164 THIRTIETH REPORT ON THE STATE MUSEUM. [52] 



VI. ON SOMELEPIDOPTERA COMMON TO THE UNITED STATES 

 AND PATAGONIA. 



In the Bulletin de la Societe Impcriale des Naturalistes de 

 Moscou, for 1875 (Vol. 49, Pt. 2d, pp. 191-247), an interesting 

 paper is published by Prof. C. Berg, Director of the Museum 

 of Natural History of Buenos Ayres, on &quot;Patagonian Lepi- 

 doptera.&quot; It is based on collections made by the writer, 

 in Patagonia, during a short visit in the year 1874. The col- 

 lections were confined to the coast region, extending from the 

 Rio Negro to the Rio Santa Cruz, or between 41 and 50 degrees 

 of south latitude. The insect-fauna was found to be quite 

 limited, as might be expected from the scanty vegetation of 

 the coast. Could the interior country have been explored, it 

 would, no doubt, have yielded much more abundantly. 



Previous to this visit, but four or live species of Patagonian 

 Lepidoptera were known. Fifty-six species were collected by 

 Prof. Berg, at this time, of which twenty are described in his 

 paper as new to science. Of these fifty-six species, nineteen 

 were observed only in Patagonia, the others had also been 

 collected in the countries adjacent. The interesting statement 

 is made that Agrotls ypsilon, Heliothis armiger and Asopia 

 farinalls species of extensive distribution throughout 

 Europe and America were apparently confined to those sec 

 tions of the coast to which cultivation had extended, and, 

 therefore, it was inferred that they had, in all probability, 

 been introduced through commercial intercourse with other 

 countries. 



The collections were of the following groups : Of Rhopalo- 

 cera, 14 species. Of Heterocera Sphingidse 3 sp.; Bombycidse 

 5 sp. ; Noctuidffi 11 sp. ; G-eometridse 1 sp. ; Pyralidse 6 sp. ; 

 Chilonidae 1 sp. ; Phycidse 4 sp.; Tortricidse 1 sp. ; Tineidse 8 

 sp. ; PterophoridcB 1 sp. 



A special interest attaches to the record of the above collec 

 tion from the occurrence among them, in this remote region 

 of so large a number of species belonging to the United 

 States no less than seventeen species, or over thirty per 

 cent of the entire number. 



