172 JOHN B. SMITH. 



usually reaching the front, never very prominent, sometimes quite 

 stout and reaching to the middle of front and varying from that to 

 small, weak processes hidden in the dense vestiture. Thorax stout, 

 with upright, short, metathoracic tufts. Variably produced in front 

 of the base of primaries, but never very much. Abdomen conic, 

 untufted, the posterior edges of segments spinulose. Legs very va- 

 riably armed, sometimes the fore and middle tibioe are very densely 

 spinulose, and there is no armature of the fore tarsi ; sometimes there 

 are a series of stout spines at outer side of the first joint of anterior 

 tarsi ; again the spinulation, while all present, may be very much 

 reduced. Some species have the fore tibia only spinose, and here 

 there is usually a heavy armature to the fore tarsi consisting of stout, 

 claw-like spines ; sometimes there is but a very slight armature to 

 the fore tibia and a strong armature to the tarsi. The spurs of the 

 middle and hind tibia also vary in length ; sometimes they are weak 

 and short, while in other species they are very long and stout, equal- 

 ling nearly half the length of the tibia. There is usually no very 

 great difl^erence in the length of the legs. As a rule the short spurs 

 occur in those species in which the fore and middle tibite are heavily 

 spinulose, while the tarsi are unarmed, but there is no rule, and the 

 variations run into each other by imperceptible degrees. The vena- 

 tion is typical. Primaries usually narrow, with acute apices and 

 very oblique outer margin, which may be almost straight, or may be 

 somewhat convex. Here, also, there is every variation. The sec- 

 ondaries vary only in width, and are all narrow, with the apex dis- 

 tinct. The genital organs vary considerably, and will be desci'ibed 

 with the species. 



In maculation there is a considerable sameness. The ground color 

 is usually gray, rarely somewhat fuscous, and in one case only dis- 

 tinctly yellow brown. The transverse lines are, as a rule, almost 

 obsolete, and most species, in fact I think all of them, have black, 

 longitudinal markings or dashes between the veins. 



This characterization includes the species usually separated as 

 Hylolcus. There is here considerable variation in color, maculation, 

 armature and wing shape, and yet I find myself incapable of draw- 

 ing any line sufficiently distinct to separate genera — unless, indeed, 

 I chose to make at least six genera of our species. 



In the arrangement of species I have adopted a sequence based 

 partly on maculation and partly on structure, which seems to asso- 

 ciate the species very well with very few exceptions. 



