[ 477 ] XXX. Remarks on the Genus Argynnis of the ' EncyclopMle Method'ique, especially in regard to its Subdivision hy means of Characters drawn from the Neuration of the Wings. By Edward Doubleday, Esq., F.L.S. &jc. 8fc. Read February 4th and March 18th, 1845. XT is now upwards of fifty years since Jones, in a papei-read befoi-e this Society, pointed out certain variations in the neuration of the wings of the Diurnal Lepidoptera, which appeared to him to aid in dividing them into groups more natural than those of Linnaeus or Fabricius. From that time, until the appearance in 1836 of the first volume of Dr. Boisduval's 'Species G^neraie des L^pidopt^res,' little attention had been paid to the characters to be derived from these variations, equally valuable for the purposes of sub-division into minor groups, as genera and subgenera, and for binding these together into larger natural groups. In January 1842 M. Lefebvre laid before the French Entomological Society the results of his observations on this subject, and his discourse, published in the eleventh volume of the Annals of that Society, is by far the most valuable contribution to our knowledge of the alary system o£ Lepidoptera that has yet appeared. De Haan in the magnificent work on the Dutch Colonies, Dr. Rambur in the 'Faune Entomologique de I'Andalousie,' and Mr. Westwood in 'Hum-phreys's British Butterflies,' have to a certain extent made use of characters drawn from the neuration of the wing of the Rhopalocera, but only to a limited extent, and by no means in a satisfactory manner. None of these authors, liowever, have fairly tested the value of these characters by a careful investi-gation of some large natural group, with a view to its subdivision into minor groups founded upon them, followed up by an equally careful examination of the structure of the legs, antennae and palpi, and of the form of the larvse. Whilst i-e-arranging the Rhopalocerous Lepidoptera in the collection of the British Museum, my attention was particularly directed to this subject, more
XXX. Remarks on the Genua Argynnis of the ' Encyclopedic Methodiyue, especially in regard to its Subdivision by means of Characters drawn from the Neuration of the Wings
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