THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 85 



the species all the ring-streaked go in one family, all the speckled in 

 another. Thus ist Stirps, Nereides, ist family, Vitriie, "both wings centrally 

 transparent;" 2nd family, Fulvae, "the wings rust-yellow, spotted with 

 black and sulphur yellow." And as might be expected, both the families 

 and the coitus under them being assorted by mere coloration, with the 

 Stirps characters so insignificant, the results are often surprising. Thus 

 Stirps Limnades, 2nd family Ferrugineae, " all wings black margined and 

 white dotted," contains species of Danaidae, our D. Archippus (called 

 Anosia Menippa) being one. But the same definition applies equally 

 well to our Limenitis Disippus ( called by Hiibner Anosia Archippus), and 

 here of course it is among the Danaidae, though its natural allies are in a 

 remote Stirps, the Najades. But the Najades are defined as " dusky 

 above, bright colored below, every where spot-banded," and Disippus 

 under this sort of classification has no place there. As to the char- 

 acters derived from the members, they form no obstacle at all to the 

 shifting of a species from one Stirps to another. Nereides has the 

 antenna? "thickened like a club at the end"; Najades has them 

 " tolerably club shaped." And so Disippus may range under either 

 Stirps with this limp style of characterization. Another of these 

 Anosians is Misippus Linn., put by Kirby in Hypolimnas Hub., among 

 the Nymphalinae near Limenitis, and Hypolimnas is also one of the 

 coitus of Najades, defined " the fore wings white spotted, the hind pale 

 banded " ! Such instances occur repeatedly, as will hereafter appear, and 

 that not merely between the Stirps of the same Tribe even. Nor need 

 it be deemed strange that in many cases Heterocerous Moths overstep 

 the Phalanx and find their places among the Butterflies. 



The value of the family names is so uncertain that authors who rever- 

 ence the Stirps and coitus names have in a great degree, and, in fact, 

 except in two or three instances, altogether ignored them. And yet if 

 Mr. Scudder's Canon 1 were to have the force of law, each of these 62 

 family names would have to have place made for it, and be a permanent 

 addition to the nomenclature. 



All these divisions, Stirps, families and coitus, are built on the same 

 plan, and are subject to like defects. The family is a magnified coitus, and 

 the Stirps bears the same relation to the family. Some of each may have 

 their equivalents in modern classification, but it is accidental, and the 

 greater part have none. Even were the Stirps homogenous, they could 

 not run with modern families or sub-families. They are both too great 

 and too small. Nor could the families, on same condition, run with 



