12 PACKARD, NOTES ON THE 



placing it between the Noctuidae and Phalaenidae. He is 

 aided by a fortunate discovery in arriving at the proper location 

 of Castnia. Among some plants received from Kingston, Ja- 

 maica, was a species of Catasetum, from the bulbs of which 

 hatched the perfect Castnia, proving that the habits of the larva 

 is lignivorus like the Sesiae, j^Egeriadae and Cossus and Hepi- 

 alus. In nearly his own words, the burrowing habits of Cast- 

 nia, the larva of which forms no silken cocoon, are like Sesia, 

 but the imago differs, and as Dalman observes is nearer 

 Zygaena, whence he concludes that " they seem much more like 

 the beginning of the Spinners (Bombycidae) and through Glau- 

 copis and a succession of other genera form the passage to 

 Ochsenheimers Euprepia, the genera Arctia, Chelonia, Callimor- 

 pha, etc."* 



This is indeed bringing order out of confusion. He then 

 proceeds to remark that Castnia and its Australian representa- 

 tive Synemon, which probably has similar habits, belongs to a 

 group of borers, at the head of which stands the "Sesien," 

 (JEgeriadae) then Thyris, Chimera, Stygia, Eudagria, and 

 farther on Cossus, Zeuzera, Hepialus and Crino, to end with 

 Castnia. He speaks, from want of material, with some doubt 

 of the affinities of Olketicus to this group of borers, but consid- 

 ers that this genus may easily lead to Zygsena. 



Dr. Herrich-Schaefferf proposes a different arrangement of 

 the family under consideration ; while placing the Castniaria 

 H-S next to the butterflies, he follows with the Epialoidea 

 H-S (Hepiali Linn.), next with the Sesioidas H-S (JEgeri- 

 adae) ; then come the Pyromorphina H-S a group made for 

 Pyromorpfia dimidiata H-S and another genus Chrysopygus 

 H-S. which leads to ZygcBnoidce H-S. He then strangly 

 interposes the Sphingidae, Bombycidae, Phalaenidae (Geome- 

 tridae) and Noctuidae between the groups of Zygaenidae 

 above named, and the rest (Agarista and allies, Syntomis and 

 ^Egocera) of the family. Under the names of Aganalda and 

 Agaristoidea, which groups he makes the equivalent of the 

 Arctioidea, and the other groups of moths enumerated above, 

 he places the genera Aganais, Agarista and ^Egocera Latreille. 

 He interposes between these two groups, a sub-family of the 



*Loc. cit. p. 255. 



tSammlung neuer oder wenigbekannteraussereuropaisher Schmetterlinge. 

 Regensburg, 1850-58, 



