232 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



the marginal cell, which in E. caliptera forms the anterior bifurcation of 

 the broad brown cross-band, is much smaller here, often subobsolete. 



The thorax has a fringe of reddish-brown pile anteriorly, and the 

 usual black bristles, a stripe of white recumbent pile between the root 

 of the wings and the scutellum, some white hairs in front of the latter; 

 the disk of the thoracic dorsum is beset with reddish scales, mixed with 

 white ones, the latter forming two indistinct longitudinal stripes. The 

 abdomen has a cross-band of white scales on the anterior half of the 

 second sedgment and a tuft of white pile at each end of this band ; a 

 small spot with white scales on the anterior margin of the third seg- 

 ment in the middle, and larger white spots on the posterior angles of 

 the same segment, and two whitish scaly spots on segments 4, 5, 

 and 6 forming two longitudinal rows, converging posteriorly; a fringe 

 of long black pile along the sides of the abdomen, beginning with the 

 latter part of the second segment. The ground-color of the abdomen 

 when denuded appears as black, with red sides, the red forming inden- 

 tations into the black on the hind margins of the segments. The pro- 

 boscis hardly protrudes beyond the oral margin. Length ll-13 mm . 



Ha&.— Seems to have a wide distribution in the Northern States, in 

 Colorado, and in the Sierra Nevada, California. I have specimens from 

 Summit Station, Central Pacific Eailroad, California (July 17) ; Webber 

 Lake, Sierra Navada, California (July 26) ; Shasta district, California 

 (H Edwards); Washington Territory (the same); Georgetown, Colorado 

 (August 12); Twin Lake Creek, Colorado (W. L. Carpenter); White 

 Mountains, New Hampshire (H. K. Morrison) ; Maine. 



I said in the description that the hyaline spot in the marginal cell 

 above the proximal end of the second submarginal in most cases does 

 not exist here. There is a small spot of that kind in one of the speci- 

 mens from Webber Lake ; a larger one in the specimen from the White 

 Mountains ; in two specimens from Denver, Colo. (Uhler), the spot 

 occupies the whole breadth of the marginal cell, so as to cut off the 

 brown in its enlarged portion. I think, nevertheless, that these speci- 

 mens belong to E. dorcadion, as their tolerably well preserved thorax 

 and abdomen agree with the normal specimens. The corresponding 

 hyaline spot in E. caliptera is not placed exactly in the same position ; 

 it is before the expansion of the marginal cell, while in E. dorcadion it 

 is within that expansion. 



Observation.— E. dorcadion is remarkably like the European E. capu- 

 cina. As far as I can judge from the comparison of a single specimen 

 of the latter, the wings are exactly the same, but there seems to be a 

 difference in the distribution of the white scales on the abdomen. This 

 resemblance has given rise to a confusion which may provoke a dis- 

 cussion about the true specific name of E. dorcadion. There is no doubt 

 that this species is the true Anthrax capucina of Fabricius, marked 

 ■"habitat in America boreali" (see Syst. Antl., p. 123, 23). Wiedemann, 

 observing the resemblance of Fabricius's types to the European species, 



