NORTH AMERICAN LEPIDOPTERA. 81 



Up to the present point there is no especial disagreement between the 

 results of my study and those reached by Dr. Packard. I simply give 

 a higher value to characters of venation, and believe, that judged ac- 

 cording to the amount of variability shown in other groups that these 

 families are well founded. It is further an advantage to have compact 

 groups easily separably on defined characters, rather than a mass of genera 

 and species absolutely incapable of definition. 



As to the position of Eitdri/as and Alypia I am decidedly of opinion 

 that their place is not with the Zygafniidae for there is hardly a struc- 

 tural feature common to Alypia and Zygaena ; nor is their place with 

 the Casfniares. Further Alypia and Endryas have so little in common, 

 that I would refer them to distinct families. Plate III figures 3, 7, 10 

 and 27 illustrate Alypia, while 2, 6 and 1 1 illustrate Endryas. 



Dr. Packard's figures on PI. 2, and accompanying his paper are some- 

 what misleading, and not entirely in accordance with the specimens 

 examined by me. In the figure the front seems narrowing inferiorly, 

 while on the contrary in those specimens examined by me the front 

 narrows superiorly. In my plate the eyes are somewhat too large in fig. 

 3, but otherwise I believe the figures accurate. Dr. Packard's figure of 

 the head of Endryas makes the front too narrow, and in no specimen 

 examined by me is there the central depression of the epicranium. Aly- 

 pia is peculiar in head structure, especially by the form of the eyes. 

 These consist of slightly convex disc so placed that from the front they have 

 the normal appearance, but from the side or top (figs. 7 and 10) the essen- 

 tial difference between them and those of Endryas and Stiria (figs. G-8, 11 

 and 12) are quickly perceived. Between the facetted disc of the true eye, 

 and the back of the head, is situated a broad velvety black piece which is not 

 facetted. In no other form known to me is this structure found, the eyes 

 usually occupying the entire side of the head. The clypeal structure 

 affords nothing not paralleled in the Noctuidae. The antennae are rather 

 close together at base but this is rather the result of the narrowness of 

 the head than of any peculiarity of position. Yet they show a Zy- 

 gaeuid tendency in not being entirely close to the compound eyes. The 

 antennae are rather elongate slightly thickened toward the middle, but 

 rather acutely terminated. The thoracic structure differs from Zygaena 

 in the poorly developed prothorax ; the pronotum is not visible at all, 

 from above, and the episterna are single. A comparison of figures 13 

 and 14 on Plate III will illustrate the differences. Except the structure 

 of the prothorax there is nothing in the difference of thoracic structure 

 not parallel in the Noctuidae. In Eudryas the body structure is essen- 



TRANS. AMER. ENT. SOC. XII. (15) FEBRUARY, 1885 



