143 



the Nbtodontidce, and only in its coloring, etc., offers one of 

 those striking instances, which often occur in very distinct 

 groups, of identity, or nearly that, in markings and other unim- 

 portant characters. These are what MacLeay and Swainson 

 call analogies. Abhot's insects must then be quite distinct, 

 not only as to genera but as to families. 



You speak of Ceratocampa as being gregarious. When in 

 Florida, my excellent landlady, Mrs. Smith, told me that on 

 Major Travers' plantation, now laid waste by the Indians, a 

 large caterpillar with several horns on its head, used to strip 

 the orange trees of their leaves, and that a great many of them 

 lived together ; was it the 0. regalis ? Of Bomhyx Proserpina 

 I have no specimen. I saw one in a pine wood near Columbia, 

 S. C, and have lots of larvae out of turpentine from Wilming- 

 ton, N. C. ; so I suppose it is common there. I forget whether 

 I mentioned to you that I am convinced that Abbot's torrefacta 

 and Cramer's firmiana are two quite distinct species. 



I have been looking over Boisduval's Iconographie very care- 

 fully. His plates are poorly colored and not exact. Do you ever 

 find what he calls Edusa ? I have never seen an American one. 

 I forget whether I told you that I found amongst Foster's spec- 

 imens of P. Ajax, a species distinct from this and Marcelhis 

 Boisd. It has the red spot bilobed, but is nearest to Marcellus 

 Boisd. Boisduval's reference to Drury under Sinon is wrong. 

 I have Drury's Protesilaus from Jamaica ; it is a species not in 

 his General History of the Lepidoptera (Suites a Buffon), and he 

 evidently has not seen it ; Drury's plate is as correct as possible. 

 Do you know any instance of Rhodocera merida being captured 

 in the United States ? As to Thecla, are not his Jiyperici and 

 Falacer, Drury's Acis and Pan ? Again, his smilacis is Cramer's 

 Damon. Next, in Polyommatus, his EpixantJie is only a variety 

 of P. PJblceas^ as he calls yours ; but yours is distinct from 

 ours. You gave me his Epixanihe ; I have seen varieties of 

 our Pldceas just like it ; our Phloias is more tailed. Mr. 

 Gosse has some lovely Polyommati in his drawings. One from 



