PREFACE 



The work which follows is intended primarily to make easier the 

 recognition of the Lepidoptera of the State of New York, and to assem- 

 ble so far as possible the known data on their life histories, whether 

 published or in the form of notes associated with the various collec- 

 tions. The work is, in a sense, a compilation, but largely of matter 

 never before published. The keys, in particular, are for the most part 

 a new venture, since for many groups of American Lepidoptera none 

 have ever before been worked out ; even the published keys to European 

 forms are in need of revision. I cannot hope that my keys are per- 

 fect, but rather that, as a contribution in a new field, they may serve 

 as a basis on which to build in the search for further knowledge. 



The present contribution includes about half the more primitive 

 half of the Lepidoptera. I have accumulated some data on the 

 remainder, but it may be long before my notes are ready to publish. 



My indebtedness is so general as to make a detailed acknowledgment 

 impossible. Every one I have approached, has helped me, and this 

 means almost every Lepidopterist and the authorities of every con- 

 siderable museum in the eastern United States. My first and greatest 

 debt has been to the late Dr. John B. Smith, who, at Rutgers, encour- 

 aged me to begin such a piece of work, and gave me a great deal of 

 valuable counsel. The signed contributions of Dr. Annette F. Braun 

 and that of Mr. Carl Heinrich speak for themselves. No one else 

 could have worked up the Nepticulidse, the Coleophoridse, and 

 Lithocolletis. I have also been in almost continual consultation with 

 them concerning many other groups where their names do not appear. 

 I have consulted Mr. August Busck on every single group of the 

 Tineids, and in most cases have followed his advice. I made the 

 final draft of this memoir and prepared the drawings in the laboratories 

 of Cornell University in 1919. I have incorporated a considerable part 

 of the data published since that date, and have completely rewritten 

 the section dealing with the Olethreutinse and the Pterophoridae ; but 

 it has not been possible to make the additions complete, nor to verify 

 the New York records and adjust them to the new work. In the most 

 important cases these have been noted in the text. 



WILLIAM T. M. FORBES 

 Ithaca, New York 

 June, 1923. 



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