304 



PSYCHE. 



[February, 1902 



A NOTE ON THE SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF 



OMOPHRON. 



BY ROLAND HAYWARD, BOSTON, MASS. 



While recently engaged in studying 

 some specimens of Omophro7i ameri- 

 canum, my attention was attracted to 

 the fact that in the males of this species 

 the second joint of the middle tarsi is 

 very distinctly dilated. The fact being 

 new to me I was led to examine our 

 other species in order to ascertain 

 whether or not the character was com- 

 mon to all those occurring within our 

 faunal limits. As a result I find that 

 the North American species may be 

 divided into two groups based uppn this 

 character. In the first the seGond joint 

 of the middle tarsi is dilated ; in the 

 second it is simple as in the female. 

 To the first may be referred the majority 

 of our species, i. e. : lahiatum, nitidum, 

 obliieratH7n, deHtatuin, ameriainum, tcsscl- 

 latiim, and ovale, while but two of those 



that I have been able to study, i. e. : 

 gila and robustiim, are referable to the 

 second, Casey's species, concinniim, 

 solidiim, and gemma are unknown to me 

 in nature. 



The extent of dilation varies some- 

 what in the different species, being most 

 marked in nitidum and apparently fee- 

 blest in tessellatum. 



I have searched the books in vain for 

 any mention of this character. All 

 agree in stating that the first two joints 

 of the anterior tarsi are dilated in the 

 males, but I can find no reference to the 

 middle tarsi of that sex differing from 

 those of the female. It is not uncom- 

 mon for this character to occur in certain 

 groups of the subfamily Harpalina, but 

 I am not aware of its existence elsewhere 

 in the Carabince. 



A PRELIMINARY SKETCH OF THE SPHINGICAMPIDAE, A NEW 



GROUP OF PROTOSPHINGINE LEPIDOPTERA, WITH ITS 



SUBDIVISIONS. — L 



BY A. S. PACKARD, PROVIDENCE, R. I. 



After prolonged studies on a number 

 of e:enera heretofore associated with the 

 Saturniidae, I have come to the conclu- 

 sion, as indicated in Psyche, Dec, 

 1901, p. 279, that they should be re- 



moved from that family and placed in a 

 new family, or superfamily, group, which 

 we may designate Sphingicatnpidae, from 

 the most ancestral and typical genus, 

 Sphingicampa. I should prefer to give 



