18C5.] 227 



Its only Eastern ally is Tharoii, but it is much more nearly related 

 to PnJrliclId Boisd. (Prafrvsis lichr.) of the west coast, for specimens 

 of which I auj indebted to 3Ir. P. R. Uhler. 



The almost uniform saturation with black below. the median vein of 

 the fore wing, coupled with the white fringe, are very decided diagno- 

 stics, and ;ilone sufficient to separate it from any of the allied species. 



NOTES ON THE BOMBYCIDiE OF CUBA. 



i; V AV(;rsTis h . ghotk, 

 Curator of Entomology, Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. 



When we separate from this Family the Zygrenid genera, Mehtn- 

 curoin, Cfriiurhnh'a,* etc., which have been referred to the Bombycid 

 Sub-Family IJf/iosiunr, by 3Ir. Walker, we can perceive that its repre- 

 sentation in Cuba, judging from the present collection of Prof. Poey, 

 is extremely meagre. It abounds in species which appear to be repre- 

 sentative, showing that we must consider the Island as a Province of 

 the Faunal District which embraces the West Indian Archipelago. 

 The species are wanting in striking forms, and, compared with the 

 members of this Family in the United States, are also wanting in in- 

 terest and beauty. Of certain sub-families, no representatives occur 

 The Ccratocampidse, Atfaci, f Flati/pterijcUhie, and Cochlich'se, are 



^'Ctenuchidia, mihi, n. g. Type, Ctcnucha virgo, H S., Exot. fig. 301. 



Differs from Ctenucha virginica and Ctcnucha cressonana, by the very slender 

 labial palpi, which are not depressed at their tips nor flexuous, but held some- 

 what rigidly. Maxilloe short. Occiput and epicranium longer than usual, as 

 broad as the elongate, advanced prothoracie parts, which receive them with but 

 a slight apparent contraction. Thorax, slender and, with the caputal and pro- 

 thoracic parts, very finely, evenly and shortly scaled. Nervules of the prima- 

 ries short; costa at apical third not so depressed as in Ctenucha; fourth m. nervule 

 f irther removed towards the base of the wing: third, arcuate. The structural 

 caputal and thoracic characters are distinctive, and separate it from allied West 

 Indian genera. Ctenuchldia virgo is finely maculate beneath. The existence of 

 this genus, as distinct from Ctcnucha, has been sujiposed by Dr. A. S. Packard, 

 Jr. The Zygrenidpe should precede the Boiiibj'cidse in a natural arrangement. 

 A paper on the Cuban representatives of the Family, is in course of preparation. 



|The genus Samia, belonging to this sub-family, was erected by Hubner in 

 1S16. Under it are grouped in the " Verzeichniss," three species, as I regard 

 them the typesof so many distinct genera, which do not seem to have been pro- 

 jierly separated. The first species seems properly to be regarded as the type of 

 the genus Samia, as now amended. This is the Bombi/.r ci/nthia Drury, from 

 Asia. The second species, Phalocna {Aitucus) cecropia, of Linnaeus, is properly 

 the type of an American genus for which I have elsewhere proposed to use Dun- 

 can's generic term, Hyalophora. It becoming evident to me that the use of this 

 term is liable to objection, for the reason that it is not properly restricted by its 



