Xanthocorpus costale (Rothschild, 1911)

Rothschild, W. (1911). New Syntomidae. Novitates Zoologicae 18: p. 29.
(Described as Pheia costalis; figured Novitates Zoologicae 20 (1913), pl. XIV
fig. 20.)

23. Pheia costalis sp. nov.

♂. Underside of body bright orange; fore and middle legs orange with black
marks on inside, hindlegs orange with a black band on tibia and tarsi; frons
silvery white; palpi black; antennae black; thorax orange with black spots;
abdomen except two last segments orange with median row of black spots, a grey
dot in the centre of the one on second segment, last two segments black with
grey-blue patches.--Wings hyaline-white, forewing with base of wing and basal
four-fifths of costa brilliant orange, subbasal third of inner margin black,
rest bright orange, tornus black, outer margin black, expanding widely at
termen; hindwing, outer margin black, costa orange, inner area black with
fringe of orange hairs.

Length of forewing: 13 mm.
Hab. Yungas de la Paz, Bolivia, 1000 metres, December 1899 (Garlepp), 1 ♂.

Hampson, G. F. (1914). Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British
Museum, Supplement vol. 1: p. 127. (As Pheia costalis.)

*419 a. Pheia costalis.

Pheia costalis, Roths. Nov. Zool. xviii. p. 29 (1911), & xx. p. 471, pl. xiv.
f. 20.

♂. Head black-brown, the frons and small spots behind antennae white; thorax
orange-yellow with a dorsal black streak, short streaks at middle of upper
edge of patagia, and small spots on shoulders; fore tibiae and tarsi streaked
with black, the extremities of mid and hind femora black, the mid tarsi
towards extremities and the hind tarsi towards base black; abdomen orange-
yellow with dorsal series of black spots with some silvery blue on them, the
two terminal segments black with dorsal silvery blue spots, the three medial
segments with small lateral black spots. Fore wing hyaline, the veins and
margins black; some yellow at base and a fascia below costa to beyond middle;
some yellow on extremity of median nervure and base of vein 2; the inner
margin yellow from before middle to near tornus; the terminal black band
expanding widely on apical area and slightly below vein 2. Hind wing hyaline,
the veins, inner area and termen black, the cell and costa yellow; the
terminal band expanding slightly towards apex; the cilia of inner margin
yellow; the underside with the base yellow.

Hab. Bolivia, Yungas de la Paz (Garlepp), type † ♂ in Coll. Rothschild. Exp.
26 millim.

Draudt, M. (1915). Pheia. In: Seitz, A. (ed.), The Macrolepidoptera of the
World, vol. 6, The American Bombyces and Sphinges: p. 60, pl. 12 d. (As Pheia
costalis.)

Ph. costalis Rothsch. (12 d) distantly resembles Ph. elegans, but it is much
smaller and neater, of a more slender structure. Body orange; the forehead is
silvery white, palpi and antennae black; thorax black-spotted; abdomen above
with a series of black median spots, the last two segments quite black with
blue-grey spots. The wings are hyaline, at the base and four fifths of the
costal margin orange, as well as at the inner margin; margins and apical spots
for the rest black; the inner-marginal area of the hindwing black with orange-
yellow hair. From Bolivia, taken at an altitude of 1000 m.

The species it is compared with, Ph. elegans, is described by Draudt on the
same page (p. 60, pl. 12 d) as follows:

Ph. elegans Druce (= drucei Kirby, cingla Schaus) (12 d). Wings faintly
yellowish hyaline, veins and margins black; the black border of the distal
margin grows particularly broader at the apex of the forewing and projects
somewhat inward on the lower median vein. A costal stripe as far as the apical
spot, and spots at the base of the inner margin and vein 1 are orange-yellow.
The palpi being yellow at the base are black. The forehead covered with white
hair, vertex black with metallic-blue scales. Collar and shoulder-covers
orange-yellow margined by black, metathorax with a large, metallic-blue spot.
Abdomen orange-yellow, the 3 last segments black, triangular black dorsal
spots with metallic-blue scales, blue subdorsal spots on the 2nd and 3rd
segments. Legs yellow and black, antennae black. Mexico, Guatemala, Costa
Rica, Panama, Venezuela.