228 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Middle June to early Aug. The comparative frequency of this species 



during 1903 has at last enabled me, with Prof. Smith's aid, to arrive at 



something like a satisfactory conclusion in what has for years past seemed 



a matter unapproachable from lack of material. Prof. Smith had seen a 



few specimens from me on more than one occasion, and had designated 



different individuals, but doubtfully, as montaticB and asteroides, but 



expressed the opinion that all the specimens might after all be of one and . 



an undescribed species. He had, however, already named true montanct 



for me, which is totally different in colour, with the ground extremely 



pale, scarcely bluish, and contrasting strongly with the sienna-brown costa 



and inner margin, and with what I should call a sienna tint throughout. 



During the winter of 1903-4 I received the species as florea from Mr. E. 



F. Heath, of Cartwright, Man., who stated that it was common with him, 



and that he had repeatedly sent it out z.% florea unchallenged. I rejected 



the name, pointing out to him that the description o{ florea in Prof. Smith's 



"Revision of Cucullia " (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., XV., 44, 1892) said 



"Primaries without red or brown shades." It was this and "the 



costa hardly darker " which had caused me to label my indicia tentatively 

 as florea. I called Prof. Smith's attention to the fact, at the same time 

 sending him a series of Calgary specimens. He wrote : "It is a question 

 of colour estimates. Closely analyzed, you are correct ; but in florea the 

 general ground is so much darker (/. <?., than \n postera and asteroides) that 

 the reddish shading is not so obvious. I admit, however, that I would 

 not have written as I did with the series I have now." The species is 

 nearer io postera than anything else I have, but the ground is darker as a 

 rule, and the maculation much more distinct. In postera the dark costal 

 shade does not diffuse itself below the subcostal vein, as it usually does in 

 florea, especially between the discoidals and near the apex. Florea 

 resembles asteroides in this respect. I do not refer to the paler reddish 

 shade, which in all three species extends to the median vein. In pale 

 specimens oi florea, if the discoidal spots are not distinct, the resemblance 

 is close \.o postera with the maculation very well marked, and worn speci- 

 mens are almost impossible to separate. My dates for the two would seem 

 to show ihdii florea appears a little earlier than postera, and this, as well as 

 the entire absence of postera during 1903, when florea was common, 

 supports my belief that the two series in my collection are distinct. As to 



