28 



part of the day to collecting lepidoptera. Among other things I collected a good series 

 of males of a Pamphila of the Manitoba group which was new to me, but only succeeded 

 in securing one female, it apparently being a little early for that sex. During October 

 of that year I paid a flying visit to New York and Boston taking a few specimens with 

 me for comparison, among them a specimen of this skipper which I showed to Mr. Henry 

 Edwards, who said that he did not know it and thought it must be new. Mr. 

 Scudder said it might be new, but one needed a very full series in that group. I after- 

 wards showed it to Mr. Fletcher and asked him if he had ever seen that form and he 

 immediately said " Yes, at Regina." He added that he had sent a specimen to Dr. Henry 

 Skinner who had pronounced it to be only Manitoba, but Mr. Fletcher expressed to me the 

 opinion that it was at least a very distinct variety. The point in which this form chiefly 

 differs from Manitoba of the Lower St. Lawrence is that those parts on the underside 

 which are brown in the latter are of a very pale greenish yellow or yellowish green in 

 the Eegina form, but it also differs somewhat above in that the males are usually of a 

 yellower tone while the brown of the female is decidedly darker and the spots of the fore 

 wing decidedly lighter, some of them being almost white, than in the eastern specimens. 



Wishing to get further light upon the probable relationship of these forms, I this 

 year took a number of specimens of each with me on a trip to Boston and New York 

 before returning home from a short holiday on the Atlantic coast, and through the kind- 

 ness of Mr. Scudder was enabled to examine his original types of Manitoba. One of 

 these agreed exactly with my specimens from the Lower St. Lawrence, while the ones 

 from British Columbia and Colorado were greener, but none agreed with, or even 

 approached the average of the Regina specimens. Mr. Scudder, however, on account of 

 the close similarity of the markings seemed to be of opinion that the Regina form must 

 be a variety of Manitoba. At New York Mr. Neumoegen kindly allowed me to com- 

 pare my specimens carefully with the Pamphilas in his magnificent collection, but no 

 specimen was found which at all agreed with the Regina form, and Mr. Neumoegen 

 expressed the opinion that I would be safe in describing it. But in order to guard against 

 all danger of being accused of rashness I took the specimens out to New Brunswick, 

 N. J., to Prof. J. B. Smith, who very kindly at my request dissected the male abdominal 

 appendages of one of the Regina specimens, which upon examination were seen to be 

 practically identical with the illustrations of those of Manitoba drawn by the late Mr. 

 Edward Burgess and published by Mr. Scudder. The form would therefore seem to be 

 only a variety of Manitoba, but Prof. Smith expressed the opinion that it might very 

 properly receive a varietal name as a distinct geographical race. Mr. Scudder, however, 

 in his " Butterflies of New England " would seem to have adopted this form as a basis of 

 his description of Manitoba, as he describes the underside of the hind wings as being, 

 except for the markings, "almost uniformly greenish yellow," although he has no speci- 

 men of the Regina form in his collection. 



I am, however, strongly of opinion that the difierence between the eastern specimens 

 and these from Regina is sufliciently great to be worthy of being indicated by varietal 

 names, and if the name Manitoba is to be restricted to the dark brown or greenish brown 

 specimens, as I believe it was originally applied, I would suggest the name, var. Assini- 

 boia, for the light greenish-yellow Regina form. If, however it is preferred to call the 

 latter Manitoba I should suggest the name, var. Laurentina, for the dark brown form of 

 the Lower St Lawrence. 



NEMATUS ERICHSONII: A RETROSPECT. 



BY REV. THOMAS W. FYLES, SOUTH QUEBEC. 



The fecundity and voracity of this species must have arrested the attention of 

 foresters and entomologists at a very early date after its introduction to America. It is 

 believed to have been brought over on Larix Eurojioea , and its operations were first 

 noticed in 1880, by Professor C. S. Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum at Brook- 



