AMERICAN LEPIDOPTERA. 117 



ARCTIA. Srhrank. 

 Arctia nais, Il'ubner ( 9 B^mhi/.v nais Drury ; % Arctia phahrata, Harris.). 



Those Authors who have distinguished the Arctia phalerata of Har- 

 ris from Drury's Bnmhj/x nais^ have overlooked the fact that tlie for- 

 mer is the true male of the latter, and have regarded the sexual as a 

 specific distinction. Hiibner committed then no error in his represen- 

 tation of the male A. nais (Zutraege Dritt. Ilund, fig. 599 — GOO) al- 

 though, as stated by Dr. Packard with an opposite conclusion, he "fig- 

 ures what is unmistakeabiy xi. phalrraf.a Harris" (Syn. U. S. Bom- 

 byc. Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil. p. 177, 18(31.). 



Drury's figure (Vol. l,pl. vii, fig. 3) represents a female with yellow 

 secondaries which may be considered the typical form, though appar- 

 ently more rarely occurring than the female with crimson hind wings. 

 This latter may be known as Arctia nais, var. decorata Saunders. It 

 is the Arctia decorata of Mr. Saunders and is also described by Mr. 

 Walker under the names of Apantesis radians and Aha colorata. I 

 have seen the specimen in the British Museum under the former name. 

 It is immature, the secondaries dwarfed, and this accidental peculiarity 

 is erroneously regarded by Mr. Walker as normally structural and 

 furnishes the principal character on which he found his genus Apan- 

 tesis. Under these circumstances the name proposed by Mr. Saunders 

 may be retained for the variety, although later in date of publication, 

 having on the other hand precedence by priority over Mr. Walker's 

 Aloa colorata. 



The male A. nais has the secondaries usually yellow but sometimes 

 tinged with rose color. In either sex the markings of the upper sur- 

 face of the primaries are variable. This is especially noticeable in the 

 feinale, in which sex the yellow bands and stripes are more or less ob- 

 solete, sometimes leaving the wings entirely velvety black with a sin- 

 gle abbreviated stripe along the median nervure. 



What seems to be a variety of the male occurs in which the mark- 

 ings of the primaries are very broad and distinct. 

 Arctia complicata, Walker. 



This species differs from A. dahurica by its j)aler yellow color. On 

 the upper surface of the primaries, the transverse band is obsolete. Un- 

 like its ally, the K-shaped stripes are not obsolete on cell 3. The sec- 

 ondaries are more entirely black ; these show pale yellow patches, 

 smaller, differently shaped and more irregular than in A. dahurica. 

 There are black scales on the vertex and two superlateral black spots 

 on the yellow "collar". The thoracic disc is black, edged with yellow 

 lateral scales. 



