NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XXII. 1013. 279 



ON THE POSITION OF MINETRA NODRIOA Eoisd. (1832), 

 A NYMPHALINE BUTTERFLY. 



By Dr. K. JORDAN. 



T AESC'RIPTION.S of species are frequently so short ami superficial that 

 -L-^ ideutificatiou from the description aloue is very uncertain. It is a common 

 complaint, particularly as regards some of the older authors. On the other hand, 

 the determining of species from books often involves much greater labour than the 

 investigator of the literature on the subject is inclined to bestow upon his task. 

 He looks to the cataloguer as the saviour of trouble, investigation being cut short 

 and remaining superficial. This also is a common complaint, well balancing the 

 former. 



My attention was drawn to Minctra nodrica Boisd. (1832) by Professor E. J. 

 Giilet, of Nivelles, who has been helping for a short time in the arranging of the 

 Lepidoptera in the Tring Museum. When classifying the genus Partheiws according 

 to Fruhstorfer (in Seitz, Grossschm. vol. ix.) Professor Giilet, finding iwdrica Boisd. 

 described as a subspecies oi Partheiws sijlciakVi well as of P. tigiina in Fruhstorfer's 

 synopsis of the genus, appealed to me for a solution of this, for him extraordinary, 

 ])uzzle. As the Professor was not satisfied with my general statement that the 

 introduction of hustling into science must inevitably lead to such oversights, I had 

 to investigate the matter, nolens volens. 



In Voij. Astrolabe, Lcp. p. 126 (1832) Boisduval placed in his new indescript 

 genus Minetra two species, the new nodrica (from Burn and New Guinea) and sijUia 

 Cr. (1775). The subsequent career of nodrica Boisd. has been, until recently, a 

 fairly smooth one. 



Doubleday (1850) enumerates nodrica as a distinct species under Minetra 

 Vollenhoven (1866) refers to nodrica as a species distinct from his Minetra tigrina 

 Kirby (1871) has it under Parthenos along with grambrHsius, Sylvia and tigrina., 

 Minetra being correctly sunk as a synonym of Parthenos. 



Oberthiir (1880) expresses the opinion that nodrica and tigrina are respectively 

 the melanotic and albinotic forms of one species, and mentions a Waigeu specimen 

 almost identical with Boisduval's type of nodrica. 



Pagenstecher (1884) refers without comment to Oberthiir with regard to 

 nodrica, and Niceville (1898) records it from New Guinea, adding that he believes 

 its occurrence on Barn to be more than doubtful. On the other hand, Holland 

 (1900) identifies the Burn specimens oi Parthenos obtained by Doherty as nodrica. 



In his various articles on Parthenos (Ent. Zeit. Stettin lix. p. 249. 1898, issued 

 1899), Iris xvii. p. 137 (1904), and in Seitz, Grossschm. ix. pp. 646 and 647 (1913) ) 

 Fruhstorfer treats nodrica as a subspecies of tigrina or of sgleia, or of both. In 

 1899 he identifies the dark Parthenos from the Berou Peninsula as nodrica ; in 

 1913 he says, under sglvia, that he does not know nodrica, but that Doherty found 

 it in numbers on Burn, and under P . tigrina he states that nodrica is a dark form 

 of tigrina from Audai and Dorey. 



The authors referred to took it for granted that Boisduval's nodrica of 1832 was 

 a form of Parthenos. The only anthor, as far as I know, who has been more careful 



19 



