\\t Canadian litttJinolOjjHt. 



Vol. X£XIII. LONDON, DECEMBER, 1901. No. 12 



A NEW GORTYNA, AND NOTES ON THE GENUS. 



BY HENRY H. LYMAN, M. A., MONTREAL. 



I use the name Gortyna in preference to Hydrxcia as, without 

 pretending to be an authority upon the question, it appears to me that 

 there is better authority for the former, as used by Mr. Grote, than for 

 the latter. My acquaintance with the moths of this genus, which I have 

 always admired, dates back about thirty years, but in spite of that length 

 of time my knowledge of them up till last year was of the most meagre 

 description, and apart from the species which has stood so long in our 

 collections under the name Nictitans, and a few specimens of Velata, 

 Walk., I only possessed about half a dozen specimens, mostly in poor 

 condition, representing Immanis, Strameutosa, Rigida, Nebris, Rtitila* 

 and a form which Mr. Bird believes to be new. 



It may be of some interest to point out that the specimen of Rigida 

 referred to was taken by me probably between 1873 and 1875, and was 

 lent, among other specimens, for the Society's exhibit at the Centennial 

 Exhibition at Philadelphia, in 1876, and was returned to me under the 

 name Purpurifascia, Rigida not having been described till the following 

 year. For some reason which I cannot understand, the two forms 

 Nitela and Nebris have, since the issue of Grote's Check List of 1882, 

 stood in our catalogues under the specific name Nitela and the varietal 

 name Nebris. If the Nitela form were the prevailing one, with the form 

 Nebris much less frequent, the position thus given them would be quite 

 natural, but if, as I understand is the case, the two forms occur in 

 practically equal numbers, the name Nebris should take precedence as 



*There is some uncertainty as to whether this form is the true Rittila. 



