116 Mr. Butler's descriptions of 



Mr. Pryer, judging solely by external facies, supposes this 

 to be tSijstropha aureola: contrary to the experience o£ all 

 Lepidopterists, he holds that in a butterfly or moth there are 

 other characters of equal importance to neuration; he does not 

 indeed attempt to point out what these chai-acters are, nor does 

 he explain upon what grounds he proposes to transfer genera 

 from the families to which their entire structure proves them to 

 belong, to others which they only vaguely resemble; he simply 

 hints that because in other orders (as Neuroptera) the veinlets 

 on opposite wings of the same individual differ in number and 

 shape, neuration should not be relied upon in Lepidoptera ! 



Judging, therefore, entirely by external facies, Mr. Pryer 

 naturally fails to recognize the species and even the genus of the 

 slightest varietal departure from the normal type, even of the 

 best known species ; thus he sends me for identification a worn 

 specimen of a Xylopliasia (probably a slightly dark variety of 

 X, p^olyodon, from which it barely differs on either surface) 

 and on referring to his list I find it placed in the family 

 Hadenidce! and with the following note: — " I am puzzled where 

 to place this, as it resembles, perhaps superficially, both Xylo- 

 phasia and Apamea;'' guessing, apart from systematic study, is 

 generally a failure; nearly all the blunders made by describers 

 are due to it, and probably all of those made by field naturalists 

 like my excellent, but too confident, friend and correspondent, 

 who, without any knowledge of structural distinctions, disputes 

 the authority of such men as Felder, Guence, Lederer, Moore 

 and otliers, under the tlimsy pretence of correcting the errors of 

 Mr. Butler. 



7. Miltochrista bivittata, n. sp. 



Allied to jM. aherrans, much smaller ; primaries bright rose- 

 red ; three elongated black dots near the base in an angular 

 series ; an interrupted angulated black line from costa to sub- 

 median vein just before the basal third, a black dot at the 

 inferior angle of the cell, an angulated and acutely dentated 

 black discal line before the external third, and beyond this a 

 scries of seven small elongated black dots ; fringe golden testa- 

 ceous ; secondaries pale rose-pink with fringe a little j)aler than 

 in the primaries ; head and thorax ochreous, abdomen whity 



J 



