Cljc dCanabian (intomolopt 



VOL. III. LONDON, ONT., AUGUST, 1871. NO. 4. 



ENTOMOLOGY. No. n. 



BY WILLIAM COUPER, MONTREAL. 



In a former paper, I have briefly referred to the peculiarity of nest struc- 

 ture made by the larva? of our large Lepidopterous Nocturnal insects,* 

 in order to show that an attempt should be made to separate species on 

 the similarity of form and texture of these structures. No doubt, when 

 Kntomology becomes thoroughly studied throughout the Dominion, much 

 of the confusion in our present generic classification will be removed by 

 means of investigations into the early history of larvae and imagines of the 

 many genera. True, this may be pronounced a theory ; but when I find 



* Fitch, in his Report for 1859, gives seme pertinent remarks regarding- the nomen- 

 clature of Attacus cecropia. When Linnaeus first noticed this moth in the cabinet of 

 Queen Ulrica, it was at that time the largest and most sumptuous of the kind known to 

 him, and he named it as above, but Sir -James E. Smith and latterly Dr. Harris have 

 stated that the Linnaean generic and specific nomenclature are inexplicable. Fitch adds 

 that '" the name Attacus, meaning elegant, or connected to the Athenians, was originally 

 given by Linnaeus to a section or sub-genus of his group Bombycidje, having the wings 

 expanded when at rest. Schrank afterwards gave the name Satilrnia to the same insects. 

 G-ermar subsequently revived the original Linnaean name, but most authors still continue 

 the name proposed by Schrank. Duncan (Jardine's Naturalist's Library, vol. vii. ) has 

 recently proposed dividing these insects into quite a number of genera. Plain, and in the 

 main judicious as his arrangement of them is, he, in our view, improperly ignores the 

 name Attar its-, and unfortunately gives an erroneous location to some of the species.- 

 Tims our American Cecropia and Prometheq are the two species which he figures and 

 fully describes as illustrating his genus Hydlophoia, yet, as its name implies, this genus 

 is characterised as having large hyaline glass-like spots on the middle of the wings. But 

 no vestige of such spots exists in either of these species. The author has evidently been 

 misled by figures, presuming the white spots represented in the centre of the wings to be 

 hyaline, whereas they are opaque. A new situation must therefore be assigned to these 

 two insects." Fitch further states that '* Cecropia, PromeUica, and the East Indian species 

 named Cynthia of Drury, present a striking likeness to each other both in their prepara- 

 tory and perfect states;" and he adds that "it is a remarkable feature in the Insect 

 Fauna of this country that we possess such a number of large showy moths of the group 

 Attacus of Linnaeus. * * * * * we have in the State of New York alone eight of these 

 elegant moth?." At page VM\ he remarks that our Lima "is almost identical with the 



