284 UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 276 



allowed to deteriorate and specimens gradually disappeared as space 

 was needed from time to time. 



In view of the fact that the name ^^californicum" has priority over 

 other names which have been given to the western populations of 

 this species of Malacosoma, it is desirable to tie it to a single specimen 

 of what is believed to be the species which Packard described. The 

 original description is brief, but sufficiently detailed to make it fairly 

 certain that Packard did not have M. disstria or M. constrictum before 

 him. It probably was not disstria because Packard states that the male 

 is "cinnamon brown, with two transverse pale lines." Most male 

 disstria have two transverse dark lines, but rare specimens may have 

 narrow light areas paralleling the lines which are more conspicuous 

 than the lines. It probably was not constrictum because Packard states 

 that "the female is lighter colored than the other sex." Female con- 

 strictum are darker than the males in most cases. Other Malacosoma 

 which were originally described from California are M. ambisimilis 

 (Dyar) and A/, pluvialis recenseo Dyar; these are regarded as subspecies 

 of M. calif ornicum in this revision. Adult male calif ornicum recenseo usually 

 can be separated from male californicum californicum by their dark 

 reddish-brown color and dark lines on the forewings. Most female 

 californicum recenseo cannot be separated from female californicum cal- 

 ifornicum. Neither adult males nor adult females of californicum ambi- 

 simile can be separated from californicum californicum by any known 

 characters. Therefore, to avoid any possible doubt as to which species, 

 subspecies, or population the name californicum applies, a neotype has 

 been designated. It has been selected on the basis of the following 

 findings. 



Up to the present time the name *^ californicum''' generally has been 

 attached to those populations of Malacosoma which are characterized by 

 the larvae being nearly black with conspicuous orange setae both 

 dorsally and laterally (figs. 352 and 353). This population occurs in 

 the vicinity of San Francisco Bay (fig. 3). Packard listed the locality in 

 the original description only as "California," but the specimens which 

 he described as californicum in 1864 most likely came from the area 

 around San Francisco Bay since Henry Edwards worked in the San 

 Francisco area as an actor prior to 1864. 



One can assume that Edwards retained some specimens from the 

 series that he sent Packard. Most of Henry Edwards' collection is in 

 the American Museum of Natural History or the United Siates National 

 Museum (his Malacosoma types are in the USNM), but none of his 

 specimens in either museum can be dated with certainty before 1864. 

 Some of his Malacosoma which may have been part of the original 



