November, 1873.] 121 



NOTE ON THE LEPIDOPTEROUS FAUNA OF ST. VINCENTE, WITH 

 DESCKIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF GELECSIA. 



BY PEOFESSOE WETENBEBGH, PH. D. 



St. Yincente is not ouly one of the smallest but also one of the 

 poorest, most arid, barren, and naked of the Cape Verd Islands. 



During a walk of several hours on this Island in Jixly last, I 

 captured various insects, and especially fixed my attention on the Lepi- 

 doptera, though the scanty and stunted vegetation gave me a poor 

 expectation as to its fauna. Stones and rocks, with a few sickly 

 3Iimosa bushes, low thistle-like plants and grasses, were all that my 

 eyes could discover. Already, in another place (in the account of my 

 travels in the Dutch newspaper, 'JVieuws van den dag^ 1873), I have 

 demonstrated that this flora in former years was more beautiful, 

 and that of late an impoverishment has been observed, which is to 

 be perceived also by comparing the account of the travels of Pro- 

 fessor Burmeister in 1857 with that of my own above mentioned. 



The proprietor of the "Hotel Fran9ai8" (a Frenchman) and his 

 very affable wife assured me, as soon as they saw my nets for catching 

 moths, that several naturalists in vain had searched there for butterflies 

 in the last ten years, and that butterflies were no longer to be found on 

 the island, though in former years some had been there. I knew 

 that already, since Prof. Burmeister had seen here a Papilio, and 

 had found some caterpillars, not very unlike those of the European 

 Deilephila galii, L. (Bui'meister : Reise durcli die La Plata-staaten, 

 th. i, p. 17). 



The host told me that he believed the first cause of this going- 

 back of the Lepidopterous fauna was the going-back of the vegetation, 

 and that this could be accounted for by the very few rains of recent 

 years : a supposition to which I readily assented. 



In the meantime, I believed that this opinion of these inhabi- 

 tants would not be wholly correct, because the smaller species of moths 

 and all species that are not great diurnal butterflies generally es( ape 

 observation, and therefore I was for continuing my search, which 

 was recompensed by the following discoveries : — 



One green caterpillar of the genus Cidaria, and a brown one of 

 the same genus, both 1 centim. long. Alas ! both have dic;d, like the 

 Deilepliila caterpillars of Prof. Burmeister. 



One Acidalia with brown fore-wings and pale hind- wings, and an 

 expanse of 2| centim. This moth, however, has been lost. 



