CORRESPONDENCE, 



HARRIS TO MELSHEIMER. 



CAMBRIDGE, Nov. 22, 1839. 



I anticipate very great advantages from a comparison of the 

 insects of Pennsylvania, and of the States further south, with 

 those of New England. The little experience which I have 

 already had in this task, proves to me that several of the species 

 described by the old writers, and a still larger number de- 

 scribed by Mr. Say and Dejean, which heretofore we have sup- 

 posed to be identical with species found in Ne\y England, are 

 really distinct. The New England species, though closely 

 allied, and not to be distinguished but by actual and careful 

 comparison, will, in many cases, turn out to be new or unde- 

 scribed species. 



MELSHEIMER TO HARRIS. 



DOVER, YORK Co., Feb. 28, 1840. 



We have raised several times specimens of the Noctua Epi- 

 menis Drury. You state that its color is brown ; recent speci- 

 mens are of the deepest black ; its larva is a half looper. We 

 have never seen it on the wing. 



