70 



graph of the NoctiiidcB for want of proper assistance and a salaried 

 position where I can continue its preparation. 



The conclusions, with regard to classification, to which I 

 hive arrived are, first, that all forms separable on color or modi- 

 fication of a pattern of marking are, in fact, related. Whether 

 the intermediate forms have dropped out, or are yet produced by 

 any of the principal forms, is a matter which experience must 

 show and which decides as to whether we call them " species " or 

 not. While, in descriptive work, occasional errors are insepar- 

 able from the conditions under which it is performed, the syn- 

 onyms from this cause are in reality not many in the moths, so 

 far as I have found. Secondly, that generic characters must be, 

 in principle, dealt with in the same way as specific ones, the 

 limits of the genera depending on the want of intermediate forms, 

 the important point being that the combination of characters 

 which constitute the genus, shall be readily seizable by the stu- 

 dent. 



ON SOME NEW SPECIES OF ARCTIA, AND SUNDRY 



VARIATIONS. 



By B. Neumoegen. 



Arctia Excelsa, n. sp. 



Head whitish-yellow ; orbits of eyes black. Antennae black, 

 moderate and bi-serrate. Thorax whitish-yellow, with two pro- 

 thoracic black dots, and three large thoracic black stripes. Palpi 

 blackish, hairy, bright-red above, with a broad black dorsal line 

 and two black lateral lines, segmentarily serrated ; beneath black, 

 with yellowish lateral, segmentary maculations. 



Primaries black, inner margin partly narrowly edged with a 

 whitish-yellow line. Fringes yellowish ; markings cream yellow, 

 as follows: Abroad horizontal line between median and sub- 

 median nervures, starting from base and ending some distance 

 from exterior margin, crossing about three-quarters of the wing 

 in a straight line. Two transverse bands, divergent on the costa, 

 but nearing each other, nearly uniting and resting on the hori- 

 zontal line. Attached to the middle of anterior transverse band, 

 and covering space between the latter and exterior margin, an 

 irregular, triangular blotch, the broadest part of which is facing 

 the exterior margin. Secondaries black, with yellowish fringes 

 intermixed with black. A large, bright-red discal spot of irregular 

 shape. Beneath the markings are the same, only that the color 

 is not so intensely black as above. Expanse of wings, 36 mill. 

 Length of body, 1 1 mill. This is a most beautiful insect, follow- 

 ing closely A. Celia, Saund., and being intermediate between the 

 latter and A. Snowi, Gr. 



Habitat, North Carolina. Types coll. B.Neumoegen. 



