CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD A MONOGRAPH OF THE 

 LEPIDOPTEROUS FAMILY NOCTUIDAE OF BOREAL 

 NORTH AMERICA. 



A REVISION OF THE SPECIES OF ACRONYCTA (OCHSENHEIMER) AND 

 OF CERTAIN ALLIED GENERA. 



By John B. Smith, Sc. D., 



Rutgers College, New Brunstvick, New Jersey, 

 and 



Harrison G. Dyar, Ph. D., 



Honorary Custodian of Lepidoptera, U. S. National Museum. 



INTRODUCTION. 

 By John B. Smith. 



In 1883 I was employed by Dr. C. V. Riley, then Entomologist to the 

 U. S. Department of Agricnlture, as a special agent of his Division, 

 and, in addition to the economic work assigned to me, it was planned 

 that I should devote as much time as possible to the study of the lepi- 

 dopterous family Noctuidae, or " Owlet Moths." Dr. Riley had bred 

 many of the species from larvae which, under their common appellation 

 of "cutworms,'' are well-known pests to agriculture, and it was his 

 desire that we should cooperate in the production of a systematic work 

 in which the early stages were, in the main, to be his especial share. 

 My own task was solely with the adult stages, and in certain genera 

 all the work was to be done by Dr. Riley. In pursuance of this plan a 

 great amount of material was accumulated and much manuscript was 

 prepared. 



In 1885 I became Assistant Curator in the U. S. National Museum, 

 Dr. Riley occupying at the time the place of Honorary Curator. It 

 was then intended that our joint work on the Noctuidae should be con- 

 tinued; but it soon became evident that we could not at that time 

 secure the publication of such a work as was planned, and it was aban- 

 doned, A great deal of additional material had been received since the 

 work was started, and I began to publish such parts as had been pre- 

 pared, after reviewing each group and bringing it up to the date of 

 publication. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXI— No. 1 140. 

 Proc. N. M. vol. xxi 1 1 



