer margin especially at the apex, the veins often marked with fuscous. Be- 

 neath : fore wing white, with some fuscous scaling above and below the median 

 vein; discal dot present, strong; a few blue-black scales scattered over the 

 ground. Fringe: white interlined with violaceous-black. Hind wing: white, 

 with some few scattered violaceous-black scales. Fringe : white, with a trace of 

 a darker interline. 



Female: similar to male, but somewhat darker; primaries with the fus- 

 cous more intensified; secondaries nearly obscured by fuscous, with the veins 

 darker. Fringe: white with a trace of an interline. Beneath: similar to the 

 male, but with the fuscous more pronounced ; the veins of the secondaries, some- 

 what darkened. 



Expanse: 34-39 mm.; the females averaging slightly larger than the males. 



The present species is closely allied to bidavis, Gvt.=demutabilis, 

 Sm., which occurs with it in the California desert-region, but is abund- 

 antly distinct. In polingi the front is less roughened; and the pri- 



