NO. 1140. NORTH AMEBTCAN NOCTUIDAE— SMITH AND DYAR. 3 



Prof. J. H. Comstock kindly sent me all the material from the collec- 

 tions of Cornell University, and Dr. S. A. Forbes was equally liberal 

 with material from the University collection at Urbana, Illinois. Mr. 

 Beuteiimiiller, Curator of tlie Department of Insects in the American 

 Museum of Natural History, kindly secured for me needed specimens 

 from the Edwards collection and photof,rraphic reproductions of others. 

 Dr. Henry Skinner allowed me to take desirable specimens from the 

 collections of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia and 

 from that of the American Entomological Society, both of whicli are 

 in his charge, and to these and to all others who have otherwise 

 assisted me I offer sincere thanks. 



The material accumulated was by all odds the best and most abun- 

 dant ever gathered together in one place, and gave excellent opportuni- 

 ties for ascertaining the range of variation in the species. 



Of recent years Dr. H. G. Dyar has systematically and critically 

 studied the lepidopterous larvae, and proposed, in a pamphlet pub- 

 lished by Mr. A. R. Grote, a scheme for the division of Acronycta on 

 larval characters. I therefore asked Dr. Dyar to relieve me of the 

 task of dealing with the early stages in this genus. As he kindly con- 

 sented to do this, I turned over to him all the material and notes in 

 my hands, and he is solely responsible for all pertaining to the imma- 

 ture stages. We worked independently toward a general system, and 

 afterwards, comparing results, straightened out such slight discrepan- 

 cies as were due to the use of subordinate characters. Each author is, 

 therefore, solely responsible in his own branch; but the classification 

 of the species is in all senses a joint result and a natural arrangement 

 as based on adult as well as early stages. 



THE GENUS ACRONYCTA AND ITS ALLIES. 

 Ry John B. Smith. 



In the catalogues and lists of Noctuidae in general use, there is 

 placed at the head a small series of species with plump, robust form, 

 somewhat retracted head, and rather loose, divergent vestiture. This 

 group has been variously named and vaguely defined; but there has 

 never been any sharply marked character noted to differentiate it from 

 the other Noctuids, though the title of some forms, like Bemas, to be 

 termed Noctuids at all has been disputed. 



Following precedent, I arranged the series in my catalogue of 1893 

 as follows: Panthea, Demas, Raphia, Charadra, Feralia, Momophana, 

 Moma, Arsilonche, Merolonche, Acronycta, Harrisimemna, and the genera 

 allied to Bryophila. 



In 189tj, Mr, A. R. Grote' formed a "family" Apatelidae, for which no 

 tangible characters of the imagines are given, and which is based in a 

 vague way upon larval characters, of the genera Demas, Charadra, Pan- 



' Mitth. a, d. Roemer Mus., Hildesbeim, No. 3, 



