June iSq7j 



PSrCHE. 



tennae cases firmly united in one piece at 

 emergence; basal parts of first legs entirely 

 concealed, the maxillae reaching down the 

 center to the tip of case. Abdominal seg- 

 ments punctured. 



THE BUTTERFLIES OF HILDESHEIM. 



Our countryman, Mr. A. R. Grote, has 

 signalized his appointment to the charge of 

 the Roemer Museum in Hildesheim by 

 establishing an issue of papers under the title 

 Mittheilungen. These appear by numbers in 

 imperial octavo, very handsomely printed and 

 illustrated. No. S is concerned with the 

 butterflies of Hildesheim and is by Mr. Grote 

 himself, as four previous numbers have been 

 (44 pp., 4 pi.) Its subject would not much 

 interest American naturalists did the paper 

 not go far beyond what the title indicates, 

 being mostly concerned with a general 

 classification of butterflies (or at least those 

 of Hildesheim), which in several points 

 differs materially from classifications in 

 vogue, if any can he called in vogue in this 

 time of flux. 



Butterflies are first divided into two great 

 groups, the Parnassi-Papilionidne and the 



Pieri-Hesperiidae. The first contains the 

 two groups indicated by its title, regarded as 

 families. The second includes ten families, 

 which in their order downward are Pieridae, 

 Nymphalidae, Agapetidae (Satyridae), Lim- 

 nadidae (Danaidae), Libytheidae, Nemeo- 

 biidae {Nemeobiiis //la'ria), Riodinidae 

 (Erycinidae — non European), Lycaenidae, 

 Hesperiidae and Megathymidae (Megatliy- 

 mus — an American type). The last five 

 families Grote looks upon as an early and 

 simultaneous oft'shoot from the Pieri-Hesper- 

 idian stem, which last culminated in the 

 Pieridae, but on its way thereafter threw oft' 

 the branch which included the remaining 

 families, in the order Libytheidae, Limna- 

 didae and Agapetidae. 



The scheme is based solely on the wing- 

 neuration and has its merits and demerits on 

 tliis ground. The most striking innovation 

 is the primary subdivision which ignores 

 previous dichotomy by leaving the Hesperi- 

 idae in conjunction with others; a minor one 

 is the separation, with family signification, of 

 Nemeobius from the Riodinidae; it shoAvs 

 the length to which one may go in discussing 

 classification from a single standpoint. 



Guide to tlie Genera and Classification of the Ortlioptera of Xortli America 

 north of Mexico. By Samuel H. Scudder. 90 pp. S^ 



Contains keys for the determination of the higher groups as well as the 

 (ne:irly 200) genei'a of oiu' Orthoptera, with fidl hiljliographical aids to further 

 study. Sent hv mail on receipt of price (-St. 00). 



E. W. WHEELER, 12S4 M.\ss. Ave., C.\mbridge, Mass. 



A. SMITH & SONS, 269 PEARL STREET, New York. 



/ GOODS 7oF EHToioLOaiSTS, 



, ,,,/ Klaeger and Carlsbad Insect Pins, Setting 

 '''"''4.7 Boards, Folding Nets, Locality and 



Special Labels, Forceps, Sheet Cork, Etc. 



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