5O ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Feb., 'l2 



position to cast doubts upon the work of one of the most care- 

 ful entomological observers that America has ever produced. 

 Descriptions are at best but feeble reeds to lean upon, and are 

 capable, like statistics, of being twisted to suit the purpose of 

 the moment ; with an idea therefore of clearing up some of the 

 doubt which seems to exist concerning these three forms we 

 have prepared a somewhat enlarged photograph, which is re- 

 produced in the accompanying plate, and append further a few 

 remarks on the same. 



Theda clytic was described from a female taken by Boll at 

 San Antonio, Texas ; it was taken later by Aaron near Corpus 

 Christi, Tex. (Pap. IV, 180) ; and a single female, captured by 

 Dr. Barnes himself in the same locality, was for a long time the 

 sole representative of this rare species in his collection ; recent- 

 ly, however, the receipt of one male and ten females from 

 Brownsville, Texas, has placed us in a position to better judge 

 of its specific value, and we have no hesitation in declaring it 

 to be a thoroughly valid species, belonging in the same group 

 with leda but abundantly distinct. It apparently is confined to 

 Southern Texas, and the listing of it from Arizona is probably 

 due to an error of determination. Holland's figure (Butt. 

 Book, Plate XXX, fig. 6) is an excellent representation of the 

 upper side of the female, and in Fig. 3 of our plate we repro- 

 duce the under side. The points of difference to leda men- 

 tioned by Edwards (Pap. II, 24), viz. the pale blue of upper 

 side, the red marginal line of under side, the broad red dashes 

 of the transverse band, and the small wholly white outer tail 

 all hold good and are excellent means of separation, notwith- 

 standing Messrs. Haskin and Grinnell's disparaging remarks 

 on the subject. We would further call attention to the entirely 

 different course and general make-up of the discal band of 

 dashes on primaries, which in fresh specimens are bright 

 orange-red. 



The male of this species has seemingly never been describe- 1 ; 

 the single specimen before us was unfortunately too worn to 

 include in the plate ; as far as we can tell there is a faint trace 

 of blue at the base of primaries and the black sex mark in the 



