4 EHOPALOCEKA. 



points in connection with this subject should be noticed — such as a tuft of bristles, as in 

 T. caranus, between the submedian and internal nervures of the secondaries beneath ; 

 and, again, a tuft of hairs, as in T. pion, on the subcostal nervure of the secondaries 

 above. In another group, represented by T. mavors, there is a fold in the membrane of 

 the wing near the submedian nervure. To all these points we have given more or less 

 importance in our classification, and we believe with a tolerably natural result. 



The secondary sexual organs. — So far as regards the group having a two -branched 

 subcostal nervure, these organs are more uniform in their structure than is the case in 

 any other family of Butterflies we have as yet investigated. The tegumen is like that 

 of the Erycinidee, being a hood-like structure having a setose lateral lobe on either side, 

 beneath which proceed two strong hooks, curved at first inwards and then outwards, 

 sometimes overlapping one another : the harpagones are long, subtriangular, and 

 pointed outwards ; they are, as a rule, setose on the outer surface. The penis varies 

 chiefly in length. In some species, notably in the genus JEumceus, on either side of the 

 sexual claspers is a pencil of long hairs, which are attached to the skin uniting the 

 claspers to the eighth segment of the body, and are covered by it when they are with- 

 drawn. Unfortunately these pencils are not diagnostic of Eumceus, for we find them 

 in various stages of development throughout the genus Thecla : moreover it seems pro- 

 bable that in some cases our mode of preparation may so destroy their colour as to 

 render them invisible ; we have therefore not used them for purposes of classification. 

 Eegarding the female, we notice that in some species the bursa copulatrix is furnished 

 with a pair of chitinous patches, similar to those we noticed in some members of the 

 family Erycinidse. In most cases they are shaped like the thorn of a briar, in others 

 they present a serrate edge. The duct leading to the bursa is a chitinous tube, more 

 or less strongly developed. 



Since the publication of Westwood and Hewitson's ' Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera,' 

 no attempt has been made to compile a comprehensive account of the family Lycsenidse, 

 but an important step in that direction has been recently taken by Mr. Distant in his 

 * Rhopalocera Malayana.' It is true that Hewitson, in his < Illustrations of Diurnal 

 Lepidoptera,' described and figured a vast number of these Butterflies ; but they cannot 

 be said to be classified in the true sense of the word; for in his treatment of the 

 genus Thecla the arrangement of the species has been to a great extent determined by 

 the growth of his collection, and the dates at which the many new species came to 

 hand. Nor can Mr. Kirby's catalogue be treated as a serious attempt to classify this 

 complicated family. The species of Thecla in this case, in the supplement to the body 

 of the work, are, to a large extent, treated alphabetically. 



Mr. Distant's work is of a wholly different character, and is a laudable attempt to 

 reduce to order the 100 species of which he treats. These he places under no less than 

 thirty-eight genera, giving diagnostic tables, whereby they may be recognized one from 

 the other, his characters being largely supplied by the neuration of the wings. After 



