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XXX. Remarks on the Genus Argynnis of tie ' Encyclopidit Hdthodtque, 



especially in regard to its Subdivision by means of Characters dram 

 the Neuration of the Wings. By Edward Doubled* v. Esq.. I I \ 



Read February 4th and March 18th, 1845. 



J.T is now upwards of fifty years since Jones, in a paper read before tbi^ 

 Society, pointed out certain variations in the neuration of the wing* of the 

 Diurnal Lepidoptera, which appeared to him to aid in dividing then into 

 groups more natural than those of Linnaeus or Fabricius. From that time 

 until the appearance in 1836 of the first volume of Dr. BotfldavaTl 'Specie! 

 Generale des L£pidopteres,' little attention had been paid to the character! t<> 

 be derived from these variations, equally valuable for the purpose <>i Ittb- 

 division into minor groups, as genera and subgenera, and for binding tb 

 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 of Lepidoptera that bat vvt 

 appeared. 



De Haan in the magnificent work on the Dutch Colonies, Dr. Harnhur in 

 the 'Faune Entomologique de rAndalousie,' and Mr. Weetwood in 'Hum- 

 phreys's British Butterflies,' have to a certain extent made use of characters 

 drawn from the neuration of the wing of the Rhopa/ocera, but only to a limit, ,1 

 extent, and by no means in a satisfactory manner. None of these author 

 however, have fairlv tested the value of these characters by a careful im 

 gation of some large natural group, « ith a view to its subdivision into rumor 

 groups founded upon them, followed up by an equally careful examination of 

 the structure of the legs, antenna, and palpi, and of the form of the lamr 



Whilst re-arranging the Rhopalocerous Lepidoptera in the coHeetmn of tl. 

 British Museum, my attention was particularly directed to tins subject, mot. 



