1S92.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 55 



of the other, and the cell is then said to be closed, as in the figure. 

 When this transverse veinlet is wanting, the cell is said to be 

 open. The median vein gives rise to four branches — the median 

 venules — the first of them usually some distance before the tip, 

 the others, grouped more or less closely, from the end. The 

 arrangement of these veins is of systematic value, and especially 

 the position of the last of the branches, marked 5 in the figure. 

 This sometimes severs connection with the series to which it 

 belongs and arises, apparently out of the cross- vein; or, where 

 there is no distinct cross-vein out of the tissue itself, and it is then 

 called the independent. Sometimes it is nearer to 6 than to 4, 

 but never becomes one of the subcostal series; sometimes it is 

 altogether wanting, and it is one of the most valuable from the 

 systematic standpoint of the venules of the primaries. 



Below the median vein at base is the submedian, extending par- 

 allel with the hinder or inner margin to the anal angle. It is 

 rarely absent, and never branches. It sometimes becomes forked 

 at the base, and this furcation is given great systematic value. 

 It is one of the distinctive characters of the Noctuidae, and its 

 absence would be sufficient in most cases to exclude a species not 

 so characterized; sometimes a supplementary vein will be present 

 running parallel with the submedian, and between it and the 

 median. This is the second submedian, and its presence charac- 

 terizes a small number of families. 



This makes the normal 12, or exceptional 13 veins of the pri- 

 mary. For convenience they are numbered as they reach the 

 margin, beginning at the anal angle. The submedian is number 

 I, the second submedian is la; veins 2 to 5, inclusive, are median 

 branches; veins 6 to 11, inclusive, are subcostal branches, and 

 vein 12 is the costal. The numbers are more convenient to use 

 in descriptive work, and, as the plan is so uniform, it is quite as 

 accurate and scientific. 



Beginning at the base of secondaries, along the anterior margin 

 we find first the costal vein, usually reaching quite close to the 

 tip of the wing. This affords good characters. Sometimes it is 

 entirely wanting; sometimes it is connected with the subcostal by 

 a cross- vein; sometimes it does not reach the base at all, but 

 unites with the subcostal, and sometimes it unites and separates 

 again, forming a small cell at the base as in the figure. 



