224 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



343. T. alia, Gn.- -('oiiimon. End April and early May. Sallows. 

 Prof. Smith states in his Revision concerning alia: " It is a very constant 

 species." Compared with its Em-opean congener and near ally, iticeria, it 

 most s(ssuredly is, but in this district at any rate the variation is consider- 

 able. Judging from si)ecimens received from Wellington, B. C. , and from 

 Cartvvright and Aweme, Man., supposed to be authentic, I probably have 

 UuQ pacifica at C'algary, but so far I have (juite failed to draw any line 

 between them, though I tried hard to separate my local series into two 

 species before 1 had any idea what pacifica was like. The original 

 description of the latter says that it "differs by its thinner squamation, its 



more obscure tint, and the narrower black-filled reniform In size the 



species is like T. alia, while the ornamentation is very similar." In his 

 Revision, Prof Smith says: '■'■Alia 's less robust, the thoracic clothing less 

 dense, while the, wings are apparently more heavily clothed with scales," 

 whilst he separates them tabularly in giving an even s. t. line as charac- 

 teiistic of pacifica, and a sinuate one oi alia. He says also, '•'•pacifica is 

 difficult to separate from alia on colour characters." 1 have a series of 

 alia from Chicago which are not sej^arable from the common form 

 occurring here. The two ^ $ sent me by Dr. Fletcher from Wellington, 

 B. C, as pacifica, and stated to have been carefully compared with 

 specimens named by Prof. Smith, seem perhaps to have very slightly 

 denser thoracic vestiture, but except that one of them is 'of a much richer 

 red, I cannot see that they differ specifically from some of the darkest of 

 the Calgary series, some of which have just as even a subterminal line. 

 The Manitoba specimens fit into the same series, which I cannot divide 

 into two by colour, s. t. line, or any other character or combination of 

 characters. If two species really exist, it would seem that they require 

 placing on a firmer basis than at present. 



344. Stretchia plusii/ormis, Yiy. Edw. — Very rare. Light. I have 

 a $ without abdomen, dated April 25th, 1894, and a ^ , May ist, 1895. 

 It has not been seen here since, the latter year. 



345. Cleoceris populi, Strk. — The larv;e appear to be common, 

 though local, on Popnlns delloidea or P. balsamifera, I am not sure 

 which. They spin leaves together as a hiding-place for the daytime. I 

 have bred a considerable number, and find that the variation is enormous. 

 I have nothing nearly as white as Dr. Holland's figure, but the colour 

 varies from a pale bluish ashen-gray without contrasts to dark blackish 

 gray, with still darker lines, bands or blotches across the inner half of the 



