tSI: CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGISt. 25 



T know of but one paper treating synoptically of the North 

 American species. 



1882. Fuchs, Chas. Synopsis of the Lucanidae of the U. S. Bulletin 

 Brooklyn Ento. Soc, V, 



Capt. Thos. L. Casey has described a number of new species of 

 Platycerus in various publications, but has not tabulated the genus. 



A NEW SPECIES OF ASTEROSCOPUS, Bd. 



IJV JOHN B. SMITH, SC. D., RUTGERS COLLEGE, N. J. 



Lederer characterizes Asteroscopus essentially as follows : Narrow- 

 winged owlets, resembling Bombycids in the shaggy, loose vestiture. 

 Palpi short, not exceeding the front, drooping. Tongue short and weak. 

 Eyes naked, with bristly lashes. Antennse comparatively long, with a 

 tuft of hair at the base ; in the male with short pectinations to the tip ; in 

 the female with sharp, ciliated angles to each joint. Thorax broad, 

 convex, clothed with long, woolly hair. Abdomen shaggy, untufted. 

 Body beneath and legs with dense woolly vestiture. Legs short, anterior 

 tibia with a long claw at the tip. 



The caterpillars are naked, considerably enlarged posteriorly, green, 

 with a pale lateral stripe, and have an abrupt declivity or step on the last 

 segment. They feed on various deciduous trees, and when at rest elevate 

 the anterior segments as do some of the Notodonts. They pupate under- 

 ground and remain unchanged an unusually long time. 



Heretofore no species properly referable to this genus has been 

 described from our fauna. The A. barometriais of Goossens, Le Nat. 

 III., 380, is simply a redescription of Ufeus plicattis, Grt. Every struc- 

 tural character given by Goossens contradicts the description of the 

 genus to which he refers his species and agrees with those of Ufeus. 



A species properly referable to this genus was taken by Mr. E. F. 

 Heath, sent to Dr. Dyar for determination, and by him referred to me. 

 I characterize it as follows : 



Asteroscopus borealis, n. sp. 



Ground colour a dark ashen gray, powdered with black, hairlike 

 scales, which gives the insect a sordid, smoky appearance. Head and 

 thorax perhaps a trifle darker than the wings, the head much retracted. 

 Abdomen with somewhat finer vestiture, which show a tendency to a 

 mouse-gray tint. Antennae of the male yellowish-brown, distinctly but 

 not lengthily pectinated, and with a tuft of creamy hair at the base. 



