214 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxxv. 



held bottom up, the tip of the abdomen nearest the eye. The range of 

 variation in these structures is better shown in the figures and in the 

 discussions under individual species. 



It has been already indicated that there are two groups, based on 

 the character of the middle femora of the male, and the difference is 

 absolute. There is no case where there is any question of amount. 

 The mass of specialized scales is either definitely present, Phmocyma 

 verae, or definitely absent, series Zale. 



Among the Pluvocyma the first series separable on superficial char- 

 acters comprises three species which constitutes a foreign element in 

 our fauna. They are all large forms, resembling the lunata type in a 

 general way, and always distinguishable by having the t. p. line nar- 

 row, single, and outwardly denticulate in the interspaces. None 

 others of our species have this sort of t. p. line, while it is a common 

 feature in the subtropical and tropical species, from which these are 

 intruders into our fauna. 



In addition, there is a tendency to flatten the thoracic tuftings pos- 

 teriorly and to expand them laterally, somewhat wing-like. The 

 basal tuft of the abdominal series is much flattened, squarely cut off 

 behind and extends across the entire segment like a little fan. In 

 all of them the femoral tufting of the male is well developed and the 

 mass of specialized scales is enormous. 



I have made no attempt to relate these species to the others in the 

 fauna to which they really belong, because I had neither the material 

 nor the literature for the task. I have simply identified them spe- 

 cifically, and have described them so as to be recognizable whenever 

 they are taken in our fauna. They are easily enough distinguished. 



Exhausta Guenee is a somewhat short winged species, with a dark 

 base and dark brown costal patch between t. p. and s. t. lines. It runs 

 to light colors, especially in the male, which is sometimes creamy 

 gray, ranging from that to leaf-brown. On the secondaries the blu- 

 ish area beyond the extra median lines tends to become almost ocel- 

 late in character. It has been taken in Florida only. 



Fictilis Guenee is a very even species, without contrasts; gray 

 brown in the male, darker more strigillate in the female. The best 

 defined marking is on the secondaries, where the extra-median black 

 lines are close together and tend to form a band, the outer margin of 

 which is dentate toward the costal margin. 



ViHdans is the largest species and most resembles the normal 

 hiniihi type : but in the male it is distinguished from all our other species 

 in having the disc of secondaries beneath, densely clothed with long, 

 silky hair. In the females the wings are a mass of transverse strigil- 

 lations, more or less intermingled with greenish or bluish scales. 



In all these species the underside is yellowish and crossed by numer- 

 ous transverse lines and strigillations. forming no distinctly localized 



