150 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. [Yol.VI. 



further increased by tlie addition of augur {haruspica), ohelisca {ohelis- 

 coides), and segetum (texanaf). Species which are nearly allied ta 

 European forms, but which may be distinguished, are, for instance, 

 JS'ormaniana, which resembles triangulum, and clandestina, which recalls- 

 ravida; and the differences between the allied forms have been worked 

 out by Dr. Speyer. Other species remain to be compared, as perqui- 

 ritata and speciosa. Although it is probab le that among the species here 

 cited some are not entitled to that rank, the number of such names is, 

 I believe, very small, and a very much greater number of distinct forms 

 awaits discovery. 



The principal writers who have described our species of Agrotis are 

 Harris, Guenee, Walker, Mr. H. K. Morrison, the late Mr. C. T. Eobin- 

 son, and myself 5 Dr. Speyer has also investigated the allied forms of 

 Europe and America. In the insects injurious to vegetation Dr. Harris 

 mentions five species. The charm of this author's style makes his work 

 a classic, and renders one forgetful of the necessity for greater clear- 

 ness which his subject demands. Of his five species, telifera is a name 

 for American specimens of ypsilon, and inermis for saucia. South Amer- 

 can specimens of this last species, which enjoys a wide geographical 

 range, have been also renamed by Dr. Packard {Ortonii). Dr. Harris 

 considers his messoria as the representative of the European segetum^ 

 This cannot be the case, if, as is almost certain, repentis is this siDccies- 

 of Dr. Harris's, too vaguely described to be readily recognized. It has 

 been more recently redescribed by Mr. Eiley as Agrotis Cochranii. An- 

 other species described by Dr. Harris, under the name tessellata, was by 

 Dr. Fitch considered as a variety of the European nigricans, under the 

 name maizi. The last of Dr. Harris's species of Agrotis are clandestina 

 and Brace's devastator, which latter, with its unarmed tibiae, I have re- 

 ferred to the genus Hadena. 



M. Guenee refers our species to the distinct genera Agrotis and Noc- 

 tua ; the yellow- winged species of Triphcena are also se]3arated by hint 

 generically. We have but one of this latter group in our fauna. Char- 

 dinyi, originally referred to Anarta by its describer, the late Dr. Bois- 

 duval. Among the species described by Guenee which I do not recog- 

 nize in my collection are ochrogaster, elimata, and spissa. Guen^e's vari- 

 ety of tritici may be tessellata. 



Mr. Walker's descrii)tions are so indifferent that a careful examina- 

 tion of the Biitish Museum collection may disturb our synonymy. His. 

 Mamestra (!) unicolor is a new name for our clandestina. 



The extensive collection of Mr. Henry Edwards contains the unique 

 types of pallidicollis, niveivenosa, vancouverensis, and of Miller i, the lat- 

 ter, perhaijs the handsomest of the genus, named for the poet of the 

 Sierras, Joaquin Miller. In Mr. Tred Tepper's collection are many of 

 Mr. Morrison's types ; Mr. Hulst has the types of dolis and sublatis / 

 the collection of Mr. E. L. Graef contains many varieties in the genus. 

 I am under special obligations for specimens to Professor Snow and Dr.. 

 James S. Bailey. 



