126 MEMOIRS OF THE NATIO^^AL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



of tlie fomtli liiii'i. This mark is bent inwanl in ilii- iiiidillc, and thus forms a rounded loop 

 (sometimes iiu anyle), which is directed outward, behind the costal edi;e, and becomes indistinct 

 between the foiyth aiid fifth branches of the subcostal vein. 



That this speckles (Fitch's van) is Walker's /. apicdli.s is not to be doubted, sintx' I now have 

 an excellent colored drawing of Walker's type in the IJritish ^luseuni which leaves no doubt as 

 to its specific relations, ha\ing the markings and hue of normal cau from Maine. His type was 

 collected by Dr. Barnston. 



This species is very variable, and what, with my present material, seem to constitute its 

 varieties 1 will endeavor to point out, j)remisin.u that my views are subject to future correction 

 after we have much fuller collections of the moths and after we know more of their transformations. 

 Meanwhile it is to be ho])ed that there will not be a further mnltiplicatiou of nominal species in a 

 genus already so burdened with synonyms. 



Walker's Ivhthi/iira (tpicdii.i' is the same as I. van, as 1 judge from an excellent colored figure 

 (IM. N'll, fig. 4) made for me l)y I\Ir. II. Knight from Walker's type, but it is impossible to determine 

 from his brief description, as he does not say whether tlie alblda iiutvitlnque costali is oblitpieor not. 

 ]Mr. Dyar has also come to the same conclusion from a pen-and-ink sketch of the type received 

 from Mr. Butler. In Barnston's MS. description, quoted by Walker, the larva is described as 

 "brown, thick, with l(i feet, and with a band on part of the back;" '• feeds on the poi)lar leaf" This 

 description will apply better to van than to any other species known to me, as I have reared vau 

 from the poplar, and the larva is brown, short, though not with '■ a band on i)art of the back." 



After examination of my type of I. indeutata in the Harris collection, I find it agrees with 

 Fitch's description of van. 



I regard /. vrnata (i. &, 11. as only a climatic variety of Fitch's van, and a specimen of /. 

 ■oriiata G. & 11., so labeled by Mr. Edwards, is also labeled '•'■ incarcerata Boisd. ;"and on comparing 

 Boisduval's description of inrarvcraia with specimens of ornaia^ from Calift)rnia, Truckee Valley, 

 Eeuo, Xev., and Colorado, I do not see any specific differences. 



/. incarcerata (T. ornata), PI. II, figs. 4-7: While these represent snuill individuals, many are 

 larger, and it is a larger and generally i)aler form than I. apicaUs (vatc) of tlie Eastern States, and 

 1 think it is sinqdy a climatic variety of tlie Eastern form. One S and a 9 in the Edwards 

 collection are as dark as the typical Eastern van, and tiie pale form may l)e a seasonal variety. 

 Indeed, Mr. Beutenmiiller informs me that in I. apicalis {v>ii(), which he has reared, this i)ale form 

 is the summer brood, the dark indi\iduals belonging to the winter brood. 



One 9 from Truckee and a small S from Sierra i!fevada, California, are very pale (expanse of 

 wings, 33 mm.). Also from Alameda County, Cal. (U. S. Nat. Mus.). 



A large, well-preserved, fresh specimen from Lincoln, Nebr. (U. S. Nat. Mus.), collected May 21 

 by Prof. L. Bruner, is unusually pale, having a faded-out look, and is evidently a form (astorup 

 Edw.) of vav. incarcerata [ornata), being like one of that variety (a 9 ) from Colorado, but differing 

 in having no reddish brown shade on it. (See PI. VII, fig. 3.) This form, subvar. asforiw, has 

 also been reared by "Sir. Dyar from eggs sent him from INIiles City, Mont., and whose larval stages 

 I have described beyond, my pupa- not liaving disclosed any moths. Although the rainfall at 

 Astoria, Oreg., is very heavy (SO inches annually) and the clinmte humid, yet the Astoria specimen 

 in the Edwards collection is no darker than those from .Montana and from Kansas. This is 

 somewhat unexpected and remains to be explained, unless it be disccn ered that there is a dark 

 winter brood. 



The young larva was found feeding on tlie as])en at Brunswick, Me., and molted August 

 10-12, when it became 10 mm. in length. 



Young larva in third stage. — Length, 10. mm. Head black. The body is on the sides and at 

 the end livid dark brown. The warts and humps on the first thoracic and first and eighth 



' Walker (Cat. Lep. Hct. British Museum, v, 105S) tlms refers to ii moth wliiph lio describes as Ichthi/iira apkalio: 

 Mas. Ciiierea; caimt iiigro-f'nsciim; i'roiis (^t jialpi siibtus alliida; anteiiiiir cau;i^ ramis ciuereis; thorax vitta 



(lorsali uigro-fusca; ahu antica' fnsco-ciiicre;r, liiiea nmlulosa alliida iiiac'i.!a(|m' <-<)stali rufo-fusca; postica^ cinereso; 



subtus albidit fascia gracili discali uudiilosa i'usccscciitc. 



"Larva brown, thick, with 1(1 fuet, and with a l)aiid on ))art of tlio back; feeds ou the pophir loaf, which it 



draws together with silk. Cocoon slight and white. The moth appears in .Inne." — Harnston MSS. 

 a, 6.— St. Martin's Falls, All)any Kivir, Hudson Ikiy. Presented by Hr. fSarnstou. 



