N. W. Gillham.
Symbrenthia silana de Niceville, a Good Species (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).
Psyche 63(1):11-13, 1956.

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SYMBRENTHIA SZLANA DE NICEVILLE, A GOOD
SPECIES (LEPIDOPTERA : NYMPHALIDAE)
BY NICHOLAS W. GILLHAM
Biological Laboratories, Harvard University While revising the Nymphalid tribe Vanessini I have had occasion to make a number of genitalic preparations from males and females of most of the species belonging to the genus Syrnbrenthial. A study of these preparations has revealed that Symbrenthia silana de Niceville is a distinct species, and not a subspecies of Swbrenthia nip- handa Moore as Fruhstorfer2 maintains. The males of both species have very distinct genitalia and can also be told apart by several minute differences in the external facies. Females of silana were nu5 available for study in the material at hand so the following diagnosis is ap- plicable to the males of the two species only. Symbrenthia, niphanda Moore
Figs. 1-2
Symbrenthia niphanda, Moore, 1872. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872 :559. Type locality : Sikkim, India, de- scribed from a 8 and a 9.
External fades. 1. Eyespot between Mz and Ms on underside of hindwing only slightly elongate as compared with those on either side of it.
2. Marginal green lunules
on underside of hindwing crescentic in shape with an orange spot separating them from the blue marginal spot at the outer angle. 3. Forewing below bearing five or six black spots between Cug and 2dA.
Male genitalia (Figs. 1 & 2). 1. Aedeagus short and thick. 2. Saccus very short and narrow. 3. Valve bear- 'Most of the material examined is in the collection of the U.S. Na- tional Museum and is under the care of Mr. William D. Field, who was kind enough to let me make full use of it. 2Fruhstorfer, H. 1912. In Seitz, The Macrolepidoptera of the World, 9:533.




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12 Psyche [March
ing a single caudal prong. 4. Uncus flanked by two well developed prongs.
Distribution. This species is recorded from Sikkim and Bhutan by Fruhstorfer, loc. cit., and I have seen a male from Assam (U.S. National Museum Collection). Symbrentia silana de Niceville
Figs. 3-4
Symbrenthia silana de Niceville, 1885. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 54:117. Type locality: Buxa, Bhutan, and Sik- kim, India, described from a male and female. External fades. 1. Eyespot between Ma and Mg on underside of hindwing very elongate as compared with those on either side of it. 2. Marginal green lunules on underside of hindwing chevron shaped and continuous with the marginal spot at the outer angle. 3. Forewing below bearing three or four black spots between Cus and 2dA. Male genitalia (Figs. 3 & 4). 1. Aedeagus long and Fig. 1. Male genitalia of Symbrenthia niphunda Moore with the aedeagus and left valve removed. The locality from which this speci- men came is unknown. Fig. 2. Aedeagus of the genitalia in Fig. 1. Fig. 3. Male genitalia of Symbrenthia silana de Niceville with the aedeagus and left valve removed. This specimen was collected at Sivoke, Sikkim. Fig. 4.Aedeagus of the genitalia in Fig. 3. All views are of the lateral aspect at 45x. Both specimens are in the collection of the U.S. National Museum.




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19561 Gillham - Symbrenthia silana
13
tapering. 2. Saccus moderately long and thick. 3. Valve bearing a caudal and a darsal prong. 4. Uncus flanked by two poorly developed prongs.
Distribution. This species is only known from Sikkim and Bhutan.
DROSOPHILID AND CHLOROPID FLIES BRED FROM SKUNK CABBAGE. - During May and June, 1956, I collected a great many rotting spathes of skunk cabbage, Sympio- carpus foetidus L. (Nutt.) from a shady red maple swamp in Lexington, Massachusetts. These were placed in a cloth-covered jar, and from 10-20 days later, a succession of small Diptera emerged. The first flies were small psychodids, still undetermined. Two days later, several Drosophila quinaria Loew adults appeared, plus a single small damaged Drosophila, possibly D. transversa or near. Following the first drosophilids by 2-3 days were numerous chloropid adults : about 100 Elachiptera costata (Loew) and 2 each of E. nigriceps (Loew) and E. erythropleura Sabrosky, as well as two specimens of Tricimba lineella (Fall.). Drosophila was also reared later from rotting skunk cabbage leaf petioles that were macerated and left exposed for a week in the same swamp during June; the emergents were all or nearly all D. quinaria, and this species was also collected resting on skunk cabbage leaves at the same locality. D. quinaria does not come to baits of watermelon and other rotting fruits placed in the swamp, though numerous other Drosophila and Chymomyza were attracted in this way. I owe the determinations to Dr. Curtis W. Sabrosky, Dr. A. H. Sturtevant, and Dr. Marshall R. Wheeler. - W. L. BROWN, JR., Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.



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