— 166- 



colored wings with few veins, should head the list, followed by the 

 Aegeridae, with similar appearance, similar habits and very similar struc- 

 ture: then come the clear wing sphinges or Macroglossae which are also 

 largely diurnal and which differ very essentially in structure from the 

 typical Sphinx as I have shown recently in "Entomologica Americana"; 

 and the Sphinges with crepuscular habits again lead naturally to the typ- 

 ical Bomhyces, through the nocturnal Smcrinlhids . 



As the highest type of another series stand \\\^ Zygae^iidae. Also 

 largely diurnal in habit and often brightly colored they yet differ largely 

 from any of the preceding in the numerous veins of both wings. The 

 true Zygae7iidae do not exist in the United States as I showed recently 

 in the Transactions of the Am. Ent. Soc. ; but their close allies, the 

 Pryomorphidae do exist here in some number, and they very gradually 

 lead into the Lilhosiids and thence to the Ardiids and Bombyces. 



We have here two distinct series: the Sy^iiomidae and Zygaenidae 

 rather closely allied, and diverging from thence, the one to the Bombyces 

 through the Sphinges, the other to the same group through Pyroniorpha, 

 Lithosia and Arctic. 



In the Lepidoptera Heterocera and especially those groups classed 

 as Zygaenidae and Bomhycidae systematists have shown a remarkable ob- 

 jection to the creation of families, or more correctly to the use of family 

 terms to express relationships and define groups. The result is that 

 there is a mass of species all classed under the general term Bombyces, or 

 Zygaenidae which have absolutely not one character in common. Mr. 

 Grote to be sure in his recent list makes some divisions, but unfortun- 

 ately they are nowhere defined, based only on superficial resemblances 

 and thoroughly unscientific. Coleopterists have by careful and hard 

 work raised their branch of Entomology to the dignity of a scientific 

 study, while Lepidopterists have wasted their time in studying the orna- 

 mention of insects, overlooking the most obvious structural details, and 

 the classification of the order therefore leaves much to be desired. To 

 call attention to the fact that there is yet plenty of work to be done be- 

 fore Lepidopterists can claim that they have a knowledge of their order 

 equal to that of the Coleopterists, these brief notes are presented. An- 

 other and perhaps natural error has been made by many Lepidopterists: 

 they have seized some one character, and rested their studies on that. 

 Thus Dr. Herrich-Schaeffer made venation the ultimate test of family 

 distinction while Dr. Packard with less felicity finds head characters 

 controlling and ignores venation. The result gives us such assemblages 

 as those heretofore mentioned, I wish it distinctly understood that 1 do 

 not pretend to find the one controlling character in the genital structure 

 of the i-J^, I deem it a very important one in connection with other 



