156 THE LINNEAN ASCALAPHIDAE. 



The synonymy of the asiatic species is in chronological 

 order : Asc. dicax Wlk. =■ sinister Wlk. = immotus Wlk. = 

 procax Wlk. = odiosus Wlk. = insimulans Wlk. = cervinus 

 Hag. = Suph. placida Gerst. — Westwood (1888) has 

 described the development of this species. 



In North-Africa occurs the smaller H. harbariis (L.) 

 but in the tropical regions of this continent lives the larger 

 and also very variable Bubo festivus Rbr. Mac Lachlan 

 separated from the latter as a new species Suphalasca 

 africana from Madagascar. As I saw the type and an 

 extensive series of fresh specimens from this island, I cannot 

 be of his opinion because they offer no differences with 

 festivus from the Continent. Mac Lachlan ranged the latter 

 in his genus Encyoposis, but this name must be reserved 

 for the type flavilinea (Wlk.) and some new forms. All 

 the others described in this genus, excepted perhaps his 

 longistigma which I have not seen, belong to other genera. 



Gerstaecker described from German East-Africa the festivus 

 as Suphalasca rutila, and Kolbe's Encyoposis hilineata and 

 flavostigma from the same country belong also to this species, 

 as I could state by examining the types. The synonymy 

 is therefore : festivus Rbr. = africana Mc. Lachl. = rutila 

 Gerst. --= hilineata Kolbe = flavostigma Kolbe. The En- 

 cyoposis amicus Mc. Lachl., from Natal, is only a lighter 

 coloured form of the same species and probably also a synonym. 



Comparing large series of the 3 species, the similarity 

 is so striking, that it is hardly possible to decide without 

 knowing the locality to which form a specimen belongs. The 

 poststigmatical aera or apical aera of the wings seems to be 

 generally a little broader in the african species, it consists 

 of 3 rows of cells in the fore wings, the raiddlest of which 

 is nearly always complete, where in the Indian species 

 this row is more or less incomplete. But this character is 

 so subtile, that it is only clear when comparing a large 

 series. It is also nearly impossible to distinguish the small 

 north-african barbarus from the small form of dicax 

 from Asia-minor, which has about the same size. 



Notes froin the Leyden IMuseum, "Vol. XXVIII. 



