Pomona Coi.lece Journal of Entomology 565 



powdery and diffuse and the longitudinal shadings are absent. The rather large, 

 white, round orbicular, with its small dark central spot, is characteristic and helps 

 to define the species; the secondaries are soiled whitish. 



The type locality is Folsoni, California, and my ex.'imple is dated May 7, 

 1885. It may be accounted rare. 



Acronycta noctivaga Grt. 



This is a comparatively small species, with stumpy primaries, the maculation 

 a contrasting mottled black and white. The orbicular is small, round, black- 

 ringed, with a blackish central dot: the reniform is large, blotchy, not sharply 

 defined. In general type of maculation it is not unlike liturata, but in all points 

 more contrasting and less diffuse. The secondaries are smoky, with a yellowish 

 tinge in both se.xes. The average expanse is about one and one-half inches or a 

 little less, and the larvae are somewhat general feeders on low bushes. 



I have no definite California locality for this species; but it has been recorded 

 from Portland, Oregon, and New Mexico, and is of general occurrence throughout 

 the Eastern and Central United States ; therefore Northern California is at least 

 not improbable. 



Acronycta perdita Grt. 



In this species the primaries are again more narrow and somewhat elongated, 

 with somewhat pointed apices and oblique outer margin. The ground color is a 

 dark blue gray and the maculation is black, diffuse, tending to become strigate. 

 There is a dusky shading from base to outer margin throughout the lower half of 

 wing, none of the transverse lines are completely marked, and the ordinary spots 

 tend to become obscure or to disappear — especially the orbicular. 



There is more difference than usual between the sexes: In the male the 

 secondaries are almost pure white, the primaries distinctly narrow and pointed, 

 the maculation diffuse throughout. In the female the secondaries are smoky 

 throughout, the primaries decidedly broader, apices less marked, and maculation 

 better defined. The females expand two inches or more; the males usually a 

 little less. The larvae is reported as feeding on alder, etc. 



Sierra Nevada is the only California locality, and from that point it extends 

 northward into British Columbia. I have it from Oregon and Washington as well; 

 but it seems nowhere common. 



Acronycta othello Sm. 

 Differs markedly in many respects from all the other Californian species. 

 The primaries are narrower and more pointed in both sexes, although broader 

 in the female than in the male. The median lines are very close together so that, 

 with the broad, diffuse median shade, the lower portion of median space is almost 

 continuously dark. The basal and terminal area are dark blue-gray without con- 

 spicuous maculation, and contrast oddly with the contracted median space. The 

 thoracic disk is uniformly blackish, and that shade extends over the collar and to 

 the front. In the male the secondaries are white, in the female they are smoky 

 with a blackish tinge. Expanse as in perdita. 



