Ethmia conglobata Meyrick 1912

Ethmia conglobata Meyrick, 1912:717.—Clarke, 1955a:98; 1965:422

A Colombian species having rather broad whitish forewings clouded with ill-defined brownish gray blotches and diffusion.

MALE.–Length of forewing 11.7 mm. Head: Labial palpus elongate, exceeding base of antenna; second segment length about 1.45 times eye diameter; third segment curved, length slightly greater than that of second; smooth scaled, white with broad brownish black bands basally and subapically on second and third segments. Antenna scarcely dilated, width of shaft basally about 0.19 eye diameter; dorsal scaling dark gray. Scaling of tongue brownish, front and crown whitish, occipital tufts blackish at middorsum. Thorax: Dorsal scaling whitish, collar and tegulae pale brownish basally; notum with two pairs of small, black spots, adjoining tegulae apices and at sides of scutellum, possibly a fifth spot, preceding scutellar area at middorsum. Underside shining white, legs broadly blotched with brownish gray exteriorly. Forewing: Broad, length about 3.0 times width; costa moderately steeply angled to about middle, gently curved beyond, termen moderately strongly angled back, straight, tornal angle distinct. Ground color whitish, largely replaced by brownish gray clouding except in terminal area; several brownish blotches, darker than surrounding suffusion, the most well defined, an oblong spot on Cu fold before end of cell, dorsal area with slightly less infuscation, two spots on inner one-third, the outer one larger and closer to dorsum; a broad band parallel to termen with scarcely any infuscation; a row of distinct blackish marginal dots from well before apex nearly to tornus. Fringe white with a small, pale brown spot below apex. Underside brown. Hindwing: Slightly narrower than forewing; costal area on basal half with a tightly appressed fold to R, containing a thin pencil of cream-white hair scales; costal margin slightly convex; apex blunt, termen broadly curved to dorsum. Ground color whitish basally, becoming pale brownish on apical half; fringe white. Underside similar, costal area darker. Abdomen: Dorsal scaling pale brownish, ventral similar, genital pale ochreous. Genitalia as in Figure 146 (drawn from plesiotype, La Crumbre, Colombia, JAP prep. no. 1628; one preparation examined); not closely similar to any other described species; uncus lacking; tegumen a strongly sclerotized ring, valva exceptionally broad, with three prominent, flat spines on distal margin.

FEMALE.–Length of forewing 13.5 mm. Generally as described for male; eye about the same size; labial palpus larger, second segment length about 1.7 times eye diameter, third segment about 1.45 times eye diameter (as in male). Forewing slightly broader, length about 2.9 times width, markings similar, darker. Hindwing costal area simple, slightly concave to end of R; ground color rather uniform dark brown, not whitish basally. Abdomen darker brown than male, ochreous genital scaling reduced. Genitalia not examined.

TYPE DATA.–Colombia, San Antonio, 5,800 feet, November; lectotype male, designated by Clarke (1965), in British Museum.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.–Known only from Colombia (La Crumbre, 6,600 feet).

FLIGHT PERIOD.–November; May (?) (“5–14”).

FOOD PLANT.–Unknown.

The Cyanea Group

Eye index 0.9 (female). Labial palpus moderately short, II segment index 1.1–1.2 Antenna of male probably with scape modified (length in ♀, 0.9 of eye diameter), dilation of shaft unknown. Forewing broad; metallic blue without pattern. Hindwing of male with costal brush, status of folding unknown. Abdomen scaling undifferentiated. Uncus membranous; gnathos lacking; basal processes membranous, narrow; valva with cucullus “plume”; fultura-manica simple; status of vesica unknown. Papillae anales membranous, setate; posterior apophyses elongate; sterigma simple; antrum enlarged with sclerotized band; ductus bursae membranous, seven tight coils; signum a notched keel.

A single entirely metallic blue species in southern Mexico which appears to show closest relationships to the Longimaculella and Trifurcella groups.

Ethmia cyanea Walsingham

Ethmia cyanea Walsingham, 1912:144, pl. 5, fig. 4.

This is a distinctive dark metallic blue moth known only from Veracruz.

MALE.–Known only from the type in the British Museum, characterized in the original description by the following: Length of forewing not recorded (Walsingham cited the wing expanse as 21–23 mm, evidently in part an error, since a paratype female from Atoyac measured only 18 mm. Possibly the male is much larger than the female with a forewing length up to 10.5 mm.) Head: Labial palpus erect, third segment length only 0.5 that of second; shining purplish blue. Antenna flattened laterally, slightly serrate beneath; purplish blue. Thorax: Dark, shining greenish blue, legs dark green externally, purplish on their inner sides. Forewing: Unicolorous, dark, shining greenish blue; fringe purple. Hindwing: K. Sattler states (in litt.) that the costa bears a dorsal hair pencil. Color, including fringe dark purple. Abdomen: Deep blackish green. Genitalia somewhat like E. similatella (Figure 157). E. cyanea compared via a photograph of the holotype provided by K. Sattler.

MAP 56.—Geographical distribution of Ethmia cyanea Walsingham.

FEMALE.–Length of forewing 8.0 to 9.0 mm. Essentially as described for male. Labial palpus moderately elongate, not strongly curved, just exceeding base of antenna; second segment length 1.2 to 1.3 eye diameter, third segment straight, 0.65–0.85 as long as second. Forewing broad, length 2.9–3.1 times width; dorsum somewhat concave, giving a broader appearance beyond middle than in most Ethmia. Coloration as described for male. Abdomen dark metallic blue. Genitalia as in Figure 259 (drawn from plesiotype, Cordoba, Veracruz, JAP prep. no. 2120; two preparations examined); sterigma narrow with a thin ring around ostium, ductus basally with a broad, heavily sclerotized band continued through first spiral, with about six membranous spirals, signum not differing from that of nigritaenia.

TYPE DATA.–Mexico, Veracruz, Atoyac, April (H. H. Smith), holotype male and paratype females in British Museum. Paratypes from Jalapa and Coatepec, Veracruz, in the U.S. National Museum and in the Los Angeles County Museum.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.–Northern Veracruz, Mexico; in addition to Walsingham’s localities, the California Insect Survey collection has females from Cordoba and near Rinconada.

FLIGHT PERIOD.–April and June.

FOOD PLANT.–Unknown.

The Gigantea Group

Eye index 1.1. Labial palpus moderately elongate, II segment index 1.3–1.5, smooth scaled. Antenna of male slightly dilated, index 0.22. Forewing moderately broad; pattern costal-dorsal. Hindwing of male with hair pencil enclosed in costal fold. Abdomen with genital scaling ochreous. Uncus membranous; gnathos lacking; basal processes membranous, narrow; valva with cucullus “plume”; modified, scalelike setae not bifid apically; fultura-manica simple; vesica armed. Papillae anales membranous, setate; posterior apophyses elongate; sterigma simple; antrum enlarged; ductus bursae membranous, five tight coils; signum a notched keel.

The largest New World species of Ethmia occurs in northern Central America and shows close relationship to no other species. Phenetic assessments consistently indicated an isolated position, near the Longimaculella and Trifurcella groups yet not clustering with E. cyanea which occupies a similar position.

Ethmia gigantea Busck

Ethmia conglobata is a moth in the family Depressariidae. It is found in Colombia.

The length of the forewings is 11.7–13.5 mm (0.46–0.53 in). The ground color of the forewings is whitish, largely replaced by brownish gray clouding except in the terminal area. The ground color of the hindwings is whitish basally, becoming pale brownish on the apical half. Adults have been recorded in November and May.