Viette, P.E.L.

Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society

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Vol. XIV, No. 1, March, 1950 189Contribution to the Study of Hepialidae (9th Note):1.The Genus Phassodes Bethune-Baker (Lepidoptera)By PIERRE E. L. VIETTEDEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGYMUSEUM NATIONAL d'HISTOIRE NATURELLE, PARIS. (Presented by Mr. Van Zwaluwenburg at the meeting of May 9, 1949)The genus Phassodes was described by Bethune-Baker in 1906 (Pr.Zool. Soc. London, p. 89) for six species from the Fiji Islands. Earlier,Rothschild (Novit. Zool., 2:482, 1895) had described a species from Fiji,vitiensis, which he placed in the genus Leto Hiibner. Later, Tarns (Ins.of Samoa, 3, Lepidoptera, fasc. 4:289, 1935) refers specimens collected byBuxton and Hopkins to Phassodes vitiensis (Rothschild), indicating thatRothschild's species does not belong in Leto.Through the kindness of Mr. Riley and Mr. Tarns, we have been ableto see in the British Museum (Natural History) the specimens cited inthe literature. Here follow a few remarks based on the examination ofthat material.In the first place Phassodes nausori Bethune-Baker is a synonym of P.vitiensis (Rothschild). Then, in spite of the signs " $" placed byBethune-Baker before each of his descriptions, only his Phassodes odore-valvula is a male; the other descriptions are based on females. It is likelythat these descriptions are those of females belonging to a very variablespecies, but we have not sufficient material to synonymize any of Bethune-Baker's names, except P. nausori.The genus Phassodes is valid, and we shall complete here Bethune-Baker's original diagnosis by a description of the male genitalia and a fewwords on the scent gland.The antennae are filiform, short, reaching one-tenth the length of thecosta; the labial palpi are porrect, with three joints, they are little developed but nevertheless visible from above the head; the eyes are verybroad. The metathoracic legs are short. But, in the male, more characteristic is the presence, at the base of the forewings, of a scent gland, placedin the thickening of the wing. On the ventral side js a broad, oval, yellowish plate (fig. 3), without scales, although the remainder of the baseof the wing is covered with them. On the dorsal side, the gland is openin a bow-shaped slit (fig. 4) through which is seen an area abundantlycovered with very slender, short and blackish hairs. This area correspondsto the yellowish plate on the ventral side. Between the slit and the Sc,the base of the wing is strongly swollen. This case is interesting becauseit is the only one known to exist in the Hepialidae, and is unrecorded inthe literature, in spite of a brief allusion to it by a line in Bethune-1 Seventh note: Bull. Soc. Ent. France, 1949, pp. 72-73. Eighth note: Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 74:47-49, 1949.190 Proceedings, Hawaiian Entomological SocietyBaker's description. In the Hepialidae the scent glands are usually onthe metathoracic tibiae, generally in the shape of long, specialized hairs(for example, Hepialus humuli L., Charagia daphnandrae Lucas, Phassustrojesa Schaus), but sometimes altering the whole shape of the tibiae(Hepialus hectus L.).Male genitalia. The eighth sternite is in the shape of a subrectangularplate, with the caudal edge better sclerotized, and with pads (fig. 2). Thedorsal parts of the genitalia (fig. 1) have two points that may representan uncus; the processes of the tegumen are well developed, pointed attheir apex, the whole of the apical parts being bounded to a medial platein the form of a gutter; this structure is connected with the suspensorium;the juxta is subtriangular; the valves are upturned, broad at their basesand suddenly narrowed at their distal third.The genus is known now only from Fiji and Samoa, but serious research might show that it exists in other islands of the South Pacific.Phassodes odorevalvula Bethune-Baker. Fig. 1, male genitalia; fig. 2, 8th sternite ofmale; fig. 3, base of anterior wing, male (ventral side); fig. 4, same, dorsal side (showingscent gland).

Contribution to the Study of Hepialidae (9th Note): The Genus Phassodes Bethune-Baker (Lepidoptera)

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Contribution to the Study of Hepialidae (9th Note): The Genus Phassodes Bethune-Baker (Lepidoptera)

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