April, '06] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Ill 



on the same or lesser characters and are followed by Dr. Dyar. 

 Inconsistencies of this character are frequent in the family. 

 Dr. Dyar says there is a costal fold in Murgaria (Eudamus) 

 coyote Skinner and places it as a synonym of albociliata 

 Mabille. Godman and Salvin place one species, albociliata, in 

 Murgaria and say it does not have a costal fold. If we logic- 

 ally follow out the significance of this we have a single species 

 in two genera. This is by no means unusual in " up-to-date 

 genera" as we see the same thing in Bull. 52 U. S. N. M. 

 But as my knowledge of genera is only ' ' an opinionated at- 

 tempt to discredit them" I can't be expected to follow such 

 fine points of modern scientific classification. 



On page 114 there are seven genera with eleven species. 

 This comes pretty close to one apiece. Montivaga Reak. is 

 placed in the genus Pyrgus Hubner and syrichtus Fab. in the 

 genus Heliopetes Billberg. Dr. Dyar says syrichtus falls in 

 Heliopetes on the presence of a hair pencil on the hind tibiae. 

 This is most extraordinary, as syrichtus and montivaga are one 

 species. Hylephila phylceus and Polites coras Cram, (peckius 

 Kirby) certainly look lonely. It may be mentioned here that 

 thirty-five years ago Mr. Scudder erected many genera of the 

 Hesperidae without descriptions. They were only indicated 

 by specific types. There were about thirty in all. These have 

 been stumbling blocks and our Hesperid genera will be in a 

 chaotic condition until they are thoroughly studied. Dr. Dyar 

 has recognized practically all of them, and this has been the 

 cause of much confusion, as shown by his Revision. To one 

 knowing the species it can be said, without fear of contradic- 

 tion, that in the Pamphilinae the species in given genera are 

 more nearly related to species in other genera than they are to 

 each other. This would not be so bad if the genera would 

 hold irrespective of natural relationship. Catia has a single 

 species, ot/10, and Thymelicus twenty, and these twenty will 

 show greater variation in slight differences among themselves 

 than they do from the lonely segregated one. Those under 

 Erynnis show a sad mixture and would make five or six gen- 

 era of equal value to those used. For example compare leon- 

 ardus and vwrrisonii ; juba and metea. In Ochlodes compare 



