1 02 [December, 



what Scopoli intended by bis " Hemerohius Jlavus," and Wesmael's Ch. 

 vittata apparently included botb species according to tbe types, but 

 bis description applies to tbe species now so-named. 



It appears to me tbat tbe two species were generally confused by 

 authors up to, and including, Schneider, Tbe latter anthor, in de- 

 scribing and figuring Ch. vittata (which is now considered a synonym 

 oi Jlnva) alludes to tbe excised costiil margin as a sexual character of 

 the (^, and says nothing about the condition of this margin in the ? , 

 leaving it to be inferred that it is not excised in tbat sex. His de- 

 scription agrees with the condition seen in the ^ of Jlava, but bis 

 figure appears to have been taken from a ? . Neither be, nor any 

 other author, so far as I am aware, has noticed the thicJcened costal 

 nerviiles that form so prominent a feature in the ^ oi Jlava. Eambur, 

 in describing bis Hemerohius proximus (= vittata') well describes tbe 

 anal part of tbe ^ of vittata. 



Ch. flava and vittata are two good and distinct species. Ch. 

 Jlava differs from vittata in tbe excised costal margin of botb sexes, 

 but tbe amount of excision is much greater in the ^ tha-n in tbe $ , 

 and in the ^ most of the costal nervures are thickened. Tbe two 

 species also differ conspicuously in the length and form of tbe superior 

 appendages of tbe ^ . Some other points, such as length of basal joint 

 of antennae, &c., alluded to iu my " British Neuroptera-Planipennia,'' 

 are probabl}'^ too vague and uncertain to be of much service. The 

 coloration of tbe nervules is not sufficiently stable to be of much 

 use in definition; in three examples (1 J*, 2 ? ) of Ch. Jlava from 

 Centi'al Italy, the two series of gradate nervules are conspicuously 

 black. 



I am of opinion that the ^ of both species is much less common 

 than the J . 



Gh. Jlava is recorded by Hagen (Neurop. N. America) from Phila- 

 delphia ; I have never seen an American specimen. A species some- 

 what intermediate between j^«y« and vittata occurs in Japan. 



This article owes its origin to an examination of the examples of 

 Jlava from Central Ital}^ in tbe course of which I was struck by the 

 black gi'adate nervules in those specimens, and by the thickened costal 

 nervules of tbe (;J, which, together with the different form of tbe 

 costal margin in tbat sex, I had not previously noticed, and, as is often 

 the case under similar circumstances, my first impression was tbat I 

 Avas dealing with a new species. 



Tbe anal appendages of tbe ^ are probably more developed iu 



