NOETH AMERICAN NOCTUIDAE— SMITH AND DTAR. 67 



well as the darkest and most simply marked. There is absolutely 

 nothing to compare with the unique, geminate, transverse anterior line, 

 which will serve to characterize the species. The harpes are almost 

 ovate, at least half as broad as long, and the clasper is stout and well 

 curved. The anterior leg is also well developed for an insect of this 

 size, but rather in the tibia and tarsi than in the femur. The epiphysis 

 is, as usual, attached to tbe middle and extends to the tip. The head is 

 larger in proportion to the size of the insect than is usual in this genus; 

 but the palpi, on the other hand, are very short, scarcely even reaching 

 beyond the edge of the front. The latter is a little convex, but scarcely 

 bulging. 



Group LOBELiAE. 



The most obvious superficial characters of this group are the usually 

 prominent psi or dagger marks, and the moderate i^rimaries in which 

 the inner margin is not much shorter than the costa. The outer margin 

 is quite evenly arcuate, only a little oblique, and the apex is rectangu- 

 lar, or even a little rounded. The costa is rather evenly arched and 

 does not form a shoulder, so the wing seems trigonate rather than snb- 

 equal. Yet the group as defined above is not a strictly natural one, 

 and it has been impossible to so arrange the species in tabular form as 

 to show relationships. On the other hand, while the sexual structures 

 of the male serve to mark two very distinct subgroups, there are off- 

 shoots tliat confuse. The best-developed type may be considered that 

 found in hasta, furcifera, and laetifiea, in which the lateral clasper is 

 separated from the harpes, is broad, scoop shaped, and has a long, 

 finger-like projection superiorly. Roughly, the structure may be com- 

 Xmred to a hand from which thumb and all save the index finger have 

 been removed, the palm being a little doubled up. To this structure is 

 added, in lobeliae and several allied forms, a finger-like process which 

 arises superiorly, as if to the structure above described the thumb had 

 been added and extended at right angles to the palm. The size and 

 form of this upi)er process varies, and sometimes the palm or scoop adds 

 an inferior process, as if part of the little finger had been also restored. 

 This we find illustrated in primi. In hrumosa [subochrea) we find a 

 break in a new direction. The thumb or upper i)rocess becomes longer 

 and more slender, the palm becomes more flattened, and the upper 

 process is beak-like. It is an obvious member of the lobeliae type, but 

 it introduces the structures which become fully developed in the per- 

 snasa group. 



With Uthospila begins another break. The palm becomes reduced in 

 size, the upper margin bends over, the finger process thus becomes 

 somewhat beak-like, while the thumb becomes more slender. In tritona 

 the process is continued, and we get a structure that consists of a long, 

 excavated, tapering i)rocess, with a slender finger-like structure from 

 its superior margin. Dropping this superior finger-like structure, we 

 get vinnula, but if we reduce it in size and make the process itself 



