LEPIDOPTERA. 267 



place among the Arctians, exceeding all the rest in the breadth 

 of their wings, the thickness of their bodies, and the richness 

 of their colors. Among these is the great American tiger- 

 moth, Arctia Americana, an undescribcd species, which some 

 of the French entomologists* have supposed to be the same 

 as the great tiger, Arctia Caja, of Europe. Of this fine insect 

 I have a specimen, which was presented to me by Mr. Edward 

 Doubleday, who obtained it, with several others, near Trenton 

 Falls in New York. It has not yet been discovered in Massa- 

 chusetts, but will probably be found in the western part of the 

 State. The fore wings of the Arctia Americana expand two 

 inches and a half or more ; they are of a brown color, with 

 several spots and broad winding lines of white, dividing the 

 brown surface into a number of large irregular blotches ; the 

 hind wings are ochre-yellow, with five or six round blue-black 

 spots, three of them larger than the rest ; the thorax is brown 

 and woolly ; the collar edged with white before and with crim- 

 son behind ; the outer edges of the shoulder-covers are white ; 

 the abdomen is ochre-yellow, with four black spots on the mid- 

 dle of the back ; the thighs and fore legs are red, and the feet 

 dark brown. This moth closely resembles the European Caja, 

 and especially some of its varieties, from all of which, however, 

 it is essentially distinguished by the white edging of the collar 

 and shoulder-covers, and the absence of black lines on the 

 sides of the body. It is highly probable that specimens may 

 occur with orange-colored or red hind wings like the Caja, but 

 I have not seen any such. The caterpillar of our species pro- 

 bably resembles that of the Caja, which is dark chestnut-brown 

 or black, clothed Avith spreading bunches of hairs, of a foxy red 

 color on the fore part and sides of the body, and black on the 

 back; but the clusters of hairs, though thick, are not so close 

 as to conceal the breathing holes, which form a distinct row of 

 pearly white spots on each side of the body. These caterpil- 

 lars eat the leaves of various kinds of garden plants, without 

 much discrimination, feeding together in considerable numbers 



* Godart. Lepidopt. de France, T. IV., p. 303. It is figured in the " Lake 

 Superior" of Agassiz and Cabot, pi. 7, fig. 5. 



