THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 17 



GEOMETRID NOTES. 

 On the Genus Xanthorhoe. 

 by l. w. swett, lexington, mass. 

 Xanthorhoe pontiaria and Jorsaria Taylor have been so often 

 misidentified in collections, that I have tried to straighten them 

 out in this paper. About three years ago Mr. E. H. Blackmore, 

 of Victoria, B. C, collected a long series of all the forms and sent 

 them to me to work up. Through the kindness of Drs. Barnes and 

 McDunnough I was supplied with types and paratypes of both 

 species, so that I did not have to rely on descriptions. 



Xanthorhoe pontiaria was described by the Rev. G. W. Taylor 

 in the Canadian Entomologist, vol. XXXVIII,' p. 400, Dec. 1906, 

 from four specimens, the type being a female from Wellington, 

 B.C., May 23, 1905. There were two other females agreeing 

 with the type, and from the same locality, but the male from 

 Salem, Oregon, June 2, 1904, on a closer examination, proved to 

 be distinct and a good species. The typical pontiaria Taylor is 

 whitish fuscous in colour and resembles slightly the European 

 fliictiiata, but is much larger. The central band of the primaries 

 is usually brownish, with a whitish centre, in the type form. The 

 anal tuft of hairs of pontiaria is bushy and reddish-shaded, and 

 seems broader than in any of the other species. The head is 

 reddish-tinged in front, and the antennee appear to have longer 

 pectinations than the o'ther species. There is a form of pontiaria 

 in which the central band is solid reddish brown, but this is not 

 so common as the white-centred variation. The male type of 

 pontiaria, as I have said before, is not conspecific with the female; 

 and as the female was designated as the type, I propose to describe 

 the male as follows: 



Xanthorhoe macdunnoughi, sp. nov. 



Antennse rather narrowly pectinate, palpi short; front of head 

 gray, as is thorax and abdomen. The primaries are dark ashen 

 gray, with a broad, irregular fuscous band centrally. Basally 

 there are several indeterminate hair-lines, rounded outwardly be- 

 low the costa. Just before the intradiscal line there is pale band 

 crossed by a geminate, brown hair-line, following the same course 

 as the intradiscal line. The intradiscal line is geminate, bent 



January, 1918 



