8 Lloyd's natural history. 



for the Lefno7iiidcc^ with the exception of a few somewhat aber- 

 rant Old World genera, are almost entirely confined to tropical 

 America, whereas the Lyc^nidce are almost entirely an Old 

 World group, if we except the tropical American species allied 

 to Thecla. These, though numerous, are closely allied, and 

 cannot be considered as a set-off against the very numerous 

 and varied genera of the Old World. 



To return to the LemoniidcE (or ErycinidcB, as the Family is 

 often called).* The first attempt at a natural division of the 

 genera was made by Bates, in a catalogue of Erycinidce, com- 

 municated to the Linnean Society of London on June 20, 1867 

 (•' Journ. Linn. Soc. Zoology," ix. pp. 367-459). In this paper 

 he divided the group into three Sub-families, which have been 

 generally accepted by entomologists, with some modifications. 



In 1885 Messrs. Godman and Salvin, in their " Biologia Cen- 

 trali- Americana " Lepidoptera Rhopalocera, i. pp. 361, 362, re- 

 moved from Bates' first Sub-family, the Nemeobiince^ all the 

 New World genera which Bates had placed in it, transferring 

 them to Bates' third Sub-family, the Erycinince. {LemonmicB of 

 Kirby), but combining with it Bates' second Sub-family, the 

 EiirygonincB^EuselasiincB of Kirby), thus bringing together all the 

 genera in which the basal nervure is absent or rudimentary. 

 They remark : " We have not yet discovered satisfactory 

 characters whereby to separate the Old from the New World 

 genera of this Sub-family." 



It is, however, clearly desirable to separate groups of species 

 geographically when this can be done; and, in 1892, Schatz 

 and Rober proposed to restrict the Nemeobiince to the Old 

 World genera, and to reinstate Bates' Sub-family Eurygoni?ice 

 or Euselasiince. But neither in the Lemoiiiidce^ Lyccenidce^ 



* The alteration of the Family name was rendered necessary by the 

 rejection of the genus Erycina^ Fabr,, on account of this name being 

 nre-occupied in Mollusca, 



