July 1S90.] 



PSYCHE. 



369 



teresting, as in all the related species a 

 lack of constancy in the venation is ob- 

 served. This species is very similar to 

 E. obsoleta^ but the wings are narrower 

 in proportion to the length. The other 

 differences are given under E. obsoleta. 



2. Epitheca obsoi.eta. 



Libelhila obsoleta Say Journ. acad. 

 nat. sci. Philad. 1839, ^^''' ^' ^- ^' •^^' 

 17 : Ed Lee. V. 2, 402. 



Didymops obsoleta Hagen Syn. Neur. 

 N. A. 1S61, 136, 2. 



Epitheca? obsoleta Selys Syn. Cor- 

 dul. 45, 25 — Hagen Proc. Bost. soc. 

 nat. hist., 1S73, v. 15, 269, 24. 



Nejirocordiilia obsoleta Selys 2d. 

 add. syn. Cordul., 1878, 28. 



Libellula polysticta Burm. Handb. 

 1839, v. 2, Ss6,SZ^ $■ ^ 



Cordulia? molest a Walsh Proc. ent. 

 soc. Philad. 1863, v. 2, 254, 9 . 



Male. Pale dull olive brown ; front 

 and vertex pale olive, brownish pilose, 



1 I have always used the names of the A- 

 merican entomologist, Thomas Say, though 

 I worked in Europe, and their priority over 

 those of H. Burmeister is by no means cer- 

 tain. Say's paper was read 12 July, 1836; it 

 was not published — I have never been able 

 to learn why — until 1839. In my opinion 

 the American entomologist can never lose 

 priority by the unaccounted for delay in the 

 publication of his paper. 



Mr. Edward Doubleday (Mag. nat. hist., 

 1839, "• ^- P- H^) says : " This paper [of 

 Say] was not published when I was in Cam- 

 bridge, Mass., in October, [1S3SJ but Dr. 

 Harris informed me that it would appear in 

 the forthcoming volume [v. 8J of the Journal 

 of the academy of natural sciences, of Phil- 

 adelphia. . . . Epping, Feb. 18, 1S39." 



strongly punctated, front excavated 

 above ; labrum yellow, labinm paler ; 

 antennae pale brown ; vertex convex 

 above, narrowed to tip, which is half as 

 broad as the base, nearly straight at the 

 tip ; occiput yellow, whitish pilose be- 

 hind ; behind the eyes yellow, some 

 brownish marks in the middle, but rath- 

 er small. Thorax pale olive brown, 

 densely brownish pilose ; dorsum with a 

 darker broad dorsal stripe, shading oft' 

 in the ground-color half way to the hu- 

 meral suture ; carina yellowish, sinus 

 brown ; a small yellow spot on each 

 side of the dorsal stripe anteriorly near 

 the prothorax ; sides with cuneiform yel- 

 low spots around the stigmata, reaching 

 to the bases of the legs. Abdomen long 

 inflated at the base, contracted on third 

 segment, gradually enlarged to tip, and 

 somewhat depressed (in bad condition) ; 

 more yellowish along the lateral bor- 

 der ; transverse sutures black ; articula- 

 tion membrane pale ; a round yellow 

 spot near the border of each side of the 



Say's paper was therefore not published 12 

 February, 1839, as Doubleday prints (1. c.) a 

 list of Say's entomological writings, by the 

 kindness of Dr. Harris, more complete than 

 any that has vet appeared. 



The exact date of publication of the month- 

 ly issues of the Journal from v. 2 to v. 6, p. 

 327 is given in the Proc. acad.. v.i, p. 57-59» 

 and concludes with the notice that " the re- 

 mainder of the Journal is published in half 

 volumes." Volume 8 has simply the date 

 1S39. At that date Burmeister's work was 

 certainly in print and was published direct- 

 ly ; but as I was in Norway and Sweden, I 

 did not see it until the fail, when in Altona, 

 at the house of Mr. Sommer, Burmeister's 

 father-in-law. Priority hunters here and in 

 Europe may do their work. 



