THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 145 



The friendly assistance of Messrs. Grentzenberg, Mueschler and Dr. 

 Staudinger have placed me in a position to bring together, with but a few 

 exceptions, the known Hesperidae of the European P'aunal-region. To 

 the latter gentleman, especially, I am indebted for a knowledge of the 

 Eastern-Asiatic species, so difficult to reach. But four of these have 

 remained inaccessible to me, namely, Pamphila sylvatica Brem., Pyrgus 

 gigas Brem., (possibly only a var. of tessellum H.), Eudamus guttatus 

 Brem. -Grey, and Thanaos popoviana Nordm. It seemed to me more 

 advisable to leave out these altogether, than to give them a place which 

 their particular investigation might not warrant. In the arrangement I 

 have placed first, those genera which, from the absence of the tibial 

 epiphyses and generally of the middle-spurs of the hind-tibiae, are closely 

 related to the other Rhopaloccra ; and last, those which carry their wings 

 when at rest in the manner of the moths. I do not, however, intend to 

 assert that these particular features are of paramount importance in a 

 systematic arrangement of the Hesperidae. 



It would be very desirable to divide this large family into convenient 

 groups, but, if it were possible, it would be difficult to find exact dis- 

 tinctive characters for them. Mr. Scudder has made an attempt in this 

 direction. He believes that he is justified in adopting two large groups 

 corresponding nearly to the Fabrician genera Thymele and Pamphila, and 

 calls the one Hesperides and the other Astyci,- the latter a name chosen 

 by Hiibner for the whole family. To the latter would belong i to 4 of the 

 European genera given below, and to the former 5 to 9. The most 

 important character of the Hesperidae (for the other differences which he 

 adduces are not valid) Mr. Scudder describes in the following words : — 

 " In the male Hesperides the posterior extremity of the alimentary canal 

 is protected beneath by a corneous sheath, which extends beyond the 

 centrum or body of the upper pair of abdominal appendages, sometimes 

 nearly to the extremity of the appendages, carrying the vent beyond the 

 centrum ; while in the Astyci, the extremity of the canal is not protected 

 by any extruded sheath, but opens at the very base of the inferior wall of 

 the centrum." (The two principal Groups of Urbicolcz. By S. H. Scudder. 

 Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Science, I, 195.) 



I have not examined the abdominal appendages of the male Hes- 

 peridas, and therefore, I do not know whether this corneous anal sheath 

 would really supply a generally valid mark of distinction between the two 

 tribes of Mr. Scudder. But even if that be not established, — as I fear it 



