PiiU. 2. II. 1935. 
PIERCIA. By L. B. PROtrT. 
!)7 
P. ciliata Jmise. 25—27 mm. Paljms twice as long as diameter of eye. antenna biserrate and hi- r'lliaiti.. 
eiliate, the cilia a little longer than diameter of shaft. Gronnd-colonr “tilleiddjiiff”, l)ofly and forewing tinged 
with olive, hindwing with vinaceons. Porewing densely irrorated with fnscons-black; markings black or black¬ 
ish; antemedian curved, succeeded by a band-like shade, to which follows the cell-dot; median indistinct, 
narrow, crenulate, excurved anteriorly, incurved posteriorly; postmedian well-defined exteriorly by the ces¬ 
sation of black irroration, oblique and straight from costa to before middle of 3rd radial, then zigzagged and 
incurved; subterminal olive-buff, zigzag, preceded by a triangular brown costal spot and an irregular black 
mark at the radials; ternien with paired black dots at the veins. Hindwing with indications of a postmediaji 
line, beneath also of median and subterminal. A yellowish tinge on the underside of this wing, on that of the 
forewing restricted to the costa and veins. Imjietyeni Forest (102) typ.) and Oudebosch (Caledon flistrict). 
Unknown to me. 
P. ansorgei B.-Bak. (10 h). Similar to subterlimbata, (lOi) but with the areole usually doid)le (the ])roximal (msoroel. 
areole however, at least in the type, quite small), the boundary of the basal patch apparently more sinuous, 
excurved between the median and the 2nd sidjinedian, the central band not so strongly broadened anteriorly, 
the hindwing almost entirely darkened, the underside also strongly dark-suffused, excepting a light cream-bnff 
jicstmedian band. Antennal ciliation of scarcely longer than diameter of shaft; discocellnlars of hindwing 
scarcely biangulate. Angola (the type), S. Cameroons, N. W. Kivu and Uganda; a form ( '!) from Ran, Nandi 
Country, is rather narrow-banded and has the areole simple. 
P. spatios^ta Walk. {= priscata Walk., despectata Walk.) (10 h). Fairly easy to recognize by the spaitosaia. 
shape of the broad median area, entire absence of green scaling and generally the straightish dark antemedian 
bar. Hindwing with discocellulars more or less biangulate; pale, with ill-defined brownish border. Cape Colony 
to the Transvaal and again in Kenya Colony, where the forms are perhaps a little smaller and less strongly 
marked and have the areole often simple, whereas in perhaps 75 per cent of the S. African it is doid^le. 
P. fumitacta Warr. (10 i). Closely similar to the preceding, ])ossibly a dingy form of it, perha])s rather fnmitacia. 
smaller, the hindwing darker, the forewing sometimes with some green scaling intermixed. Areole simple, as 
in E. African of spatiosata-, discocellulars about as in spatiosata. Kenya Colony. 
P. subterlimbata Prout (10 i). Median area of forewing nearly as broad anteriorly as in spatiosata but suhterJim- 
with the course of the postmedian line in its anterior half more direct, the coloration cpiite different, the under- t>aia. 
side with the distal area strongly darkened. Natal (type) and Pondoland and distributed (perhaps with some 
racial differences) to Belgian Congo and Abyssinia. In the S. African the areole seems to be always simple, 
as also in similar examples from Mt. Mlanje, Kilimandjaro and Abyssinia; but 1 refer here provisionally some 
double-areole forms. In genitalia close to prasinaria. 
P. olivata Janse. 17—20 mm. Antenna of the (J wdth ciliation about as long as diameter of shaft, olh-ata. 
Palpus about twice diameter of eye; white beneath. Body and wings light drab. Forewing with areole simple; 
narrow, well-defined sid)basal, antemedian and postmedian lines and a broad, diffused, irregular white sub¬ 
terminal fascia; a broad yellow-ochre fascia proximal to the antemedian, one distal to the postmedian, and a 
broad fuscous median fascia, giving the whole wing a dark olive tone. Hindwing with discocellulars biangulate; 
densely irrorated wdth fuscous-black, the 3 principal lines indicated; snbterminal band whitish and a whitish 
line beyond the median. Durban (the type), Woodbush, etc. FTnknown to me. Janse's key calls attention to 
the position of the angle of the postmedian line — midway between 3rd radial and 1st median (in spatiosata 
before 3rd radial). 
P. myopteryx sp. n. (10 i). 20 mm. Antennal joints scarcely jjrojecting, ciliation as long as diameter myopterij.x. 
of shaft. Hindtibia wdth spurs very unequal, the outer of each ])air quite short. Areole simple; 1st median 
arising close to end of cell. Hindwing relatively small; 1st median just stalked. Differs from ansorgei (lOh) in the 
more nearly unmarked hindwing, its specialised shape and venation, etc. Macenta, French Gninea. 2000 feet, altilis. 
May 1926 (C. L. Collenette). — altilis subsp. nov. is rather larger (22 mm) and decidedly broader-winged. 
Bitje, Ja River, Cameroons (G. L. Bates), a pair in the British Museum. 
P. cidariata Ouen. (10 i). Almost as variable as Dysstroma citrata and truncata of the Palaearctic chlariaia. 
Region, the band of the forewing (much as in the latter) either black-grey, paler grey, whitish-centred or rufes- 
cent; unmistakable through the deep inward bend (between two prongs) of the postmedian line. Structurally 
characterized by the pectinate antenna, wdth 2 pairs of slender pectinations to each joint. Areole in this and 
almost all the succeeding Piercia species simple. Ca])e Colony, common; also known from Orange River 
Colony, Basutoland and Natal. 
P. leptoyphes sp. n. Very near cidariata, considerably larger (28 mm), cell of forewing not quite so lepfoyphes. 
long. Coloration pale or light olive, the forewing with grey-brown (approaching hair-brown) irroration and 
markings; more uniform in aspect than that of cidariata (areas less sharply bounded), the projections of the 
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