THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 371 



interesting and in collections yet very rare species I received a clean 9 

 from southern Labrador." But he makes no comparisons and no 

 reference to Zellei's species described 20 years before in the same journal 

 and figurqd. 



I determined to make the comparison myself", and did so in the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia, where they have a copy of 

 " Schrenk's Reise." Sure enough, as I had begun to fear, Middeiidorfi, 

 Men , was not Moescliler's specie?, but a closely-nllied representative; and 

 on going further it became equally certain that all these references to 

 Middeiidorfi really belonged to brep/ioides, Wlk., which is the only species 

 thus far known to inhabit North America. 



I am sorry, not because I made a blunder, for it is not the first 

 one I have made, but because I have misled Dr. Fletcher and made him 

 write Middendorfi instead of brephoides. 



OUR SPECIES OF NYCTOBIA, HULST. 



BY RICHARD F. PEARSALL, BROOKLYN, N. Y. 



Much confusion exists as to the status of the species, as now they are 

 listed under this genus. In an endeavour to ascertain their true relation- 

 ship, I have been gathering for some years a series which might be truly 

 representative. The past year (1906) I captured a great number of forms 

 in the CatskiU Mts. from May 4 lo 16, and have before me of both sexes, 

 about evenly divided, 156 good examples. Beside these I have a small 

 series taken by myself in Bronx Paik, N. Y. Co., and another series of 16 

 from Lackawanna Co., Penn., through the kindness of Mr. Rothke, and 

 one specimen taken on Long Island by Mr. Geo. Englehart, of the 

 Children's Museum, Bedford Park, in this city. The group from the Cats- 

 kills and those from Bronx Park all constitute one species, though their 

 variations are endless, and come under the name limitaria. Walk. The 

 other series from Pennsylvania and the single specimen from Long Inland, 

 are unquestionably the auguilitieata, Grote, and are markedly different in 

 arrangement of colour Tnes, presenting a bluish-black cast, not the brown 

 and pale gray of limitaria and its varieties, and the texture of the wings is 

 heavier, with apices more produced. They vary somewhat among them- 

 selves, but preserve their distinctive pattern, so that once known they are 

 easily {)icked out among any number of the other species. The vertex 

 and front are generally a chalky-white, with a black line crossing below 



November, 1907 



