[123] NOTES ON SOME LEPIDOPTERA. 235 



themselves to really constitute a single species. I do not doubt 

 but that, from these, other species will eventually be separated, 

 and it is probable " that ample material has already been 

 accumulated for the purpose, in the two hundred or more 

 " tessellata forms" in my possession which are awaiting a 

 convenient time for their critical study. 



Agrotis perpolita Morr. 



From a cursory inspection of the female of this species, it 

 would probably be referred to A. seller ipennis, with which 

 it is compared in the original description. A closer examin- 

 ation, however, would disclose several points of difference, 

 the more prominent of which are the following : 



The head, wings and thorax are nearly black, having only 

 a brown reflection : in A. velleripennis, although described as 

 coal-black, they are of a dark brown shade in all the exam- 

 ples before me, some of which are quite fresh. 



The usual transverse lines in velvety-black, which are dis- 

 tinctly to be seen in A. velleripennis, are in this entirely 

 wanting. Its orbicular spot differs from the ordinary shape, 

 in that it is elongated in the direction of the cell, and, in two 

 of the three examples examined, pyriform in outline, having 

 the contracted portion directed toward the base of the wing : 

 in its elongation, it resembles that of A. clandestine but the 

 normal shape of the spot in that species is acutely ellipsoidal. 



The legs and spines, which in A. velleripennis are distinctly 

 annulated with pale scales, are much less conspicuously ringed 

 in this. 



The males of the two species from the contrast presented 

 in their secondaries are not liable to be confounded; those of 

 A. velleripennis being white, subhyaline, with a median line of 

 nervular spots, more or less distinct, and a very narrow ter- 

 minal bordering of brown, and in A. perpolita smoky brown, 

 with a broad darker border. There is also a marked differ- 

 ence in their antennal structure the serrations in the latter 

 species being not half so long or so strong as in the former. 



This species seems to be quite rare. The original specimen 

 was from Orono, Maine. It was unknown to Prof. Grote, 

 previous to his identification, from the published description, 

 of the examples from Mr. Hill's collection. Three examples 

 were taken by Mr. Hill at Center, N. Y., on August 16th, 30th 



