200 THIRTIETH REPORT ON THE STATE MUSEUM. [88] 



Mr. Strecker, to whom I communicated the MS. name of 

 this species, together with its distinctive features as observed 

 by me. expresses, in letter, his opinion that it may prove to 

 be but a form of scitisvripta, inasmuch as some of his ex 

 amples u show no thoracic band at all, not even traces of 

 it, and again, others (four examples $ ? ) have the usual 

 black marginal spots of the secondaries very distinct, so much 

 so as any scitiscripta I ever saw ; the veins on secondaries in 

 some are also dark, like scitiscripta&quot; 



Should this species be shown to vary to the above extent, it 

 would be an anomaly in the genus, for nothing approaching 

 so great variation has come under my observation in the 

 e#urse of my critical study of the several species. To the con 

 trary, I have found the species to be remarkably constant in 

 their ornamentation. 



I would not hesitate to refer examples so differently marked 

 as indicated by Mr. Strecker to distinct species, in the absence 

 of sufficient evidence of their identity. 



The above descriptions are published at the present time, in 

 advance of an extended paper on the species of CERURA 

 American and European which, as is known to many of my 

 correspondents, was commenced some time ago. It has been 

 delayed, from my inability to obtain a few species which it 

 seemed desirable to embrace in it, and from not having been 

 able to arrange for the satisfactory illustration of the paper. 



I avail myself of the present opportunity to express my 

 obligations to. my friends to Messrs. Bowles, Caulfield, 

 Grote, Hill, Hoy, Kuetzing, von Meske, Pearson, Riemann, 

 Rlley, Strecker and Tepper who have freely loaned me all 

 the examples contained in their collections, and have most 

 generously permitted me to retain them for an unusual 

 length of time. 



