144 
Annals of the Transvaal Museum 
MICROPTERYGIDAE 
The single specimen described below is the first example of this family 
discovered in South Africa, and is naturally of great interest. I have 
however no doubt that a certain number of species will be found when 
collectors learn to observe them (often a matter of some difficulty) , and 
direct their attention to them; they generally occur rather commonly 
where found, and it is desirable to take a fair number of specimens for 
study. 
Agrionympha n . g . 
Head rough-haired. Antennae little over rather thick, joints closely set, 
transverse, serrulate, simple, basal joint moderate, scaled. Labial palpi 
moderate, curved, subascending, obtuse, loosely scaled. Maxillary palpi long, 
several- jointed, folded, loosely scaled. Middle tibiae without apical spurs; 
posterior tibiae smooth, with spurs placed in groups of appressed spines. 
Forewings with i a running into i h, forming long basal furcation, i c well- 
defined, connected with lower margin of cell by bar near base, 2 and 3 connate, 
forked parting- vein well-defined, terminating in 4 and 5, between which trans- 
verse vein is absent, 7 and 8 separate, 7 to apex, secondary cell well-defined, 
II from ^ of cell with long additional branch (ii a), 12 giving rise to an ad- 
ditional vein (13) above in middle. Hind wings under i, ovate-lanceolate, cilia 
nearly i ; neuration as in forewings, but ii and 12 without additional branches. 
Near the New Zealand genus Sabatinca, from which it differs (as well as 
from the other known members of the subfamily Micropteryginae) in the well- 
developed labial palpi, these being rudimentary or obsolete in the other genera; 
in this particular therefore it approaches the Eriocranianae . It differs also 
from Sabatinca and agrees with the allied Micropardalis in having veins 7 and 
8 of forewings separate. 
Agrionympha pseliacma n.sp. 
$ 8 mm. Head yellowish. Antennae dark fuscous. Thorax dark bronzy- 
fuscous. Abdomen dark grey. Forewings rather elongate, moderate, costa 
moderately arched, apex tolerably pointed, termen very obliquely rounded; 
deep coppery-golden-bronze, with purplish reflections ; markings silvery- 
whitish, edged with some blackish scales ; a narrow straight transverse median 
fascia; a slender straight transverse streak from costa at f , reaching rather 
more than half across wing; a fine transverse bar close before apex: cilia dark 
purplish-fuscous. Hindwings and cilia dark purplish-fuscous. 
Natal, Karkloof, in January (Janse); one specimen. In reply to a special 
request for information as to the conditions under which it was found, Mr Janse 
writes “ I caught it in daytime sitting on a leaf of a low shrub which was under 
the shade of very high trees, the sun shining on these bushes only now and 
then; the place was enclosed on all sides by hills and exceedingly hot, in fact 
it was like a Turkish bath there, so that I collected there only once for a few 
hours.” The conditions of mingled sunshine and shade are those which are 
congenial to the species of the family generally; the season of the year (mid- 
summer) is that favoured by the New Zealand species of the family, but not 
by the European, which are all spring insects. The locality Karkloof is a 
productive one, and has furnished man}^ peculiar insects. In Europe and New 
Zealand several species of the family often occur together in suitable places, 
so that, where one is met with, careful search should be made for more. These 
insects when flying in mixed sunshine and shade are sometimes so difficult to 
see that some random sweeps of the net will on occasion reveal specimens not 
otherwise noticeable. 
