1913.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 425 



been taken are Victoria, Sarita, and Brownsville, Tex., and Mexico 

 City. 



Biological Notes. — Though often found in large numbers, this 

 geographic race is seldom met with in the myriads in which true 

 fasciatus is so frequently found. In southern Georgia and along the 

 Gulf coast the insect is to be found adult at all seasons except during 

 the coldest portions of January, February, and ]March, while in 

 southern Florida it is found mature throughout the entire year. 



The series before us indicates that more macropterous individuals 

 are met with in this geographic race than in typical fasciatus. 



Morphological Notes. — The variability of the present species is 

 nowhere more striking than in series of fasciatus socius from various 

 localities. Very light individuals are to be found and others with 

 heads or tegmina of unusual size and shape. The specimens from 

 Dallas, Tex., upon which Scudder based N. canus, are very pale, 

 though but little tinged with russet, and have abnormally large 

 heads. There are many specimens before us which show the un- 

 questionable intergradation from the various series to typical /ascmhis 

 socius and also from one series to the other. 



Synonymy. — In 1896 Scudder described Nemohius canus from a 

 series of six males and ten females of which we here select a male 

 from Dallas, Tex. (Boll.) [Scudder Collection], as the type. We 

 unhesitatingly place this species in the synonymy under fasciatiis 

 socius, from which geographic race it can in no way be separated ; the 

 specimens upon which it was based, including the type here selected, 

 are large and rather pale individuals of fasciatus socius. In his 

 original description Scudder states that it is possibly only a geographic 

 race of fasciatus, remarkable for its cinereous aspect and the striped 

 appearance of the female tegmina. The series before us show that 

 the cinereous aspect is found in pale specimens of both fasciatus and 

 fasciatus socius in varying degrees over their entire range, and the 

 different appearance of the tegmina is solely due to the fact that in 

 light specimens of the present species the dark markings are often 

 conspicuous. 



In the same paper in which Scudder described A^ canus, he also 

 described N . aterrimus. This is a most unfortunate result of careless- 

 ness, for the unique male, which we here select as the type of aterri- 

 mus, is a medium-sized, dark, brachypterous specimen of fasciatus 

 socius, while the unique female belongs to N. cuhensis. A thoroughly 

 brief and unsatisfactory description based on two specimens of dif- 

 ferent species can hardly have been expected to do other than mislead 

 when opportunity was lacking to examine the types. 



