266 
CUROBA; SECUSIO; NYCTEMERA. By Dr. A. Seitz. 
sangarida. 
parvipunc- 
ta. 
VII. Subfamily: Nyctemerinae. 
Proboscis strong. Palpi porrect or somewhat ascending. Accessory eyes present. Antennae in the 
strongly bicombed, the pinnae decreasing towards the tip, in the $ the teeth are shorter, or also the antennae 
are plain. On the forewing the 2nd subcostal vein anastomoses with the joint footstalk of the 3rd, 4th and 
5th, so that an areola is formed. On the hindwing the lowest subcostal vein and the 1st ladial rise on a 
footstalk from the upper cell-angle. The very numerous and often very similar forms might be reduced to very 
few primary forms, and by far most of the N yctemerinae described as species may only be regarded as subspecies 
or local races. Although most of the forms are very common in their patriae, still the larvae of but very few 
are known; in contrast with most of the Arctiid larvae that are almost all polyphagous, the N yctemerinae 
often seem to be monophagous or oligophagous and for the greatest part confined to plants from the genus 
of Senecio, as also the larva of the only European more closely allied to the N yctemerinae ■— Euchelia jacobaeae — 
is quite or almost exclusively found on Senecio. According to several zoologists the larvae of various species 
exhibit, beside the tufts of bristles across the abdomen, two hair-pencils turned in front also at the sides of 
the head; I have never seen such larvae. The species I bred had larvae with yellow and black rings entirely 
like our Euchelia- larvae, or they were quite dark and likewise resting in swarms on Senecio. — Moreover, I refer 
to what I have said about this group on p. 102 of Vol. II. 
1. Genus: Curoha Wkr. 
A beautifully marked species forms this genus. Medium-sized; antennae in the <$ bicombed, in the 
$ serrate-dentate; palpi obliquely porrect, and above with a short, conic terminal joint. On the forewing the 
2nd subcostal vein anastomoses with the footstalk of the 3rd to 5th, forming an areola thereby. The footstalk 
of the subcostal veins comes from the upper cell-angle at the same place as the upper radial; the lower and 
upper median veins rise separately, but close together. Also on the hindwing the two veins mentioned last 
rise separately. Nothing is known to us of the life-history. 
C. sangarida Cr. ( -■ mopsa Drury , fasciata Wkr.) (26 e). Across the dark brown forewing extends 
an irregular, white oblique band; the hindwing is carmine with a black margin and macular band, on the upper 
surface the basal half has a black ground-colour. Local, though not rare; Ceylon and Nilgiri Hills. The habits 
are just like those of Euchelia jacobaeae , and the (unknown) larva is presumably found on Senecio. 
2. Genus: Secusio Wkr. 
Distinguished from the preceding genus merely by the areola of the forewing being much smaller, parti¬ 
cularly shorter; the hindwing is yolk-coloured, unmarked. Several forms from Africa probably scarcely belonging 
to more than one species; one of them is distributed to Arabia and India. 
S. strigata Wkr. Typical strigata, as we figure them in Vol. XIV from East Africa, do not occur in 
the Indo-Australian region. In South India, however, a small alpine form occurs: parvipuncta Hmps. (26 e), 
which is reported to occur also on the Kilima-Ndjaro in Africa and which differs from the larger strigata beside 
its smallness also by the reduction of the white macular band on the forewing. 
3. Genus: Hyctemera Hbn. 
Mostly medium-sized, very similarly coloured and marked, blackish-brown and white lepidoptera. 
The thoracal glands produce a corrosive oily sap of a smell quite similar to the same secretion of most of the 
other Arctiids and somewhat like that of the small coleopter Coccinella septempunctata. In many species also 
the abdominal end has the yellow colour of this oily secretion in order to protect also this most important part 
of the body by this premonitory colour. 
On the forewing of a very regular shape the 1st subcostal vein rises close behind the middle fo the cell, 
the 2nd anastomoses with the joint footstalk of the 3 last subcostal veins. Together with this footstalk from 
the same place rises the upper radial; the lower radial comes from the lower cell-angle, the upper median vein 
branches off a little before it, the lower median vein scarcely behind the middle of the cell. The areola is rather 
long. 
The larvae are reported partly to have pencils on their heads; some are rather exactly like those of 
Euchelia jacobaeae , without pencils on their heads, with black and yellow rings, gregariously resting on Senecio- 
