18 CATOCALA A'IDUATA. 



Secondaries have marginal band very broad, mesial moderate and strongly angulate, white 

 space between the two bands, very narrow. 



A southern species allhough taken in a few rare instances in Pennsylvania. Examples 

 arc in the Mus. of the Am. Ent. Soc. and my own. The most robust and with the exception 

 of the Californian C. Marmorata, the largest American Catocala. With this species has 

 frequently been confounded C Dcsperata Guen. a smaller and slighter built insect, common 

 throughout the Middle and Southern States and which is figured in Abbot & Smith, under 

 the name of Phalaeno Vidua. 



CATOCALxi LACHRYMOSA. guenek. 



SPEC. GEX. VOL. VII p. 03. 



(PLATE III,. FIG. 3 ^) 



Expands 3 inches. 

 Upper surface, primaries \ery dark and dusted with minute pale grey scales, transverse 

 lines black, sub-terminal distinct and sometimes shaded interiorly with grey ; the grey shad- 

 ings of the transverse lines are broader and brio-hter between the sub-median vein and interior 

 margin ; whole surface of wings frosted and powdered in such a way as to make the markings 

 very indistinct. 



Secondaries black, fringes white, divided by black at tei-minations of ncrvulcs. 



Under sui-facc much like C. Viduata. 



Habitat. Pennsylvania. 



I have not seen examples from any other state ; it appears to be exceedingly local ; two 

 years since a dozen or so were taken in a small piece of woods, four miles from Reading, but 

 in none of the neighboring localities have I ever met with it. It is subject to much variation ; 

 of six examples now before me, none agree in the depth or quantity of the dark color of pri- 

 maries; the one figured on Plate III has the black, sub-terminal line, margined with grey of 

 unusual brightness, whilst in another there is no accompanying grey at all; yet another has 

 the third of the wing along the interior margin deep black, like in C. Tristis, and the most 

 notable var. is one in whicli the whole space between the transverse anterior and sub- 

 terminal lines is black, whilst the space from sub-marginal line to exterior margin is remark- 

 ably light and even colored, exactly after the manner of C. Scintillans ; these were all taken 

 the same day in one place. 



I must confess I can see in this species none of the resemblance to C. Epione alluded to 

 by Mr. Grote,* more than that they both have black inferiors ; under side of Lachrymosa is 

 white, Avith usual black bands; that of Epione is black, with, on primaries, a narrow white 

 sub-terminal band, midway between which and the base is a small white jjatch commencing on 

 costa and running diagonally to middle of wing; secondaries have the merest trace of a very 

 narrow, almost obsolete white band running from costa a short way in. 



" Trans. \m. Eiil. Soc, ^'ul. IV, pp. 2 & 19. 



