525 



Synopsis of the species. 



Hind wings sligbtly dentate 8. alciphearia. 



Hind wings distinctly dentate S. kentaria. 



Selenia alcipheakia Walker. Plate 12, fig. 27. 



Selenia alciphearia Walk., List Lep. Het. Br. Mus., xx, 184, 1860. 



2 if. — Ochreous; whitish on the costa ; front and middle of prothorax 

 light gray ; edges of front ochreous ; palpi very stout, long, porrect, extending 

 far beyond the front; tips very conical, paler; antennae dark ochreous, with 

 stout, dark pectinations; fore wings with two brown lines, the inner nearly 

 straight, enlarged upon the costa; a broad, mesial, diffuse, brownish, indis- 

 tinct shade common to both wings ; discal dot nearly obsolete ; the outer line 

 is brown, curved slightly inward, straight and enlarged on the costa ; a submar- 

 gino-apical, waved, brown line, which does not extend to the mesial angle, 

 bordered on the inside with cinereous; outer edge dark ochreous, with fer- 

 ruginous scales ; entire wing strigated with ferruginous ; costal half pale 

 whitish ; fringe white between the points ; on the secondaries no brown linear 

 bands as on the fore wings ; outer half of the wing brighter ochreous than 

 toward the base. Beneath, a common, whitish, slightly purplish line, very 

 slightly sinuate; the mesial, common, diffuse band is also present; discal 

 dots white, angular, diffusely grayish on the outer line, and beyond are a few 

 grayish scales, which extend on to the mesial angle, while above and below 

 the border is ferruginous. 



Length of the body, i, 0.52 ; of tore wing, £ , 0.72 ; expanse of wings, 

 1.90 inches. 



Hudson Bay Territory (Coll. Grote); Alaska (Behrens). 



This form differs from S. violascens in not being violaceous above, though 

 slightly so beneath ; the two lines are much more distinct and not edged with 

 paler tints, and the hind wings above are not lineated mesially. It may also 

 be recognized by the hind wings beneath having the outer line straight, while 

 the pectinations of the antennas are black. The two species are readily dis- 

 tinguished by the inner line in the present species being straight, while in 

 kentaria it is bent at nearly right angles, and in the latter the hind wings 

 are distinctly serrate. 



