[165] 

 ON THECLA INORATA, G. & R., AND THECLA FALACER, Godt. 



BY AUGUSTUS R. GROTE, DEMOPOLIS, ALA. 



In the proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Mr. S. H. 

 Scudder publishes a paper, " On the Synonymy of Thecla Calaous," under 

 date of March, 1870. 



Mr. Scudder says : " In Eastern North America there are two species of 

 Thecla, closely allied, occupying, so far as we know, the same geographical 

 area (from Canada to Virginia or Georgia, and from Massachusetts to Iowa), 

 and. until recently, almost invariably confounded by American entomologists. 

 Messrs. Grote & Robinson first called public attention to the fact of their 

 specific distinctness, although Mr. W. Saunders, both in his correspondence 

 and MSS., had previously urged the same point. As my material was 

 insufficient, and because certain specimens to which I had constant access 

 seemed to combine many of the features which generally separated the speci- 

 mens into two groups, I have hitherto been unwilling to accept the deter- 

 minations of these Entomologists. But recently, through the kindness of 

 many friends, I have had the opportunity of exanining more than one hundred 

 specimens of each species, and have become entirely convinced of their 

 specific value/' 



Mr. Scudder then goes on to say : " The most prominent points of distinc- 

 tion between the two species are to be found in the general tint of the upper 

 and under surfaces of the wings, in the presence or absence of orange spots 

 near the anal angle of the secondaries, and in the nature of the extra mesial 

 band upon the under surface." 



These points of distinction between the two species, Thecla inorata, G. & 

 R., and Thecla calanus, Hubner, spec nobis, we had previously urged in 

 separating the two species, with the exception that we availed ourselves of no 

 character drawn from the extra mesial band of the under surface in so doing. 

 Mr. Scudder is more fortunate in this respect, and finds " most striking 

 differences between the species" in the character offered by the extra mesial 

 band of the under surface. From a perusal of Mr. Scudder's paper, it might 

 be inferred we had, in separating the species, entirely overlooked the point. 

 Yet this is not the case. In our first paper on the subject we discuss the 

 aspect of this extra mesial band in the closely allied species of Thecla belong- 

 ing to this group. In the Transactions of the American Entomological 

 Society, page 173, August, 1867, we say: — T. falacer, Harris, Ins. Inj. 

 Veg. p. 276, may be assumed as a synonym of T. calanus, since, while the 

 Sl orange colored spot" of the secondaries above is mentioned, " there are two 

 rows of spots bordered on one side only with white," crossing the wing 

 beneath. This latter character would hardly apply to acadica, the only other 



