Arctiidas 



4 often absent; 5 from nenr lower angle of cell or well below 

 angle of discocellulars; 6, 7 sometimes coincident; 8 coin- 

 cident with the cell from or almost from base to near middle, 

 or extremity of the cell and even in some genera beyond the 

 extremity of the cell. In the genus Halisidota vein 8 is obsolete. 

 The \i\rvx. have all the prolegs and are generally profusely 

 clothed with hairs. They pupate in cocoons woven of silk 

 mixed with the hairs which are shed during the process of 

 spinning. The caterpillars of some species have received the 

 common appellation of " woolly bears," and the moths are 

 familiarly known as "tiger-moths." 



Genus HOLOMELINA Herrich-SchsefFer 



The names EiibapJie and Crocota, proposed by Hiibner, 

 and applied recently by some writers to this group of insects, 

 being what are known to students as nomina niida, cannot 

 stand. 



It may be said in passing that this genus from a classi- 

 ficational standpoint is in a very unsatisfactory condition, so far 

 as some of the species are concerned. The "Splitters" and the 

 "Lumpers" have been hard at work upon it, and inasmuch as 

 the insects show very little purely structural variation, and 

 vary greatly in color and size, there has resulted great con- 

 fusion. Within the limits of the space assigned to us in the 

 present compendium we have not the opportunity to discuss 

 these questions, but suggest to our readers that there is here 

 an opportunity to use both eyes and mind to advantage in 

 solving some of the vexed points. The test of breeding should 

 be rigorously applied, and the larval stages of the insects 

 should be critically observed. 



(1) Holomelina ostenta Henry Edwards, Plate XIV, Fig. 

 17, ^ . (The Showy Holomelina.) 



This conspicuous and very beautifully colored insect ranges 

 from Colorado through New Mexico and Arizona into Mexico. 



(2) Holomelina opella Grote, Plate XIV, Fig. 2}, $ . (The 

 Tawny Holomelina.) 



Syn. ohscura Strecker; ritbricosta Ehrman. 



This species is rather common in Pennsylvania and the 

 Atlantic States as far south as Georgia. 



115 



