2 NOCTURNAL LEPIDOPTERA FOUND IN CANADA. 
published of them is a Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North 
America, by the Rev. Dr. Morris of Baltimore, containing the Rhopa- 
locera, and the first two groups (Sphingina and Bombycina) of the 
Heterocera. This volume has conferred a great boon upon Entomo- 
togists in general, and especially upon those who are only beginners in 
the pursuit, inasmuch as it contains descriptions collected from up- 
wards of fifty different works, many of them rare and expensive, and 
most of them not be met with in this country. As this Synopsis can 
so easily be obtained, it will be unnecessary to publish in the Journal 
any descriptions that have already appeared in it. Of the remaining 
groups, however,—at least of the Canadian species of them,—very 
little is known ; it has occurred to me, therefore, that descriptions of, 
at all events, the common and more conspicuous ones would assist 
many in determining some of their specimens, and, at the same time, 
be a small contribution to Prof. Hinck’s very commendable object— 
the formation of a ‘‘ Fauna Canadensis.” 
Nocrvuina, Staint. 
To this group belong the great majority of our night-flying moths, 
though some few genera are to be met with even in the full glare of 
noon-day. They may be recognized in their perfect state by the fol- 
towing characters :— 
Body generally stout. Antenne longer than the thorax, tapering 
from the base to the tip, filiform, ciliated, or pubescent, more or less 
‘bent or twisted, never terminating in a hook; those of the female 
nearly always simple. Palpi well developed, generally projec ting be- 
yond the head. Abdomen almost always extending beyond the hind 
wings. Legs of variable length, but generally long, especially the 
posterior pair, which are always longer than the preceding ones; hind 
tibize usually with four long spines. Wings moderately broad, rarely 
narrow or very broad, never elevated in repose, or rolled about the 
body ; fore wings straight in front, rounded or angular at the tips, 
oblique on the exterior border; almost always marked with three, 
sometimes with four, transverse lines, and two spots: the hind wings 
are more or less folded, and generally covered by the fore wings when 
in repose. 
A full explanation is given in Morris’ Synopsis, alluded to above, of 
the neuration, ordinary markings, etc., of the wings, and the terms 
used in describing them ; it need only be mentioned here therefore, to 
save the trouble of reference, that the transverse lines on the fore 
