16 JOHN B. SMITH. 



lines are brown, single. The t. p. line is very irregular, preceded by a bluish 

 shade and as a whole outwardly oblique. The t. p. line is slender, erenulated, some- 

 times defined by a following paler shade, sometimes scarcely traceable. The s. t. 

 line is marked by the difference in tint between the terminal and s. t. spaces, 

 ami also by a series of whitish scales. There is a pale line preceded by a black- 

 ish shading at the base of the fringes. Sometimes the paler scales are absent, 

 Leaving only the dusky shading, ami sometimes there is hardly any difference 

 between the terminal space and the fringes. The basal half line is usually dis- 

 tinct on the costa. The orbicular is quite usually wanting: if present it is 

 always small and may lie a blackish dot. or a black annulus surrounding a whit- 

 ish (iot ; or there may be a white annulus surrounding a brown central dot. The 

 reniform is moderate in size, normal in shape, the lower half defined and partly 

 filled by white scales, giving the appearance of a \J, from which the name of the 

 species is derived. Secondaries smoky brown with a purplish shade, the fringes 

 paler, more rosy in tinge. Beneath paler, the, primaries smoky, the secondaries 

 more yellow. Both wings may have an outer dusky line, and on the other hand 

 there may be no trace of this present. Expanse 1.10-1.30 in.; 27-32 mm. 



I f<ih. — Massachusetts, May, June and August; New York in 

 July; Illinois; Minnesota; Key West, Florida, Southern Florida. 



The localities above given are those that happened to be repre- 

 sented in the collection before me. The insect probably extends 

 throughout the entire Eastern United States and to the Mississippi 

 Valley. It is readily recognizable by the form of the reniform, 

 which contrasts strongly against the rich red brown ground color in 

 which it is set. It has the same general shape of wing that is 

 found in albilunata, and like that species the antennae of the male are 

 distinctly ciliated. The male sexual pieces are entirely different: 

 the harpes are very broad at base, abruptly narrowed toward the 

 tip, and the clasper is a short, broad-pointed process, resembling 

 somewhat a broad beak. There is little variation, except in the 

 amount of contrast between the brown and bluish or purplish shad- 

 ing on the wing. 



II > tlrtecia velata Wlk.. pi. 1, fig. 3, % genitalia. 



1865. — Wlk., G. B. Mus. Het., xxxii, 671, Apamea. 



1891. — Smith, Can. Ent., xxiii, 121, Apamea. 



1893.— Smith, Bull. 44th U. S. Nat. Mus., 174, Hydroetia. 

 sera G. and R. 



1868.— G. and R., Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, i, 345, pi. 7, f. 55, Hydraecia. 



1874.— Grote, Bull. Buff. Soc. Nat. Sci., ii, 18. Hydrceda. 



1S74.— <4r..te. Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1874, 20(5, Apamea. 



1882.— Grote, Can. Ent., xiv, 170. Helotropha. 



1884. — Bean, Can. Ent., xvi, 67. larva on Anemone. 



L891. Smith. Can. Ent., xxiii, 121, pr. syn" 



1893. -Smith, Bull. 44th U. S. Nat. Mus., 174, pr. syn. 

 Ground color a dark smoky brown, varying to gray or red-brown. Head and 

 thorax without markings and of the usual ground color, except that the tips of 



