Article beginning on page 511.
Psyche 6:511, 1891.

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September 1893.1
ON VARIATION IN THE VENATION OF AN ARCTIAN WITH NOTES ON OTHER ALLIED GENERA.
BY HARRISON G. DYAR, BOSTON, MASS,
In examining the venation of Pyr-
rharctia Isabella, I found a consider-
able range of variation. Seventeen
specimens were examined and they
varied in the following manner. In
thirteen of them, vein 10 of primaries
arose from the stalk which bears veins
7-9, at a variable distance from its
origin (see pi. 19, fig. 3 a and g).
This is to be considered the normal
venation. In one specimen vein 10
arose from the subcostal vein on the
discal cell (fig. 3 f), and in two others it arose from a stalk with vein 11.
In one of these latter, the stalk arose
from the subcostal vein (fig. 3 c) and
in the other from the stalk which bears
veins 7-9 (fig 3 6). The latter speci-
men was further abnormal in lacking
veins 4 and 5 of the primary of one
side. Another variation is shown in
fig. 3 a and b, in which either veins 7
and 8 or 8 and g are on a common
stalk, that is to say in one case vein g is given off before 7, and in the other, 7 before 9. A slight variation in the
secondaries is shown in fig, 3 d and e,
where veins 3 and 4 are either fused
or well separated at origin.
There is here a sufficient range of
variation among the subcostal venules
to found four genera upon. Moreover,
it is probable that other genera may
vary as much, so that it would be well
to consider this possibility in using such tables of genera as that by Prof. Smith
in Can. ent., xxii, 233, where the origin of vein 10 is used as an important
character. While speaking of this
table, I will mention that the genera
Eupseudosoma, Nelphe and Ectypia
are wrongly placed.
The former lacks
veins c; and 8 of secondaries; the
second also lacks vein 8 of'secondaries
and has veins 7-10 of primaries on a
stalk ; the third genus has an accessory cell, and should have been placed with
Nemeophila. Prof. Smith states that
two of these genera are placed by
him partly by guess, as indeed seems
evident.
Genus S'ilosoma Steph. This
genus differs from the new genera
Neoarctia and Elpis recently estab-
lished by Mr. Neumoegen and myself,
in the position of the ocelli. In Spi-
losoma they are situated close on the
margin of the eyes ; in the new genera
they are separated from the margin by
a considerable space.
S. vesfaZz's Pack. In specimensfrom
Oregon the apex of the fore wings is
more pointed and the outer margin
more oblique than in those from Cali-
fornia. The. black spots, too, seem
less strongly marked, and I took sev-
eral specimens at Portland in which
the abdomen was quite immaculate.




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512 J'STCHE. [September 1893.
*
For this form, the varietal name
amelaina would seem not inappropri-
ate. They closely resemble S. lati-
$e&s in general coloration.
Genus EZ'is Dyar. I have to cor-
rect a statement in my description of
this genus (Ent. news, iv, 36). The
median spurs of the hind tibiae are
not absent as the wording implies,
but are situated close to the posterior
pair (pi. 19, fig 4 c) . The genus differs from Neoarctia in the shape of the
front of the head, which is narrowed
above and below, while in Neoarctia
it is broad and square. Fig. 4 b shows
vein 7 of secondaries furcate, as it was in one specimen. I am now of the
opinion that Antarctia vagans Boisd.
would be better placed in Elpis than
in Spilosoma, since it has the ocelli
distant from the eyes and the front
narrowed above and below, though
the vestiture and coloration are more
like Spilosoma. I am greatly in-
debted to Mr. Thomas E. Bean of
Laggan, Alberta for several specimens
of Neoarctia beanii, from which the
drawings on the plate were made
(fig. 5 a-e).
Fig. la. S'f>ilosoma vkinica; venation of primary.
1h. Same ; venation of secondary.
IC. Same; hind tibia, showing spurs.
2. Phragmatobia rzdricosa; venation.
3a. Pyr~harctia Isabella; venation of
primary.
36. Same; abnormal venation.
3c. Same ; abnormal venation (partial).
3d. Same; venation of secondary.
3e. Same ; venation of secondary (partial) 3fi Same; origin of subcostal venules
(abnormal).
3g. Same; origin of subcostal venules
(normal).
3A. Same ; three joints of $ antenna.
40' Elpis rubra; venation of primary.
46. Same; venation of secondary, show-
ing variation.
4c. Same; hind tibia, showing spurs.
-
5a. Neoarctia beanii; venation of primary. c,b. Same; venation of secondary.
5c. Same ; hind tibia, showing spurs.
#. Same ; base of $ antenna.
50. Same ; three joints of 9 antenna.
LOCAL NOTES.- The Peabody academy of
science of Salem has recently transferred to the entomological department of the Museum of comparative zoology of Cambridge a num- ber of types of insects of various orders described by Dr. Packard ; the types were in the exhibition cases at Salem and were
overlooked when the greater part of the
entomological collections of the Academy were deposited in Cambridge.
In Psyche v. 6, p. 316 it is- noted that the volume on the animals and plants of Maine prepared by the late Dr. John W. Randall was unpublished. Recently we learned that the manuscript was placed in the hands of the Maine geological survey for publication and was subsequently lost. Dr. Randall's collection of insects was entirely destroyed many years ago. It may not be uninterest- ing to state that the Boston society of nat- ural history received from Dr. Randall's estate the sum of $5000,- the income of
which, in accordance with the wishes of
Miss Randall, will be devoted to the library. The gypsy moth has been found in Frank-
lin Park, West Roxbury, outside the limits of the hitherto infected district as mapped two years ago.




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