GROTE ON NOCTUIDS. 173 



the rest of the wing. Head and thorax dark brown ; collar with a nar- 

 row mesial line. Hind wings whitish in the male, v;ith a very narrow 

 smoky border and white fringes. Beneath pale, with discal marks and 

 faint common line. Antennae brush-like. Uxpansijn, 35 millimetres. 

 California. Type in Coll. Buf. Soc. Nat. Sci. 



This is the form I have doubtfully referred to obeliscoides. I do not 

 know Guen6e's species, which I think cannot be sexatilis or the present 

 species. 



Agrotis atrifera, n. sp. 



^5. — All the tibiae spined. Male antenuse simple, pubescent, with 

 pairs of aimple bristles on the joints. Allied to ohoris; of a grayish- 

 fuscous; collar with a black central line; a black basal dash; a black 

 dash before orbicular and between the ordinary spots. Stigmata con- 

 colorous; orbicular large, oblique, incomplete above; reniform sub- 

 equal. T. p. line faint, double, tolerably even. S. t. line faint, near the 

 margin, with some preceding black streaks. Hind wings whitish, with 

 vague smoky borders, subpellucid. Beneath pale, whitish, powdery ; 

 traces of exterior shade on i^rimaries ; else the usual markings are obso- 

 lete. Expansion, 35 millimetres. Nos. 5201, California, and 4581, Sierra 

 Nevada (from 31r. Henry Edwards). 



Agrotis bicollaris, n. sp. 



(?9. — Clay-colored; belonging to the group of cvpida, but smaller 

 than the other species,- except brunneipennis. Collar with a mesial black 

 band. Fore wings clay-color, with the marks black, fragmentary. 

 Eeniform moderate, concolorous, stained with fuscous ; orbicular rather 

 long, concolorous, black-ringed, tending to be incomplete above. T. p. 

 line geminate, tolerably even. S. t. line near the margin, strongly angu- 

 late below costa, followed and preceded by dark shading. Fringes 

 fuscous, paler-tii^ped, yellowish at base. Hind wings dark fuscous; 

 veins darker ; fringes interlined, yellowish at base, whitish outwardly. 

 Beneath pale, irrorate; secondaries show lunule and diffuse outer line. 

 Expansion, 28-30 millimetres. Havilah, Cal. {Mr. Henry Edwards, Nos. 

 6524 and C517). 



The California fauna is rich in species belonging to the group which is 

 represented in the East by eupida, brunneipennis, alternata, and placida. 

 These have been mostly described by myself in the third volume of the 

 Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. I repeat here some 

 of the charactere for the convenience of the student: — 



Agrotis cupidissima. — Nearest to eupida: similarly sized, but i^aler, 

 with the orbicular incomplete superiorly. Varies by the primaries 

 becoming clay-colored without markings. Collar unlined. 



Agrotis lastula. — Darker than the preceding, purple-brown, with pow- 

 dery ochrey markings; claviform indicated. Collar unlined. A little 

 smaller than cupidissima. 



