THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 293 



Critical Review of the Seshd^'e found in America north of 

 Mexico, by William Beiitenmiiller, pp. in- 148, Bull. Am. Mus. 

 Nat. Hist., VIII., 1896. 



The writer of the present brief notice of this excellent paper on the 

 Sesiidce desires to call attention to the very careful work of Beutenmiiller 

 on the clear-wings and the necessity for this work which has arisen from 

 the uncritical publications of preceding authors. It appears, for instance, 

 that our S. histrans, a species well distinguished by antennal peculiar- 

 ities, has been five times the subject of new descriptions by the late Mr, 

 Hy. Edwards, whose species are very properly reduced, as appears from 

 Beutenmiiller's studies. The name hitherto used for this species itself 

 must, it seems, give way to bassiformis, Walk., described from a type in 

 poor condition. Beutenmiiller is quite correct in calling attention to the 

 particular necessity in this group for good material from which to 

 describe. The want, perhaps, of such material led Mr. Edwards to 

 describe 6*. rutilans six times over. A large number of sexual determina- 

 tions by Mr. Edwards are corrected by Mr. Beutenmiiller, so it seems 

 hardly possible for anyone to have worked with less judgment. The list 

 of the clear-wings in the New York Check List was drawn up, with the 

 rest of the list, by the writer of the present lines, who at the time merely 

 sent the last proof to the late Mr. Hy. Edwards for his revision. Mr. 

 Edwards added, in explanation, the two foot-notes on page 12 and 

 signed these, and made one or two changes in his names for genera on 

 page II. The writer is also responsible for the list of the clear-wings, 

 since he originally wrote the same, and not Mr. Edwards. The explana- 

 tion is here given, as the list has been erroneously alluded to as the work 

 of Mr. Edwards. In the Philadelphia list the New York list is generally 

 copied, but lustrans is wrongly given to Mr. Hy. Edwards, and an 

 implication is conveyed in the preface that Mr. Hy. Edwards was the 

 author of the list of the clear-wings, which is here corrected. The writer 

 trusts that Mr. Beutenmiiller will continue his studies and that lepidop- 

 terists generally will help him in every possible manner. It is a matter 

 of great satisfaction that Mr. Beutenmiiller's timely work is also of such 

 good quality. The writer would merely reclaim his Sesia pictipes, which 

 is also given to Mr. Hy. Edwards, on p. 134, and draw attention to the 

 excellent description of the habits of this species given by the late Dr. 

 Bailey in the pages of the American Entomologist. 



A. Radcliffe Grote, A. M, 



