NORTH AMERICAN LEPIDOPXERA. 209 



gWesJide Westwood, the following differences : " Bombycoide-s is much 

 more brownish in tint, not near so leaden gray ; the thorax is desti- 

 tute of all black lines ; the dark dashes on middle, near inner mar- 

 gin of primaries, are more central and nearer to base of the wing; 

 the secondaries are without any appearance of dark central fascia, 

 the fringe on anal margin is of the same dull brown as the rest of 

 the wing; under surface of all wings is uniform pale brown." 



In the following number he gives a figure of the species from a 

 drawing made from the type. This represents an insect very much 

 like harrisii, save that the pale shade between the outer lines is 

 strongly marked and the basal line is reduced to a few black dashes. 

 Mr. Strecker seems in doubt whether it is an aberrant form or a good 

 species. Mr. Lintner claimed it a good species in his Ent. Cont. i. 

 Prof. Fernald quotes Mr. Thaxter as having taken an EUema " which 

 is practically the same with Strecker's figure oi' bovibycoides," and as 

 far as he can judge is that species. He also expresses the opinion 

 that it is a variety of harrisii. 



Mr. Lintner showed me an insect in his collection, last winter, 

 which he claims is Walker's species, and from a comparison made 

 with harrisii at the time, it looked distinct ; the fore wings are wider, 

 less acute at tip, the costa more convex. The color is more shot with 

 umber brown and the basal bands are wanting. The specimen was 

 obtained from Mr. Meske as an imperfect harrisii, and was a bred 

 specimen. 



Mr. Meske assures me he never obtained harrisii, except by breed 

 iug, and this insect given to Mr. Lintner must have been produced 

 by a larva so like that of harrisii that he failed to note any distinc- 

 tion. 



In view of all this I believe that this species will eventually turn 

 out only an aberratic form of harrisii — hardly a variety — for wei-e it 

 a variety it would occur more frequently. 



E. pineiini Lint.,* Ent. Cont. i. 1872, 37, pi. 8, figs.12-13, EUema ; B<1., Sp. Gen. 

 Lep. Het. i. 107, Sphinx ; Grt.. Buff. Bull. iii. 225, EUema: Butl., Tr. Zool. 

 Soc. Loud. ix. 626. EUema. 



%. — Head and collar umber; palpi brown; tliorax umber at the sides and 

 brownish cinereous on the middle. Abdomen immaculate, brownish cinereous. 

 Legs brown, with white scales on the femora and at the joints. Anterior winjjs 

 as long as the body, umljer colored, dusted with grayish at the base, along the 

 terminal margin, and on the principal nervures and their branches; within the 

 cell is a quadrangular blackish brown spot; an umber brown shade is placed over 

 the base of the nervules, filling the lower half of the post-apical interspace half 



TRANS. AMER. ENT. SOC. XV. (27) SEPTEMBER, 1888 



