THP: CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



DESCRIPTION OF LYC^NA D^DALUS, Behr, AND COR- 

 RECTION OF ERRORS IN ITS SYNONYMY. 



BY W. H. EDWARDS, COALBURGH, W. VA. 



I have received from that indefatigable explorer and naturalist, Mr.'W. 

 G. Wright, of San Bernardino, several examples of Lyccena Dcedalus, ^ $ . 

 Up to this date the ^ , as described by Dr. Behr, has been unknown to 

 me personally, and by all recent list makers has been set down as a 

 synonym of Icaroides, Bois. Its female is Ae/iaja, Behr., also put down 

 as a syn. of Scepiohis, or rather as one of the dimorphic forms of the 

 female of that species. 



Mr. Wright made the ascent of one of the lofty mountains in that region, 

 and says : " Saw nothing on the way up, except that at the camping half- 

 way place were a few of these Lyccence and a Grapta. Next day, on 

 going up to the high crest, it was a httle cloudy, but not very cold (50° 

 probably), yet not one butterfly was seen during the entire day, though I 

 stayed on the crest, 11,550 feet, several hours. On July i, 1883, in a 

 high, wet meadow, altitude 6,500 feet, and then at varying altitudes from 

 6,000 to 8,000 feet, I saw these Lyccence. On ist they were very abund- 

 ant ; the air was full of them. No other Lyccena was present. Later, in 

 wet meadows, on another mountain, up to about 8,000 feet, I saw more 

 of them ; also, as before, no other Lyccena present. I noted the variety of 

 shades of bronze in the female ; some are almost yellow, others have but 

 a tinge of bronze on the anal angle." Undoubtedly, the ^ ^ are 

 Dcedalus, Behr, while the females with them are Ae/iaja, Behr. 



Dcedahis was described in Proc. Cal. Acad., 3, 280, 1867, from three 

 specimens collected by Mr. Hoffman in the " Alpine regions, round the 

 head waters of the Tuolumne River." These were probably all males ; 

 but the sex is not stated. It is described as similar to Icaroides, Bd., but 

 beneath, the spots, which in the latter are said to be rounded, in Dcedalus 

 are transversely elongated ; and the discoidal mark of hind wings, which 

 in Icaroides is wanting, or represented by a white patch, in Dcedalus is a 

 black line. It is characteristic of Lcaroides that the spots are round and 

 the discal mark is wanting, though there are exceptions in both cases ; a 

 more constant character is found in the white halo around each spot, which 

 is not seen in Dcedalus. All the six males of Dcedalus before me have the 

 spots rounded, but one of the females has most of them elongated, as Dr. 

 Behr describes in the male. 



