A STUDY OF SOME NORTH AMERICAN MOTHS ALLIED TO THE THYATIRID GENUS BOMBYCIA HuBNER By J. F. Gates Clarke and Foster H. Benjamin^ Of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, United States Department of Agriculture The present paper was begun by Foster H. Benjamin, but his uncompleted manuscript, which was being written to precede Dr. W. T. M. Forbes' paper on the Thyatiridae (1936),-was only recently discovered. In his manuscript Benjamin had described as new the genus Bycombia and the species Bombycia semifasciata and Bombycia crumbi (herein placed in the new genus Ceranemota) . The new genus Bycombia and the two new species mentioned above must be credited to him. In addition I have described one new genus and three new species. Forbes discussed the genera of this family and clearly showed the differences between them. He preferred, however, to con-sider Bombycia in the broad sense and included in it the North American species herein referred to Ceranemota. Bombycia, however, should be restricted to or D. and S., and its congeners. In this same paper Forbes also mentioned B. verdugoensis Hill, stating that it belonged in the Bombycia complex but that he had not studied it critically. His statement w^as, I believe, made with full knowledge of the facts but in anticipation of the publica-tion of Benjamin's proposed paper and in courtesy to him. The present paper is based on a study of specimens in the collection of the United States National Museum. The drawings were made under my supervision by Mrs. Eleanor A. Carlin of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. J. F. G C. The following keys will serve to separate Bombycia, By-combia and Ceranemota. ■' Deceased. = Forbes, W. T. M., Ann. Ent. See. Amer., vol. 29, pp. 779-803, 1936. 55
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