PHILOTHERMA. By Dr. C. Aurivillius. 
227 
above, but at the margin lighter and without the dentate submarginal line of the forewing. $ unknown. By the 
shape of the wings it recalls the <$<$ of Gonometa and Pachyna, but it differs entirely from Gonometa in the 
neuration. Sierra Leone. 
11. Genus: Pliilotlierma Mschlr. 
Large or middle-sized Lasiocampinae with broad wings, often very similar to the species of the palearctic 
genera Lasiocampa and Macrothylacia, with which they are also in fact closely allied. Eyes bare. The palpi 
do not project or but little beyond the frons. Antennae as far as the apex with two rows of pectinations, 
the pinnae in the G long, in the middling or very short. Forewing: veins 4 and 5 separately from the 
posterior angle of the cell, 6 and 7 from the same place or on a short pedicle, 8 separately from the discal cell, 
9 and 10 on a short fork. Hindwing: veins 4 and 5 not forked; basal cell small without accessory veins. 
Hind tibiae only with terminal spurs. Tarsi with appressed scales, above not or but little haired. The larvae, 
as far as they .are known, are long-haired and shaped like those of the Lasiocampa, but on the sides they exhibit 
groups of densely crowded silky hairs. 
The sexes are often very different. The $$ are larger, lighter, and at the end of the abdomen generally 
clad with dense woolly hair. 
The numerous species can be distributed upon four groups. 
Table of groups of species. 
I. The transverse lines of the fore wing above are cpiite smooth, not dentate. Distal margin in both 
wings moderately undulate or almost entire. 
A. Palpi thick, below densely clothed with long hair; terminal joint knob-shaped hidden in the hair, 
a. Anterior tibiae at the apex spined. First group of species. 
(3. Anterior tibiae unarmed. Second group of species. 
B. Palpi slender, scantily haired, projecting beyond the frons; terminal joint oblong. 
Third group of species. 
II. At least the distal transverse line of the forewing is distinctly dentate. Anterior tibiae unarmed (? in all 
species?). Fourth group of species. 
First Group of Species. 
Anterior tibiae apically spined. Distal margin in both wings moderately undulate or almost entire. Vein 9 of forewing 
terminates into the apex of the wing or into the distal margin close behind the apex of the wing. 
The species are closely allied and their differences are in many cases still very uncertain. As the authors do not 
mention anything about the armature of the anterior tibiae, I have inserted here the species not being examined by me 
only according to the habitus and marking. The marking is almost the same in all the species and normally consists in the 
forewing of an almost straight prediscal line, a light discal dot, a slanting postdiscal line, and a somewhat irregular row 
of dark submarginal dots or submarginal spots, of which the one in area 4 is always removed more towards the base than 
the one in area 3. The hindwing normally shows a dark discal line in the costal-marginal portion and a postdiscal row of dark 
dots or spots. On the under surface the prediscal line is absent in both wings. 
Ph. jacchus Mschlr. (30 f). The colour and marking is to be seen from the figure (made according jacchus. 
to the type). The species is distinguished by the ground-colour being lighter on the proximal side of the post¬ 
discal line and the sub marginal row of the fore wing. Gold Coast. 
Ph. sordida Auriv. (30 f) only differs in the somewhat lighter ground-colour, the black-curled discal sordida. 
dot of the fore wing and smaller submarginal spots being often absent on the hindwing above. Sierra Leone, 
Nigeria. — ab. posticata Strd. (31 a) is still lighter and shows distinct submarginal spots on the hindwing above, posticata. 
Togo. — testaceicomis Strd. (31 a) only differs in the indistinct discal spot and the lighter ground-colour. South testaceicor- 
Cameroon. ms 
Ph. rosa Drc. is the oldest species known of this group. The differences between it and the numerous rosa. 
forms described later on are unfortunately not stated in literature. If one possesses a series of specimens of 
the rosa-group and tries to determinate them according to the descriptions or figures, it is soon evident that 
it is impossible to denominate the single specimens with certainty, because the characteristic marks are 
not always exact, but are almost infinitely variable. As Druce’s description *) is decisive for the determination 
of the typical form, I recapitulate it here completely: Fore wing'reddish fawn-coloured, from the base 
almost to the centre the darkest and there traversed by a bent narrow black line which is distally bordered 
with whitish and extends from the costal margin to the anal margin; between the transverse line and the margin 
*) The figure in Monteiro’s ,,Delagoa-Bay“ is too much reduced to a smaller scale as to be of use. 
