143 



the Notodontidce^ and only in its coloring, etc., offers one of 

 those striking instances, which often occur in very distinct 

 groups, of identity, or nearly that, in markings and other unim- 

 portant characters. These are Avhat MacLeay and Swainson 

 call analogies. Abbot's insects must then be quite distinct, 

 not only as to genera but as to families. 



You -speak of Ceratocampa as being gregarious. When in 

 Florida, my excellent landlady, Mrs. Smith, told me that on 

 Major Travers' plantation, now laid waste by the Indians, a 

 large caterpillar with several horns on its head, used to strip 

 the orange trees of their leaves, and that a great many of them 

 lived together ; was it the O. regalis ? Of Bomhyx Proserpina 

 I have no specimen. I saw one in a pine wood near Columbia, 

 S. C, and have lots of larv£e out of turpentine from Wilming- 

 ton, N. C. ; so I suppose it is common there. I forget Avhether 

 I mentioned to you that I am convinced that Abbot's torrefacta 

 and Cramer's firmiana are two quite distinct species. 



I have been looking over Boisduval's Iconographie very care- 

 fully. His plates are poorly colored and not exact. Do you ever 

 find what he calls Edusa ? I have never seen an American one. 

 I forget whether I told you that I found amongst Foster's spec- 

 imens of P. Ajax, a species distinct from this and 3£arcelhis 

 Boisd. It has the red spot bilobed, but is nearest to Marcellus 

 Boisd. Boisduval's reference to Drury vinder Sinon is Avrono-. 

 I have Drury's Protesilaus from Jamaica ; it is a species not in 

 his General History of the Lepidoptera (Suites a Buffon), and he 

 evidently has not seen it ; Drury's plate is as correct as possible. 

 Do you know any instance of Rhodocera merida being captured 

 in the United States ? As to Thecla, are not his hjpcrici and 

 Falacer, Drury's Acis and Pan ? Again, his smilacis is Cramer's 

 Damon. Next, in Polyommatus^ his Epixantlie is only a variety 

 of P. PJdceas, as he calls yours ; but yours is distinct from 

 ours. You gave me his EpixantJie ; I have seen varieties of 

 our Phlceas just like it ; our Pldceas is more tailed. Mr. 

 Gosse has some lovely Polyommati in his drawings. One from 



