502 



PSYCHE. 



[August 1S93. 



miiller had not seen it in the Henry 

 Edwards collections, now fortunately in 

 the possession of the American Museum 

 of Natural History at Central Park, 

 New York. I had described the form 

 as Cernridia slossoniae, regarding it 

 as the type of a new genus, allied to but 

 distinct from Gluphisia, owing to the 

 notable differences in the venation, as 

 well as the presence of a dorsal tuft, 

 and other characters given below. After 

 sending my description for publication 

 Mr. Dyar wrote me that he had seen the 

 specimen with my name on it in Mrs. 

 Slosson's collection, and that it seemed 

 to him to be a dark 2 of Gluphisia avi- 

 macula Hudson, adding that Mr. Neu- 

 mogen's " Melia danbyi" is referable 

 to the same genus, but his name 

 "Melia" is preoccupied. Mr. Dyar 

 then rather hastily and with over zeal 

 published my name. Since then I have 

 re-examined Edward's type of G. sev- 

 era, and have received from Mr. Dyar a 

 specimen of G. lintneri. Mr. Dyar 

 also wrote me as his opinion that the 

 species of Ceruridia or Melia (Eumelia) 

 are not generically different from Glu- 

 phisia, as he has collected G. severa 

 in the Yosemite Valley, Cal. 



As the result of my studies, es- 

 pecially of the venation, I am inclined 

 to divide the genus Gluphisia into two 

 sections and to believe that in the forms 

 mentioned below we have a number of 

 climatic or temperature varieties of a 

 species allied to G. lintneri (origi- 

 nally referred to Dasychira by Grote), 

 and which is common to both the 

 Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The syn- 



nonomy may then eventually prove to 

 be somewhat as follows : — 



Gluphisia wrightii H. Edwards, Ent. 

 Amer. ii, 11. April, 1SS6. 



Gluphisia severa H. Edwards, Ent. Amer. 

 ii, 167. Dec. 1886. 



Melia danbyi Neum. Can. Ent. xxiv, 225, 

 1892. 



Eumelia danbyi Neum. Can. Ent. xxv, 25, 

 1892. 



Gluphisia avitnacula Hudson, Ent. News. 

 ii, No. 8, 155. Oct. 1S91. 



Of all these forms the variety slos- 

 soniae is the most remarkable, from its 

 very dark markings, and deserves to 

 receive a distinct name. That these 

 forms may be the result of climatic 

 causes, acting on the insect in its pupal 

 state, seems pretty well established from 

 the remarkable results obtained not only 

 by Weismannand W. H. Edwards, but 

 also the more detailed experiments 

 made by Mr. F. Merrifield and pub- 

 lished with elaborate plates in the 

 Transactions of the entomological soci- 

 ety of London for 1S91 (p. 155) and 

 l %9 2 > 33. (xxxvi). 



In comparing G. slossouiae with 

 Hudson's description of avimacula, it 

 seems most probable that it is a melan- 

 otic form, due to the colder and damper 

 situation of Franconia, N. H., which 

 is about 1400 feet above the sea. In 

 slossoniae the thorax is lighter, the pale 

 ochreous basal and discal spots of avi- 

 macula are whitish gray in slossoniae, 

 and the basal and middle lines of the 

 median band are swamped by the 

 broad black-brown band of slossoniae ; 

 the hind wings of slossoniae agree with 

 Hudson's description of avimacula. 



