APPENDIX 857 



quainted with Nevadcnsis, but took it for granted that Cali- 

 fornica was Nevadensis, and sent it out as such ; later, when I 

 came to see the figure of Nevadensis as herewith presented, I 

 noted the difference, and published the Californian form as Cali- 

 fornica, giving at the same time a full life history, in the Canadian 

 Entomologist. The form Nevadensis has always been practically 

 unknown, and is to this day ; the publication in which Nevadensis 

 was christened had very small circulation, and is today out of 

 print and well-nigh unknown. Chiefly on account of my having 

 sent out Californica as Nevadensis, a confusion has arisen, the real 

 Nevadensis being unknown. These figures and this text will, 

 I hope, set the matter straight. 



487. Hemileuca Electra. 



Plate XXXII ; Figures 487, b, a. 



Fig. 487, Male, Southern California ; Author. 



b. Female, Southern California ; Author. 



c, Male, underside, Southern California ; Author. 

 The figures given herewith are good illustrations of this fine 



Hemileuca. The first specimen I ever saw was flying, and I fol- 

 lowed it desperately until I caught it, for I recognized it as some- 

 thing new ; and from that day to this, although I have acquired a 

 few examples in one way or another, I have not seen another 

 specimen on the wing, nor do I now know the food-plant. That 

 first one that I saw was evidently out of its latitude, for I could not 

 ever find another in that place, and it appears probable that the 

 home of the species is nearer the sea coast. The first one was 

 taken about eighty miles from the sea, in the valley of the Santa 

 Ana River. 



Later, I have received information from Mrs. Brandegee, of San 

 Diego, that the larval food-plant of Electra is Erigonun fasci- 

 culatum, popularly known as "wild buckwheat," a shrubby plant 

 which grows about three or four feet high, and which is abundant 

 everywhere, both on the coast and in the valleys of the interior. 



