THK CI-I)KVANT GENUS EP INEPHELE. 



15a 



he says:— "The Pahearctic forms of this genus, ahout 70 of which 

 have received names, helong to ahout 25 species, whose relationship to 

 one another is not yet irell knoirn in every im^tance. The,y are closely 

 related lo sSati/rxs. The antennse are delicate, gradually incrassate,. 

 and without distinct club. The ]mlpi are strongly bristly and project 

 a head's length. Eyes naked, liody weak in comparison with the 

 width of the wings, the abdomen of the $ s not nearly so stout as, for 

 instance, in Knbia, (Jvneis, etc. Forewing very broad, with the costal 

 margin strongly convex, the subcostal very strongly, and the median a 

 little less inllated at the base; the submedian, though a little incras- 

 sate at the base, is not inflated. The anal angle of the hindwings often 

 very strongly produced, the external margin being excised above the 

 angle." He then goes on to tell us that they are medium sized to 

 rather small dark brown and russet-yellow butterflies, which have as a 

 rule only one ocellus on the upperside, etc. ; falling back on the worn 

 out colour system of classification. Now all this is very well in its 

 way, but might have been written about other genera than that of 

 l^pinephele ; for example, about Aphantopua, Coenimymiiha or even 

 Sotynis, if we leave out the colour clause. By the way, it would be 

 well to know the dimensions of a viediiim sized butterfly, especially as 

 in German and French one word includes butterflies and moths. 



l^pinc/ihele's sister genera, Krehia, Oeneia, Coeiumyinjilia, etc., have 

 had their social position put to the test, verified or corrected from the 

 standpoint of the genitalia. It is fully time for Kpineplwle to be 

 examined by the Censor. No admittance to Hiibner's genus should 

 be allowed to l)utterflies whose passports do not show their Epinephelian 

 origin. 



Let us first examine the jurtina-hiaindla-ntiydy group. These 

 butterflies have extremely characteristic genitalia. The uncus is 

 mandibulate and very bold ; it broadens out at about half-way betAveen 

 the part to which the lateral processes or brachia are attached, then 

 tapers oft" like the beak of a bird of prey. The harpes are very broad 

 and heavy, covered with rather fine bristles. It is very irregularly 

 shaped for a Satyrid, being made up of concave and convex hills and 

 valleys that in a drawing make it appear far less constant than it really 

 is; even when the genitalia are allowed to float without any pressure in 

 Canada balsam no accurate drawing can be made with the camera lucida. 

 Most interesting are the long wands of chitinous matter, something 

 between hairs and scales, having their points of insertion at the 

 thittened exterior angle of the eighth sternite. These wands, each 

 formed of a bundle of rods, seem to me to have the same function as 

 the peniculus of certain Noctuids, i.e., they act as brushes for the 

 ipda-agus. I do not think they can be styled tactile, for the micro- 

 scope has revealed to me nothing near their extremities that resembles 

 a nerve, They may evidently be extended by a backward movement 

 of the segment to which they are attached, or, more correctly speaking, 

 when the butterfly contracts or extends the last segnnent, the relative 

 position of the wands is necessarily changed. Their normal position 

 in an unprepared abdomen is the position they take in my drawing of 

 l\. nuray. I do not think that Dr. Ixeverdin's conjecture (vol. xxvii., 

 p. 98, Knt. Her.) can be the correct solution to the problem. I have 

 listened very attentively to E. jtirtina 3 s when courting and have 

 caught no crackling sound such as Dr. Longstaft' heard made by 



