AMERICAN LEPIDOPTERA. 31 



also purplish, the abdomen itself varying from yellowish to purplish. The pri- 

 maries very strongly powdered through the median space, with all the ordinary 

 markings fairly well written. Bas:il line geminate, brown, extending to the 

 middle : within this line the wing is yellowish, forming a yellowish spot at the 

 base. The rest of the basal space is more or less purplish, or very strongly 

 powdered with deeper red-brown. Sometimes this powdering invades the ex- 

 treme base, and it may thus become uniformly purplish. T. a. line geminate, 

 not very well defined. From the costa it is upright or a little inwardly oblique 

 to the submedian vein, then it makes an abrupt outcurve to the hind margin 

 near the middle of the wing. T. p. line well removed outwardly, geminate, the 

 inner line the narrower of the two, the outer line darker. It bends abruptly 

 outward on the costa, then forms what is practically an acute angle and runs 

 very evenly oblique to the inner margin. S. t. line dentate on the veins, very 

 irregular, brown, best marked by the difference between the purplish s. t. space 

 and the more evenly brown terminal space. The apex yellowish. There is a 

 blackish line at the base of the purplish fringes. The median shade is fairly 

 well marked, not well defined, rather narrow, and in a general way it is upright 

 or a little bent ou the median vein. Ordinary spots fairly well defined, rather 

 small ; the orbicular round, usually white, sometimes with a central dot, some- 

 times reduced to a white point surrounded by a few darker scales, in one speci- 

 men almost black. Reniform upright, narrow, a little constricted centrally, 

 with a very narrow central lunule, which is defined by brown edges, and outside 

 of this there may be from one to seven whitish or white spots. Sometimes the 

 entire reniform is white, though occasionally it becomes blackish. The claviform 

 is short and broad, divided by a narrow central line; usually it is white, some- 

 times it is reduced to a mere dot, and in one specimen it is blackish. Secondaries 

 more or less smoky, shading to yellowish in one direction and to almost blackish 

 in another. Veins smoky in most cases; a smoky discal lunule and generally 

 also a more or less obvious outer smoky line are present. Beneath more or less 

 washed with purplish. Both wings with a fairly well-defined median line and 

 usually with a discal lunule, which is always more or less distinct on the second- 

 aries. Expanse 1.42-1. 68 in. ; 33-42 mm. 



Hub.— Kittery Point, Maine, August 30th to September 19th; 

 Massachusetts ; New York. 



Most of the specimens that I have seen of this species come from 

 Dr. Thaxter, and I have, by his kindness, a series of nine specimens 

 which show a greater range of variation than any other species of 

 the genus. This variation consists not in the maculation, but entirely 

 in the amount of the dark powdering which extends through the 

 wing. In one case the wing is almost yellowish, with scattered 

 brown powdering and a slightly darker s. t. space. The extreme in 

 the other direction is a dark smoky brown shade, with just an indi- 

 cation of the yellowish base. The s. t, space is uniform, purplish, 

 almost blue, while the ordinary spots are nearly black. Between 

 these extremes all intergrades are represented, yet the species is dis- 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC. XXVI. MAY. 1899. 



