THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 169 



PRELIMINARY CATALOGUE OF THE ARCTIID^ OF TEM- 

 PERATE NORTH AMERICA, WITH NOTES. 



BY JOHN B. SMITH, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. 



The following paper is presented in order to get into shape the notes 

 made by me at odd times for the five years last past. It includes, in the 

 first place, all the references that I found to the species during that time, 

 and such notes of synonymic interest as I have culled from the publi- 

 cations examined. It has also been my practice, as specimens came into 

 my hands, to use such as were unfit for the cabinet, for purposes of study, 

 and I have thus accumulated a great many notes, which I see no oppor- 

 tunity of using for some time to come, inasmuch as my studies on the 

 Noctuidce will probably fill very completely all the time I have for 

 systematic work. To present these notes for the benefit of those having 

 more time to follow these fines of study, and to rid myself of the accumu- 

 lated slips and memoranda, I have put them into this form. As some of 

 the species are not known to me in nature, and as the sequence in 

 Mr. Grote's list is based on no natural characters that I have been able to 

 discover, I have arranged them in alphabetical order for convenience of 



reference. 



Family Arctiid^. 



The essential characters of the family are : Ocelli present, vein 8 of 

 secondaries arising from the sub-costal at some distance from base. The 

 former peculiarity separates them from the Lithosiidce, the latter from the 

 Noctuidce. Usually, there is an accessory cell, but there are numerous 

 exceptions to this. Typically, the venation of primaries is Noctuidous, 

 save that the internal vein is not furcate basally. This, however, is a 

 weak character. The secondaries are also very much as in the Noctuids, 

 save for the origin of vein 8, which in the Arctiids, arises from the sub- 

 costal instead of from the base. A somewhat well marked and charac- 

 teristic feature is* found in the loop of primaries receiving the frenulum of 

 the male secondaries. It is very distinct and definite, arising from the 

 space between the costal and sub-costal veins, and generally in the form 

 of a heavy rope or band, reaching to the median space, where it is coiled 

 to form a distinct ring into which the frenulum is inserted. In the female 

 the frenulum consists of a bunch of three or more fine bristles, which are 

 received into a loop formed of crossed scales in the median space of 

 primaries. 



