78 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [March, 



/ incarcerata ( I. ornata} is a larger and generally paler form 

 than / -van of the eastern States, and I think it is simply a cli- 

 matic variety of the eastern form. One and a 9 in the Ed- 

 wards collection are as dark as the typical eastern ran, and the 

 pale form may be a seasonal variety. Indeed, Mr. Beutenmiiller 

 informs me that in / van, which he has reared, the pale form is 

 the Summer brood, the dark individuals belonging to the Winter 

 brood. 



One 9 from Truckee, and a small $ from the Sierra Nevada, 

 Cal., are very pale. 



Ichthyura inornata Neum., Papilio ii, Oct. 7, 1882. I am 

 strongly inclined to regard this form as a climatic variety ot /. 

 van, var. ornata. One median-sized 9 ornata from Southern 

 California intergrades with / inornata, though it is much smaller. 

 It has the large, diffuse discal spot, and pale leaden intervenular 

 patches of inornata. 



Of / inornata Neum., a male and female from Arizona are in 

 the Edwards collection. It is the largest and palest of all our 

 forms. It scarcely differs from / ornata in the situation of the 

 lines and their relative distribution; the oblique costal white line 

 and its continuation across the wing are the same, and the obtuse, 

 almost rounded apex of the V, does not quite reach the hind 

 edge, just as it does not in ornata, but the loop made by the ob- 

 tuse apex is more marked in itiomata. The short middle line, 

 ending on the hind edge of the wing and the dislocated basal line 

 are exactly as in ornata. 



I. inornata, then, appears to be only a very large and unusually 

 pale subochreous form of van, following the same law of climatic 

 variation, i.e., increase in size, and a pale, faded appearance in 

 Pacific coast examples (south of Oregon), due probably to a hot. 

 dry, desert region, with a light surface soil. By adaptation to 

 these conditions the moths are better protected from observation, 

 and thus the life of the species is assured. 



/ luculenta Edw., Ent. Americana ii, 10, April, 1886. One 1 , 

 type; north Indiana. This appears to be only a variety ot /. 

 strigosa. It differs from typical strigosa as follows: the oblique 

 whitish line forming the inner arm of the V is a little more ob- 

 lique and distinct than in the normal strigosa. The outer arm 

 of the V, and the silvery white costal mark is exactly as m 

 strigosa. 



