Mann.] 204 [Jan. 1/ 



Explanation of the " Corrigenda" to a Communication 

 in these Proceedings, Vol. xv, pp. 381-384, Entitled: 

 "Anisopteryx vernata distinguished from A. pometa- 

 ria." By B. Pickman Mann. 



In the preceding volume of these Proceedings, pp. 381-384, is a 

 communication by me, in which our two common species of Anisop- 

 teryx, viz., A. vernata and A. pornetaria, are described at length, and 

 carefully discriminated. In this communication the names of the two 

 species are used in a manner which, I have been convinced since, is 

 exactly the reverse of correct. The object of the present communi- 

 cation is to explain and establish my later view. 



At the time when that communication was made to the Society, 

 and until the meeting of the Entomological Section on the 26th of 

 November last, I had never entertained a doubt that Harris called 

 the two species of Anisopteryx in question by the same names and 

 with the same application which I had formerly used. Having had 

 no occasion to examine the literature of the species, I accepted the 

 current tradition, that the species described at length by Harris waa 

 the vernata. of Peck. 



Meanwhile, Mr. H. K. Morrison, in the course of his studies upon 

 the Phalasnidse, had occasion to refer to the fifth volume of the "New 

 England Farmer" (July, 1827), pp. 393-394, which contains a reprint 

 of Peck's original article upon the canker-worm. After the species 

 had been discriminated, as they were by me in the commuDication to 

 which this is a supplement, it needed but the simplest reading of 

 Peck's description to discover that I had wrongly applied the name 

 of vernata. Mr. Morrison communicated this discovery to me on the 

 26th of November, 1873, and soon after, by reference to the plate in 

 Peck's original article, I verified it. The question then arose, 

 whether the species, hitherto miscalled vernata, had ever received a 

 valid name. 



Guided by the light of our present discovery, a critical examina- 

 tion of the text in Harris' Treatise enabled us to decide that the 

 name of pornetaria legitimately belongs to the fall species. Thus it 

 results that I have to correct my former communication. At this late 

 date I can do this properly only by the insertion of a slip into the 

 completed volume of the Society's Proceedings. 



In my former communication, I said that tbe necessity of applying 

 the name vernata to a fall species illustrates the danger of attempt- 



