242 A Systematic List of Lepidoptera, 



species accurately determined, is as great an addition to science 

 as the discovery of a new species." 



In June and July thousands of Noctuidse may be taken by 

 treacle spread on tree-trunks at night, and all the families of 

 Heterocera swarm in lighted rooms when the windows are opened. 

 If any one would take the trouble to catch and pin these or any 

 other insects, and send them home to the British Museum, they 

 would be thankfully received and acknowledged, and the new 

 species would be described at length in the Catalogues, a large num- 

 ber of which have been already published. The late lamented Dr. 

 Barnston presented numerous specimens from the Hudson's Bay 

 Territories to that national institution, and it is greatly to be 

 wished that others would follow his example. These specimens 

 were collected by George Barnston, Esq., the father of Dr. Barns- 

 ton. 



A very large proportion of the Canadian genera are identical 

 with the European, many of the species being also exactly similar, 

 and to such I have affixed the mark (Eu). 



The present Catalogue is carried as far only as the conclusion 

 of the Pyralideous Pyralidina. I have handed over to Mr. 

 Stainton the few Micro-Lepidoptera I collected, and he informs 

 me that there are some interesting species amongst them, and 

 that others are very similar to English forms. Several fine 

 Sjyhinges captured near Montreal are in the collection of the 

 Natural History Society, but their names are unknown to me. 



Wishing to give an idea of the distribution of the species through- 

 out America, I have added the localities where they have been 

 recorded as occurring, as far as I have been able to ascertain from 

 various sources, but principally from the British Museum Cata- 

 logues of Lepid. Het., to the end of the Noctuina^ and in a few 

 instances amongst the Geometrina and Pyralidina. Having had 

 access to but few works, and but limited time in which to accom- 

 plish my undertaking, being just about to sail for the Cape of 

 Good Hope, it is necessarily very incomplete, and I must claim 

 indulgence for any errors of omission and commission of which I 

 have been guilty. 



Exeter, Devonshire, May 1860. 



