1882.] 159 [Hagen. 



pose that the specimen had not the natural color, as I had sent to 

 Mr. W. H. Edwards a few Colias from the same expedition and 

 locality, which came with Neuroptera and other insects by chance 

 in my hands. I made excuses for sending the specimens in bad 

 condition, and was answered that these Colias were especially 

 interesting to him. As no other species is mentioned by him from 

 Yellowstone I always believed them to be C. Astraea, but I am 

 informed by him that this is not the case. I would remark that 

 a number of insects of this expedition arrived infested with pests 

 and were treated by myself with benzine. As the specimens were 

 not spread, I could not observe the color. The change of yellow 

 by cyanide is long known, but Mr. W. H. Edwards denies 

 strongly the possibility for this specimen. That benzine changes 

 yellow I have learned only later through experiments made for 

 this purpose. Specimens of Colias stained by chance with human 

 blood — I have before me a specimen taken with fingers just 

 before pricked by thorns — show on both wings corresponding 

 spots, which are even with the microscope difficult to be recog- 

 nized as artificial. That may be as it is, the time is past when 

 such very insignificant characters are accepted as sufficient to 

 characterize a species. Until more important characters are 

 given, we have to rely upon the description, which is in no way 

 sufficient to separate C. Astraea from C. Alexandra and C. Ed- 

 wardsii. 



Colias interior. 



C. interior. Scudd. Proc. B. S. N. H., ix, p. 108, 1862. 

 H. Edw. Colias, p. 10 (Calif. Acad.). 

 Brooklyn Ent. Soc. March, 1879. 



I have before me four males (types) and the female type. Two 

 of the males and a third in Mr. Scudder's collection are from the 

 Portage at the rapids near the mouth of the Saskatchawan River 

 and these three are all the types collected by him (Mr. Scudder 

 informs me). Besides those are two males and one female (one 

 male from the collection of the Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist.) from the 

 northern shore of Lake Superior, from Prof. L. Agassiz's expedi- 

 tion. According to a memorandum in his copy of his paper Mr. 



