NO. 1140. NORTH AMERICAN NOCTUIDAE— SMITH AND DTAR. 133 



Alharufa is the inevitable oddity, resembling, except for wing form, 

 the fjrisea series iii the loheliae group. It is blue-gray in color, much 

 as in falcula and imrallela, and it is only by a little stretch of the 

 imagination that the vestiture can be said to be roughened or elevated 

 on the lines of ornamentation. The basal dash joins the transverse 

 anterior line, which here bends inwardly, and thus there is an outcurve 

 toward the costa and anotlier toward the inner margin from this dash. 

 The large reniform is centered by a reddish shade, which is character- 

 istic, and seems to give a tint to the entire wing. 



All the other species are of some shade of ashen gray or yellowish 

 and none other has the reddish shade in the reniform. 



Ovata is separated from all the others by having the basal dash and 

 transverse anterior line exactly as in albarufa, that is, the prominent, 

 inferiorly diffuse dash meets the transverse anterior line at an incurve 

 and it darkens both the outcurves of the line for a short distance. In 

 ground color the primaries are a pale ash-gray, with a yellowish tint, 

 which is intensified in the large reniform. The psi mark opposite the 

 anal angle is always present, usually distinct and sometimes prominent. 

 The black mark opposite the cell is marked in all ray specimens either 

 by a distinct line, a short dash from the outer margin, or a more diffuse 

 shading. 



Modica is similar in color, but smaller. The basal dash is a fine line; 

 the transverse anterior line is complete, geminate, evenly oblique, or 

 with but the merest central incurve. The psi marks are as in ovata^ 

 but much less distinct. On the whole the species is a feeble copy of 

 the preceding on a smaller scale. 



Claresceus^ or, as it is better known, haesitata, is the largest species of 

 the group and of an even, pale ash gray, on which all the markings are 

 well defined, though not prominent. The transverse anterior line is 

 distinctly geminate and evenly oblique, while the ba-al streak is rarely 

 well marked and may be entirely absent. The dagger mark opposite 

 the anal angle is usually distinct, slender, and black, and is more or less 

 evident in nearly every instance. The dash opposite the cell may be 

 marked on the outer margin, but it is not complete in any specimen 

 seen by me. 



Hamamelis is very dark ashen gray with a smoky suffusion. In dark 

 specimens the markings do not contrast, but when the ground color 

 becomes paler the lines are relieved and the wings s'^em more or less 

 banded. There is no evident dagger mark opposite the anal angle, and 

 this, with the ground color, will suffice to distinguish it from the pre- 

 ceding form. 



Increta is a much smaller and decidedly darker species, in which all 

 the maculation of hamamelis is reproduced. The primaries are propor- 

 tionately narrower and more subequal, and this, with the very dark 

 colors, sometimes inclining a little to olivaceous, will make the species 

 recognizable. 



Retardata averages yet smaller, but is a very pale, whitish gray, 



