THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 67 



The pupa is formed in the adjoining soil, at least this happened with 

 the examples in confinement. It shows no departure from the usual form, 

 agreeing very well with the preceding species. Length .90 inch. 



No larval history so far encountered has been quite so satisfactory to 

 the writer, nor possibly of greater general importance than this meeting 

 with limpida. From the date of its first conception a certain haziness 

 existed regarding the species. Guenee himself was not sure of its 

 distinctness, though his fear of its being a variety of marginidens or 

 nebris, simply because they were all white-spotted forms, has proved to 

 be groundless. Prof. Grote sees it in another light, and in naming his 

 cerussata, pauses over the matter lest his newer term might be simply 

 a more robust form of the Guene'e species. Yet the differentiation has 

 proved correct. With the recent " Revision," by Prof. Smith, and the 

 more abundant material of this later date, the specific distinctness of the 

 two are not questioned by him, though there seems no strong line to be 

 drawn between the two. 



Adding to this the many queries received from all sides, makes it 

 seem worth while devoting a word in these pages to descriptive detail, 

 since the literature is in no way burdened with a reference to this species. 

 An eminent lepidopterist long ago gave me a translation of the original 

 description, which is as follows: "<£ 26 mil., ? 40 mil. Fore wings very 

 entire, of a deep brownish black with traces of ordinary lines. Subterminal 

 line marked at apex by a vague yellowish point. Reniform white, divided 

 by brown threads and shaded centrally with yellowish ; the three outer 

 spots white like the preceding species (marginidens), nearly even. Hind 

 wings similar in both sexes, whitish, a little transparent, with external 

 margin and veins brownish. Beneath the four wings gray, powdered with 

 brown, with dark mesial lines. Thorax gray, no white spots at the base 

 of the primaries. Illinois; Coll., Doubleday." 



Fresh examples of limpida are beautiful insects indeed ; there is a 

 certain violet tint pervading its colouring, which, unfortunately, soon 

 fades, and the contrasting white spots tempered by a fleck of cream, 

 together with an exceedingly trim appearance, quite captivate one upon 

 first meeting the species. The mention of the hind wings being " whitish, 

 and a little transparent," should not be misleading, as they are in fact 

 much less smoky than cerussata, more silky, and with worn or badly-faded 

 material could easily be construed into a certain semi-transparency. The 

 salient feature of the description is the remark noting the absence of any 



