NO.1U0. NORTH AMERICAN NOCTUIDAE— SMITH AND DYAR. 15 



Ground color whitish gray, sparsely powdered, with the transverse lines hroad 



and somewhat diffuse .' portlandia. 



Ordinary sjjots both present. 



Ground color whitish, the transverse shades very diffuse, and partially united. 



acronyctoides. 



PANTHEA FURCILLA Packard. 



(Plates VIII, fig. 37, larva; IX, fig. 1, adult female; XIX, fig. 2, male genitalia.) 



riaiycerura furcUla Packard, Proc. Ent. See. Phila., III. 1864, p. 374.— Stretch, 

 Zyg. & Bomb., 1873, p. 230, pi. ix, fig. 1.5.— Grote, Bull. Geol. Surv., VI, 

 1881, pp. 258, 277. 



Panthea furcilla Smith, List Lepidoptera, 1891, p. 34. 



Ground color very pale gray, more or less black powdered, changing 

 the appearance of the insects considerably, as it is light or heavy; 

 sometimes with a vague rufous tinge. Collar witli a vague central 

 banding; thorax with two or three somewhat undefined dusky trans- 

 verse bands. Antennae yellowish in the males. 



Primaries with the transverse bandings black, heavy, quite even, 

 except for the subterminal line. Basal half line distinct and reaching 

 the submedian vein. Transverse anterior line a little irregular, but as 

 a whole outwardly oblique and very even. Median shade line broad, 

 even, almost upright, and touching the transverse posterior line in the 

 submedian interspace. Transverse posterior line a little oblique from 

 the costa to vein 4, and then with a broad, even incurve to the inner 

 margin. In paler specimens a whitish shade marks this line exteriorly. 

 Subterminal line very irregular and sharply dentate, with a deep 

 incurve between veins 4 and 6, sharp teeth on veins 3 and 4, and 

 another deep incurve between veins 1 and 3. The line is most heavily 

 black shaded toward the apex and becomes much less evident toward 

 the inner margin. The line is followed by a more or less evident white 

 shade, and there is sometimes a broken, dusky terminal line. The 

 ordinary sjiots are entirely wanting. Secondaries whitish, smoky at 

 base, with a vague, smoky exterior band and with a smoky discal 

 lunule. There is also a broken dusky line at the base of the pale 

 fringes. Beneath grayish powdery, disk of i)rimaries darker, with the 

 bands of the upper side indicated, and the subterminal line very 

 sharply defined. Secondaries whitish, with two transverse dusky 

 bands and a dusky discal spot. 



Expanse, 1.35 to 2 inches (34 to 50 mm.). 



Habitat. — Canada; Kittery Point, Maine, July 3 to August 14; 

 Sharon Springs, New York, August 8; Albany, New York, July ; " New 

 York," in June; Minnesota, July; Florida. 



There is considerable variation in this species, due to the irregularity 

 of the black powdering. In some cases the shading is very even, leav- 

 ing the black bands prominently relieved, while in others there is a 

 real marbling and the lines are narrower, white-shaded, and more 



