ON THE TEUE TYPE OF THE LYC^NID GENUS PENTILA. 



BY ARTHUR G. BUTLER, F.L.S., F.Z.S , &c. 



In the " Voyage de Delagorgue," M. Boisduval named a genus 

 Tingra, with one species, T. tropicalis. 



In Doubleday's List of Lepidoptera, a MS. name of Boisduval's, 

 JPentila, was first published with a MS. species, P. undularis. 



In the genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera, Westwood figured a species 

 under the name of Pentila Zymna ; but in the text he distinctly stated 

 that P. undularis (still undescribed, though well known in collections) 

 was the true type, that he had lettered the plate in error. 



Although Hewitson subsequently states that Westwood's de- 

 scription was taken from Tingra tropicalis, Westwood himself states 

 in his enumeration of the species of Pentila, that it is " an insect 

 which I have not had an opportunity of examining," and although 

 Hewitson may have regarded T. tropicalis as "only a variety" of 

 T. ahraxas, we have no evidence that Westwood made use of the latter 

 alone in the preparation of his diagnosis ; indeed, he states (though 

 erroneously) that it is " congenerous w^ith Boisduval's type, JBentila 

 undularis^' showing that in the preparation of his description both 

 forms were under his eye. 



Turthermore, the species figured as L. Zymna is referred by 

 Westwood to Miletus, and is, in my opinion, a species of Felder's 

 genus Allotinus, which (by the way) I cannot separate from ^ara- 

 gerydus by means of the characters given in Mr. Distant's "Kho- 

 palocera Malayana," which strike me as merely the same thing in 

 Latin and English. 



Paeagertdus. 



"]ts position is readily defined as allied to Gerydus and Logania 

 by having the third sub-costal nervule of the anterior wings emitted 

 beyond the end of the cell " (Distant). 



Allotinus. 



" Eamo tertio sat longe pone cellulam emisso." Telder (Distant). 



Mr. Distant, however, in his Synopsis of Genera takes upon him- 

 self the responsibility of altering this character, because in the only 

 species which he possesses {vide p. 208, note) the third nervule is 

 emitted at end of cell ; the only species we possess {A.fallax) emits 

 the third and fourth sub-costal branches from a long footstalk beyond 

 the cell, and is therefore more likely to be Felder's type than A. 

 suhviolaceus. 



Now, as it would create considerable confusion to accept Allotinus 



