22 JOHN B. SMITH. 



H ydroecia stramentosa Gn., pi. 1, fig. 10, % genitalia. 



1852.— Gn., Spec. Gen. Noct., i, 129, pi. 6, f. 2, Hydrcec'm. 



1856.— Wlk., Cat. Brit. Mus. Het„ ix, 162, Hydrcecia. 



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



1893.— Smith, Bull. 44th U. S. Nat. Mus., 175, Hydrcecia, 

 Ground color a rather dull luteous, with a dash of olivaceous. Collar with a 

 narrow brown line above the middle, the tip distinctly smoky, as are also the 

 tips of the thoracic tuftings. Edges of the patagiae marked with smoky brown, 

 which is particularly well marked at tip. Sometimes the entire thorax is darker, 

 and in such cases the contrasts between the ground color and the markings just 

 described are not great. The abdominal tuftings at the base are also dark. The 

 primaries have a reddish shade over the costal region extending to the tip. The 

 outer portion of the median space is distinctly darker, olivaceous, and stands out 

 quite evidently from the rest of the wing. The basal line is geminate, fairly 

 well marked on the costa, then broken and only marked as a spot below that 

 point. T. a. line geminate, the inner line scarcely traceable below the cell : as a 

 whole it is nearly upright, but is inwardly curved through the cell and has a 

 very feeble outcurve below that point. T. p. line very even, rather abruptly bent 

 on the costa, a little outcurved over the reniform, and then evenly oblique 

 inwardly to the inner margin. S. t. line irregular, brownish or smoky, marked 

 by a preceding shade in the costal region, and beyond that by dusky scales 

 arranged quite regularly. There is an even line at the base of the fringes, which 

 are dusky at tip and have a reddish shade toward the base. The median shade 

 line is well marked on the costa and is blackish to the median vein ; below that 

 point it is olive-green and hardly darker than the shading of the outer part of 

 the median space. In the costal region, between the outer part of the basal line 

 aud inner portion of the t. a. line, there is a blackish shading and a similar, 

 though much less marked, shading extends from the inception of the t. a. to the 

 median shade line. The ordinary spots are well marked ; the claviform is 

 slightly soiled, olivaceous in color. Orbicular almost upright, irregularly oval, 

 of the ground color or a little paler, outlined in olivaceous. Reniform upright, 

 oblong, the angles pointed, hardly constricted in the center. It is of the ground 

 color, or may have a slightly reddish tinge. Secondaries pale yellowish, without 

 obvious markings. Beneath yellowish, both wings with a smoky outer line, 

 which, in the specimens before me, does not extend across the wing. Expanse 

 1.68-1.72 in.; 42-43 mm. 



Hub. — Glen wood Springs, Colorado, September 10th, October 1st, 

 foot hills near Denver. " Middle and Central States, New York, 

 Illinois." 



Three specimens have been under examination, and I have seen 

 others. None of them, however, from the East. There is a ques- 

 tion, perhaps, whether this species is correctly identified. The ex- 

 amples before me agree with Guenee's figure and description, and I 

 cannot remember having seen any species from the East which 

 might be fitted to them. While I saw the type in the British 

 Museum some years ago, my recollection does not serve sufficiently 

 well to enable me to say whether or not this is really his species. I 



