THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 63 



Had Mr. Scudder read the two descriptions ever so carelessly he ought not 

 to have made a mistake like this. Also Prof. French pointed out to him the 

 error, and I did the same indirectly through Mr. French. But, neverthe- 

 less, he was bound to have his own way. The species Palatka was named 

 from a single ^ , 1867, taken at St. Augustine, Fla. In several years this 

 example was an unique. I have it before me now as I write. But in 

 later years Palatka has been taken abundantly at Indian River, mostly 

 by Dr. Wittfeld, and is known to all collectors. In the description the 

 expanse is given at 1.7 inch. Omitting all mention of upper side, we 

 come to under side of secondaries, which differs widely from Dion in 

 colour and absence of markings, " Under side of secondaries uniform 

 brown, immaculate." P. Dion was described in 1879, froii"' the southern 

 shore of Lake Michigan, from Hamilton, Ont., and from Nebraska. It is 

 compared with Arpa B. & L. Expands 1.2 inch (that is to Palatka as 

 12 is to 17). "Under side of secondaries ferruginous, of uniform tint, 

 except tliat there are two pale rays from base, one of which passes 

 through cell, the other occupies submedian interspace to margin." These 

 pale rays are a conspicuous feature of this species. Palatka is a coffee- 

 brown, solid colour. Dion is a red-brown, with two pale bands. On p. 

 1 93 1, among "Additions and Corrections," are these words: " 1715, 

 line 9, the species here referred to as L. Palatka is not the Palatka of 

 Edwards, but his Pallas." I never described a species under the name 

 of Pallas. The author has got things in a tangle. 



III. On p. 1595, in the excursus " Butterflies as Botanists," we read : 

 "The narrow choice of certain species is, perhaps, indicated in our own 

 fauna of the food plant of Phyciodes T/iaros. So far as we know it feeds 

 only upon a single species of Aster; 'and if your butterfly selects only 

 that,' said the late Dr. Gray, when I told him of this, 'it is a better 

 botanist than most of us.' Only one other plant has been alleged as its 

 food, and that probably by mistake. This special aster the female 

 selected out of many furnished it by Mr. Mead whereon to lay her eggs, 

 and no one has yet reared it upon anything but aster Novje Angliae^ 

 * * * Such restriction of choice, if really true, certainly indicates 

 some keen perception on the part of the butterfly." It certainly would. 



Mr. Mead, Can. Ent., VIL, 161, 1875, ^^7^ • " I prepared a box by 

 partly filling it with earth, and transplanting into this small specimens of 

 all the common Compositce I could lay my hands upon, * * * jimj 



