BARNES AND McDUNNOUGH: CATOCALA 17 



a group of good generic value; illecta, however, is apparently merely a connecting link between the previous section and 

 this one, all its closest relatives being normal with respect to the tarsal spinulation. Hampson (1913, Cat. Lep. Phal. 

 Brit. Mus., XII) unsuccessfully attempts to subdivide the group on the spining of the hind tibise, his genus Mormonia 

 containing species with spines both above and between the spurs, while Catocala is restricted to species with only a few 

 spines between the spurs and Ephesia contains those species with non-spined hind tibise. We have already shown, however, 

 that Mormonia has been incorrectly applied, as the type, epione, belongs in the preceding section. We have found the 

 spinulation very variable; some few species apparently have the hind tibise always well spined for nearly the full length 

 (illecta) ; others, again, show a small group of spines near the base of the tibise and several spines between the spurs but in 

 the same species each or even both of these groups may be entirely wanting. As an example of the variability and as a 

 proof of the fallacy of such a method of subdivision, we might note that delilah Strecker is placed by Hampson in Mor- 

 monia while its Arizona race, desdemona Hy. Edwards, is relegated to the genus Ephesia, which is characterized by entire 

 lack of spining of hind tibise. In the genus Catocala, as restricted by Hampson, the same feature may be noted; in several 

 species, notably of the babayaga group, the few spines normally found between the spurs may be entirely lacking in some 

 specimens, while Hampson himself notes that in certain species included in Ephesia single spines occur between the spurs 

 (molenta). 



Group VII 



(Astiotes Hubner) 



Egg large, hemispherical, minutely granulate but not ribbed. Larva with lateral filaments and transverse prominence 

 on fifth abdominal segment. Male claspers symmetrical. A fourth row of tarsal spines present. 



The single North American species, aholibah Strecker, belonging to this group is closely related to the European species 

 sponsa and dilecta. The male genitalia are entirely distinct from those of any other species and this, combined with the 

 peculiar non-ribbed egg and the presence of a fourth row of tarsal spines, offers points of distinction which are probably of 

 generic value. The larvse are oak-feeders. 



Catocala aholibah Strecker 



Plate III, figs. 1 and 2; PL XIV, fig. 6 (larva); PI. XV, fig. 9 (larval head); PI. XV, fig. 38, and 

 PL XVI, fig. 13 (segments); PL XIX, figs. 19 and 20 (claspers). 



Catocala aholibah Strecker, 1874, Lep. Rhop. Het., p. 72, PL ix, fig. 5. Barnes and McDunnough, 1913, Psyche, XX, p. 191 (larva). 

 Catocala aholibah var. coloradensis Betjtenmuller, 1903, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XIX, p. 507. 



This well-known species is distinctly western in its range. It extends from Colorado, west of the divide, through 

 Utah into New Mexico and Arizona and is common along the Pacific Coast from Vancouver Island, B. C, to southern 

 California, occurring all through the Sierras at moderate elevations. 



The form coloradensis Beutenmuller, the type of which is before us, is based on large pale-colored females such as the 

 specimen figured on plate III, figure 2. This form is, however, by no means constant in Colorado and forms no geographi- 

 cal race; in our series bred from ova from Truckee, California, and Provo, Utah, about one-quarter of the specimens might 

 be referred to coloradensis, the remainder being as dark as, or darker than, typical specimens. 



Group VIII 



Egg large, heavily ribbed; almost hemispherical. Larva rough and protuberant in appearance but without an actual 

 wart on the fifth abdominal segment; lateral fringes present but short. Male claspers slightly asymmetrical; apices of 

 claspers pointed but not projecting beyond the less chitinous ventral area; harpes spoon-shaped. 



The two species, ilia and zoe, included in this group are apparently, in the larval stages, a further development of the 

 neogama type; they are readily distinguished in all three stages from other North American species but are intimately 

 related one to the other. Both are oak-feeders. 



