120 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. vol. xii, 



[Reiff, Psyche, 1910, pp. 30-31, has described two forms of lucina with the following 

 characters : 



Ab. obsolete, Reiff. Anterior wings with the white band more or less obsolete. 



Ab. lutea Reiff. Wings grayish, the light band cream yellow instead of white. (The 

 Latin diagnosis says "fascia lutea," which is rather misleading.) Mr. Reiff informs me that the 

 type locality of these two aberrations is Raymond, N. H. 



Reiff also reaches the conclusion that H. lucina is a valid species, not a variety of H. maia. 

 He supports this view by the following pertinent facts: 



(1 ) The larvae and pupae differ. H. lucina larvae are, like those of maia, black in the youngest 

 stage, but distinguished by "a strong brilliancy, best compared to black stove polish." The 

 older larvas are exactly like those of maia, except that they have "a sharply defined white. stripe 

 above the feet," which is absent or faint in maia. The size is less than that of maia. The 

 cremaster of the pupa "is composed of about 25 strong brown spines with curved apices." 



(2) No transitional forms are known. 



(3) H. maia feeds on oak, while H. lucina feeds on meadow sweet. 



(4) The young larvae of lucina are gregarious, forming large clumps on the twigs of the food 

 plant, while those of maia sit next to one another, in rows across the leaves. 



(5) H. maia pupates normally in the ground, while lucina pupates (still without any 

 cocoon) between dried leaves. 



(6) Both occur in the same localities; where, when maia males first emerge, only females of 

 lucina are present; the flying period of the two overlapping in the latter part of September; 

 nevertheless, no hybrids have ever been seen.] 



HEMILEUCA MAIA NEVADENSIS (Stretch). 



Plates XXIII, figs. 1-5; LII, figs. 3-5; LX, figs. 14, 15; CXIII, figs. 4, 5. 



[Hemileuca nevadensis Stretch, Zyg. and Bomb. N. Amer., 1 (1872), p. 108, pi. 4, fig. 10.] 



In var. nevadensis (Stretch) from California the basal quarter of the fore wings and the outer 

 edge is black, all the rest of the wing is white in both wings except the costa. The ocellus 

 (eastern form) varies much in size, and on the hind wings differs from that of H. maia in being 

 much reduced in size, roundish or narrow and irregular, and without the central white line. On 

 the thorax of eastern maia are two reddish tufts near the base of the hind wing, one on each side. 

 Abdomen of o* black, with gray scales in patches on the sides beneath, and often above; at the 

 end is a bright Indian red spreading tuft. In 9 the abdominal tip is grizzly, with a very small 

 mass of reddish hairs on the under side at the extreme tip. 



Expanse of fore wings, d 1 57-60 mm. ; 9 72 mm. 



Length of a fore wing, <? 25-30 mm. ; 9 34 mm. 



Breadth of a fore wing, j 14 mm.; 9 17 mm. 



Length of hind wing, <? 22 mm. ; 9 25 mm. 



Breadth of hind wing, d" 16 mm.; 9 IS mm. 

 Var. nevadensis [artemis (Pack.)]. One & , three 9 . In the southwestern form the white 

 band is very wide, as wide as in the most extreme eastern examples (one from Colorado is as 

 white as in typical nevadensis). The black portion of the wings is more faded, paler, and more 

 hyaline. The ocellus is paler, and that of the hind wings shows a tendency to become obsolete, 

 becoming narrow or irregular, roundish, and without the white line; the tip of the 9 abdomen 

 is without red hairs. 



As regards the moths themselves I can really find no difference between artemis and neva- 

 densis, though I have had no opportunity to caref ully study examples from Arizona or Nevada. 

 The New Mexican examples are a little larger than any eastern maia. 



Expanse of fore wings, 86 mm. 



Length of fore wing, 36 mm. 



Breadth of fore wing, 18 mm. 



Length of hind wing, 26 mm. 



Breadth of hind wing, IS mm. 



