Penthesilea sacculalis sacculalis Ragonot, 1891, revised status

Solis, M. Alma, Cashatt, Everett D. & Scholtens, Brian G., 2013, New North American Chrysauginae (Pyralidae) described by E. D. Cashatt, ZooKeys 344, pp. 55-71 : 66

Penthesilea sacculalis sacculalis Ragonot, 1891, revised status

Penthesilea sacculalis Ragonot, 1891: 493.

Description.

Alar expanse. 13 to 16 mm.

Head. Labial palpus dark brown with black; frons and vertex dark brown with white around the base of scape; occiput reddish-brown.

Thorax. Brown dorsad and ventrad. Forewing dark brown to fuscus; basal angle occasionally overscaled with reddish-brown, base darker than distal part; antemedial line white and slightly excurved; a yellow suffusion distad of white antemedial line; postmedial line white with a large brownish-orange suffusion near the costa, acutely excurved mediad; fringe fuscous. Hind wing dark brown to fuscous; Cu2 with a small white spot near outer margin, a small reddish-brown dash along Cu2 anteriad and posteriad to spot; fringe fuscous. Legs dark brown to fuscous; midtarsi white, hind tarsi white except first subsegment fuscous.

Abdomen. Brown overscaled with fuscous and reddish-brown, lateral tufts fuscous.

Genitalia. As described for genus.

Type data.

One male holotype, with no locality data is in the Museum National D’Histoire Naturalle in Paris.

Material examined.

Six males and eleven females from the following localities:

UNITED STATES: FLORIDA: Coconut Grove (USNM); Lake Placid, Archbold Bio. Sta., May (USNM); Royal Palm State Park (USNM); Winer Park [Winter Park?] (AMNH). GEORGIA: Atlanta (USNM). LOUISIANA: Lafayette, June (AMNH). NORTH CAROLINA: Southern Pines, July, Aug. (USNM). TEXAS: Brownsville (USNM); San Benito, July, Sept. (USNM). VIRGINIA: Skyland, July (USNM).

Life history. Unknown.

Remarks.

Ragonot (1891) states that the type specimen is probably from North America. Of the specimens that I have examined, it more nearly matches the specimens from Florida. The specimens from Florida are darker and smaller than those from Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina.