Katacephala Crawford

(Figs 20, 52, 80)

Diagnosis: Head and thorax covered in conspicuous setae; vertex large, convex; genal cones often indistinctly separated from vertex, often stout and contiguous along inner margin (Fig. 20); occipital sclerite as a strip, giving the eyes a stalked appearance; lateral ocelli raised on tubercles. Antennae not markedly longer than 1.5 times the head width; segment 3 the longest. Forewing rhomboidal or with narrowly rounded apex; with costal break and pterostigma; wing membrane from hyaline to somewhat coriaceous; veins bearing long conspicuous setae; vein M+Cu1 short relative to Cu1 (Fig. 52). Meracanthus short; metatibia without genual spine; with a crown of 6–8 apical spurs; metabasitarsus with 2 apical spurs. Male proctiger with a well-developed angular posterior lobe.

Biology and damage: Immatures of Katacephala tenuipennis Tuthill excrete waxy secretions in which they are covered. They cause the edges of leaves to curl down and inward to form a closed linear pocket where they live and develop (Mead 1990).

Host-plants: Myrtaceae and Asteraceae (Hodkinson 1991; Burckhardt 1994a).

Distribution: Southern United States, Central and South America (Hodkinson 1989).

Remarks: This is the first record of this genus in Colombia.

Examined material: Katacephala sp.: Cundinamarca: 1 (female), Zipaquirá, Vda. El Empalizado, Fca. La Niña María, 5°5'16"N, 74°3'11"W, 3200 m, 19-Sep-2012, on grass (M. Echeverry), UNAB 1493.