1902.] GROTE — SEARCH FOR THE TYPE OF NOCTUA LINN. 7 



LiNNE, Mus. Ludov. Ulr. RegincB, Holmi^e, 1764. 



In this work Linne gives the following species : Phalaena Noctua 

 strix, punctigerata, fulvia, ornatrix, heliconia, rubricollis (removed 

 now to Bombyx, so that this species is excluded), fraxini, pellex. 

 It is probable, from this restriction, the idea has arisen (communi- 

 cated to me in letters) that fraxini was the type of Noctua, because 

 rubricollis and fraxini are the only two of these species included by 

 Linne in the Fauna Svecica, 1761, as Mr. Durrant writes me. 

 Linne now, in 1764, excludes rubricollis, thus restricting the type 

 to fraxini. But, since fraxini was not included by Poda in 1761, 

 '^ this can be at once disregarded as of no effect." 



Crotch, Cist. Ent., i, 61, 1872, writes: 



Noctua — N. sponsa Lamark (1801). Cuvier andLatreille (1805) 

 concur in this, but afterward Latreiile (1810) selected N. pronuba 

 as his type. With this selection the writer would be here agreed, 

 and it remains to be seen what has been since done with pronuba. 



TRIPHMNA. 

 1816. OcHSENH., Schm. Eur., iv, 69. 



Interjecta, subs'equa, comes (orbona), prosequa, consequa, lino- 

 grisea, pronuba, fimbria, ianthina (ianthe, domiduca). 



1816. HuEBNER, Verzeichniss, 221. 



Interjecta, subsequa, comes, consequa, pronuba. 



1829. DuPONCHEL, Hist, Nat. Lep. Noct., Tom. iv, Pt. 2, 71. 



Gives pronuba as the type of Triphaena. Therefore Noctua 

 Linn., in the Lepidoptera, and Triphaena Ochs. would be synony- 

 mous, having same type. Mr. Meyrick (1895) ^^es Triphaena to 

 the exclusion of this type. And this opens up the question as 

 to the validity of the genus, which the type-seeker is not called 

 upon to answer in the first instance. If pronuba, as being type of 

 Noctua, could not be taken as type of Triphaena, then Mr. Mey- 

 rick' s use of the latter term may be correct. This question does 

 not seem necessary to answer for the North American Catalogue. 



I now follow the use of Noctua by authors subsequent to Linne. 



Fabricius, Sy sterna Entomologice, Flensburgi et Lipsiae, 1775. 



In this work 122 species are enumerated under Noctua, pp. 590- 

 619. 



