1897.] 39 



which it was applied bj Linnaeus, but are we to waste our time in ar- 

 gument about the meaning of the word "genus" and to endeavour to 

 restore this term to the sense in which it was used by Linnaeus, or are 

 we to strive to bring the work of the author of the Systema Naturae 

 into line with modern thought and methods ? Linnaeus himself per- 

 ceived the necessity for subdividing his so-called genera, and we shall 

 not be wrong in following his lead. The names Papilio and Phalcena 

 should be altered in termination in accordance with the value they are 

 held to possess (but should be attributed to Linnaeus), and should be 

 substituted for Bhopalocera and Heterocera which they antedate, on 

 the other hand the subdivisions of these Linnaean genera should be 

 attributed to Linnaeus as " genera " in the modern acceptance of 

 the terra. 



TOETEIX, L. 



Ty^e—Tortrix viridana, L. (Stph., 1829). 

 ToBTRicEs, L., Syst. Nat., X, 496, 530 (1758). 



The original definition as given on p. 496 is: — " Alis obtusissimis 

 ut fere retusis, planiusculis," to which the following restriction is 

 added on p. 530: — "Tortricum Larvae contorquent & filo connectunt 

 folia, quaevorant & intra quae se recipiunt." 



The type of Tortrix, L., must be one of the species enumerated 

 by Linnaeus (Nos. 202 to 225), and it must conform to the original 

 definition and to the restriction based on the habits of the larvae that 

 were then known. The subsequent writings of Linnaeus did not 

 affect the type of this genus. 



Poda, Ins. Mus. Grtec, 93 (1761), enumerated two species as 

 belonging to Tortrix, of these prasina, Poda, = quercana, Schiff. 

 (Jbicolorana, Fuessl), and the other, avellana, Poda, is considered to 

 represent corijlana, F., both non-Linnaeau species, consequently the 

 type was not affected. 



[Geoffroy entirely omits reference to Tortrix, L., and Fabricius in 

 1775, by an error of judgment, transferred the Linnaean name Pyralis 

 to the group which Linnaeus had designated Tortrix, raising it to 

 generic rank and enumerating nearly all the species known to Linnaeus, 

 but in his writings he did not indicate the type of his genus. Lamarck, 

 Syst. An. sans Vert., 287 (1801), re-described Fyralis, F. {nee L.), 

 and cited viridana, L., as the type]. 



Toerner, Diss. Ac. Upsal., Ill, 259 (1801), raised Tortrix to 

 generic rank under its own name, and re-described it thus : — " Tortrix : 

 antennae filiformes. Alae ampliatse, obtusse : margine exteriore curvo," 

 but mentions no types. [N.B. — It is stated that Thunberg was really 

 the author of these " Dissertationes."] 



