80 LEPIDOPTERA. 



men in the National Collection from Congo) ; they both 

 present certain very slight points of ditference from verti- 

 cillata^ Gn., but as these trivial differential characters seem 

 by no means sufficient to constitute it a distinct species, it 

 has been considered best to sink acuta as a variety of verii- 

 cillata. 



On first thoughts it certainly looks bad for Mr. Robinson's 

 insect that its exact counterpart should only have occurred 

 in Africa ; but let us see. — " The PlusicF,'^ M. Guenee 

 remarks, " inhabit pretty nearly every part of the globe, 

 Europe and North America appearing nevertheless to, par- 

 ticularly, agree with them * *." Then, just at this part of 

 the genus, we stumble on a number of species so intimately 

 related to one another, that it is difficult to suppose that 

 natural selection, climatic influence, or some other cause has 

 not been at work to manufacture species. — To give an idea 

 of this close alliance, first, we see how inconveniently close 

 is acuta, Wlk., to verticillata, Gn. ; then, according to 

 Mons. Guenee, verticillata is ^'extremely close" to chal- 

 cites, Esp. ; rogationis, Gn., is also " veri/ close" to chal- 

 cites f and " extremely'^ so to precationis, Gn. — Oo, Cramer, 

 is also close to chalcites, while signata, Fab., is very close to 

 all of them : quite a little system of which chalcites is the 

 fixed star round which the rest revolve ; and chalcites at any 

 rate is a born European, Italy, Dalmatia and the South of 

 France being mentioned as localities for it. 



Again, let us look at Leucania extranea. — Here is an 

 insect which abounds in North and South America in its 

 typical form ; it occurs in Java and India in a slightly 

 modified form, var. A. of Gn. ; and in New Holland in a 

 still more altered state, var. B of Gn. — This species is not 

 included as European in Staudinger's catalogue, and yet 

 nevertheless has been taken in this country on three separate 



