N O T E S . 
• *©o." 
Note 1 (p. 1;.— 'Axetia argillacea. AusBahia. Vom Herni Soninier abgelassen 
Eine Xoctua genuina and Heliophila lineata. Sie ist der A. Vitellina* sehr almlich, hat 
aber iu niehts eine Gleichheit mil ibr und auf den Schwingen emeu weissen Punct. 
Ib re Ftirbildung 399, 400. stellt ein mdnnliches Muiter tor. 
" • Hubu.. Noc, 379. Vitellina." 
This may be translated: " From Babia. Left by Mr. Soinmer. A Xoctua genuina and 
HeliOpiula Untata. It is very similar to A. Vitellina, but is in nothing identical with 
it, aud baa a wbite dot ou tbo wings. Fig*. 908 aud 40U represent tbo male.'' 
Note 2 (p. 1). — Without enteriug into any general discussiou, which would be out 
of place here, as to whether Hiibuer's name* sbould be adopted or not — a question 
which has always divided entomologists — but following those who, taking the more 
conservative view, accept his species when his descriptions and figures leave no ques- 
tion as to what is intended, the above purported description, in connection with the 
figures, would have to be rejected even from this standpoint. In point of fact they 
leave every doubt as to the species intended, and give us no absolute certainty. The 
only descriptive part is that referring to the wbite dot. aud this is conspicuously and 
well represented on the figure referred to; but it is this very character which make?* 
it morally certain that some other speeies than xylina Say was intended; for while 
typical specimens of xylina invariably have the three white minute dots referred to 
on page 9 of this work, the conspicuous discal or reniform spot on primaries is almost 
invariably oval and dark, with two cinereous pupils, which are of ten dilated .so as to 
represent a large cinereous spot, with a dark center and a dark border. Of the many 
hundreds, and we may say thousands, of specimens which we have examined, not one 
has had the distinct wbite spot described and figured by Hlibuer. The figures in 
other respects bear out this conclusion ; for while in the different copies of the Zu- 
triige the coloring will vary according to the colorist, and according as the colors have 
changed with ag« — two facts which in themselves should be sufficient to discard names 
founded ou mere figures — yet in the three copies which we have examined the figures 
represent a smaller, feebler-bodied species, lacking iu the characteristic olivaceous 
hues, and much more roseate superiorly aud more highly colored with yellow and 
roseate on the under side. The under surfaces of xylina are ol tolerably uniform pale 
gray, with a faint ochreous tinge, and in no specimen of xylina do we find the sharp 
black line on the underside of the hind border of the secondaries characteristic of 
Hiibuer's figure. 
From these facts it will be seen that nothiug can be absolutely settled from 
Hiibuer's description aud figures, and so much has this been felt by previous authors 
that they have uot been able to identify Hiibuer's argillacea. Thus Guende, who 
had evidently better material to judge from than any previous, or for that matter sub- 
sequent, author whom we can call to mind, questioned whether his grandipuncta 
(^xylina) could be referred to argillacea, for the reason that this last is more yeiiow, 
more distinctly marked, with the reniform concolorous, marked with a very distinct 
wbite dot, and quite distinct on the under surface. Even Mr. Grote, notwithstanding 
the assurance with which he identifies argillacea in the paper before the Association in 
the fall of 1874, expressed his uncertainty in his first published opinion on the subject 
earlier In the year. (Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, vol. i, p. 
170, 1874.) 
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