109 



with P. Oregonia or Zolicaon, and knowing the penchant of the 

 learned doctor for simplyfying (?) matters entomological by lump- 

 ing somewhat similar forms under a single name. I can sympathize 

 with Mr. Edwards' dismay at the idea of the worthy Doctor 

 sitting down to revise the North American butterflies in this 

 fashion. Attention, however, may be daawn to the fact that Mr. 

 Edwards' opinions upon this subject have not always been the 

 same, for in Butterflies of North America, Vol. II., part 3, he 

 concludes his description of one of these forms, as follows: Zoli- 

 caon belongs to the AlacJiaon group,,' while in his recent article 

 he proves to a demonstration that ''Zolicaon has no present rela- 

 tions with the MacJiaon group, standing wholly apart from it "" 

 and belonging to the Asterias group. But my object in writing 

 is not to criticise either of these learned gentlemen, but to describe 

 what I suppose must be a rather remarkable specimen of Zolicaon 

 which I possess. This species is represented in my cabinet by 

 two specimens only, ^ and $ , which were received from Nevada. 

 The 6 is of the ordinary type, as figured and described by Mr. 

 Edwards, but the ? differs from the type in several particulars. 



1. It is very large. In But. N. A., Vol. II, part 9, Mr. 

 Edwards says that a ? expanding very nearly four inches is 

 unusual, while my specimen expands 4 1-12 inches. 



2. The secondaries above are black at base, more than a 

 third of the cell being of this color. 



3. The body has the lateral yellow bands broader than usual 

 and there are three yellow stripes beneath, separating the black 

 into four bands, as in Oregonia, only the black stripes are decidedly 

 broader than the yellow ones, and the two middle, black bands 

 are united for about half the length of the abdomen. 



The pupil in tiie ocellus is distinct, nearly round above, but 

 rather triangular below. The cell on primaries below is black, 

 with two yellow bars, the inner one dilated towards the median 

 nervure, and otherwise the specimen is normal. I suppose it may 

 be set down as a case of reversion. 



REPLY TO DR. HAGEN. 



By a. R. Grote. 



I. In answer to Dr. Hagen I will state that our copy of 

 Hubner's Exotic Schm. was bought by Dr. Herrich-Schaeffer 

 who, I understand, had the sale of the work. It is in three vol- 

 umes. Each volume has a little page upon which alone the 

 name of Hubner stands, if Geyer issued any of the plates there 

 is no evidence of it. The date on the title page is 1806, 1824, 

 therefore, I quoted it. There is no description of the species, 

 only some printed pages of names, as I recollect. Each butterfly 

 or moth is figured in two positions, or male and female. This 

 work is quoted for species by every lepidopterist I ever read. It 



