Vol. xxiii] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS n 



expanse, while my male is 107 mm. ; with more rounded wings 

 than the male, and is much darker in color, the pink being much 

 overclouded with a darker brown, and it is a handsomer in- 

 sect. The photograph brings out fairly well the differences, 

 even though in black and white. 



Dr. Beutenmuller has written me that Mr. Schneider, of 

 Baltimore, some time ago took an unknown larva from ash, 

 which he described to Mr. Beutenmuller in a letter, though 

 I believe this description was never published. It is thought 

 by Dr. Beutenmuller to agree with the specimen I sent him. 

 Unfortunately, Mr. Schneider's pupa was destroyed during the 

 winter by accident. It may be noted that the original descrip- 

 tion as published by Mr. Neumogen, as well as the Catalogues 

 of Drs. Smith and Dyar, give the name of the Sphinx as 

 "franckii;" whereas Rothschild and Jordan, in the "Genera 

 Insectorum" and also in their "Revision of the Sphingidae," 

 Vol. I, p. 135, follow the custom of writing the name "francki." 



As to the biologically important part of the matter, the 

 specific validity of the insect ; the constancy of coloring and 

 characters in the three known examples, of both sexes, (one 

 female and two males), might argue against hybridism, al- 

 though among birds, for instance Helminthophtia leucobron- 

 chialis, a supposed hybrid between H. pinus and H. chrysoptera, 

 among our native warblers, there is much constancy in the 

 markings of the known specimens. ' I cannot, however, agree 

 that Sphinx kalmiae plays any part in the parentage, for the 

 larva shows no resemblance to this species, whereas, as be- 

 fore suggested, there is more than a suggestiveness of the 

 larva of amyntor, though chcrsis is the nearest; amyntor could 

 contribute the cream-pink to the wings of franckii as well as 

 could kalmiae. On the other hand, if amyntor and chcrsis are 

 really in separate genera, as seems to be the case, it might be 

 doubtful if they would interbreed; the general scheme of 

 thoracic and wing markings of franckii are about as near 

 amyntor as they are to kalmiae, though the abdominal spots 

 are more similar to kalmiae and chersis. Sphin.v chcrsis is 

 abundant here, Ccratomia amyntor occurs at times and I have 



