106 



PSYCHE. 



[August 1S97. 



As to the most striking innovation, the 

 primary subdivision, I show that the 

 Parnassi-Papilionidae are bound together by 

 the most striking characters found anywhere 

 throughout tlie neuration of Prof. Comstock's 

 division Frenatae. The swallowtails are 

 more specialized than all the otlier butterflies 

 through the absorption of vein viii of the 

 secondaries and, in this respect, resemble 

 the highest Saturniadae, such as the genera 

 Rothschildia and Samia. The radial system 

 of the Papilionidae, aside from the state of 

 the median system, cannot be said to be more 

 generalized than in the Nymphalidae. The 

 radial system of the Parnassiidae is more 

 specialized than in any of the " four-footed " 

 butterflies, in which no absorption of the 

 radial veins has taken place. No other 

 group within the order has the short, 

 downwardly curved spur-vein on internal 

 margin which I have called vein ix, and 

 which I grant may be considered a general- 

 ized character of the Parnassi-Papilionidae. 

 The neuration of the Parnassiidae, taking 

 the same developmental direction as else- 

 where, accentuates characters commenced to 

 be shown by the genuine swallowtails and 

 the family must reasonably be considered to 

 have emerged from the Papilionidae, than 

 which it is the more specialized group. 

 Since all the other butterflies possess vein 

 viii as a loop to vii at base, or a scar of same, 

 while in the Agapetidae it has become lost, 

 and the Papilionides have instead a strong 

 spur-vein oppositely curved, it is clear they 

 stand apart and are not to be ignominiously 

 placed next above the skippers, as they are, 

 for instance in the Philadelphia Check List. 

 After all butterflies have wings and these 

 wings constitute a record. 



So far I believe I reply adequately to the 

 critic of Psyche, who, I think, can hardly 

 have followed the text of my Fauna closely. 

 I may finish with a word upon the methods 

 of illustration employed to show the neu- 

 ration. At the time I had so much daily 

 work in making and in studying when made 



the very many necessary preparations of the 

 butterflies, that I had no leisure to study the 

 wings of the moths. I relied, in fact, gener- 

 ally upon the accuracy of all hitherto pub- 

 lished drawings of venation. But, after the 

 first part of the Fauna had gone to press, 

 it occurred to me to compare my photo- 

 graphic illustrations with the engravings of 

 others authors. To my surprise I found 

 that Dr. Spuler's figure of the primary of 

 Pieris brassicae, given in his inaugural dis- 

 sertation which has been much quoted in 

 America, differed widely from my own. An 

 examination showed me that an entire vein, 

 running out to the external margin, had been 

 added by Dr. Spuler. But this was a matter 

 which after all did not concern me nor my 

 Fauna. What did concern me was, that Mr. 

 Meyrick had figured five primary' wings of 

 Geometridae in the Transactions of the En- 

 tomological Society of London part i, 1892, 

 and that I had relied upon the accuracy of 

 these figures for my statement that in the 

 Geometridae vein viii was present as a fold 

 and vein ix as a vein, "tubular" or other- 

 wise. Mr. Meyrick figures the primary of 

 Pseudopanthera macularia and four others. 

 After my experience with Spuler, and also 

 because I must soon in turn occupy myself 

 with the Geometridae, I made preparations 

 of the wings of P. macularia and four other, 

 different but sometimes allied forms to those 

 given by Mr. Meyrick. I was greatly dis- 

 concerted at finding that Mr. Meyrick's fig- 

 ures were as faulty as Dr. Spuler's. Vein 

 viii was a regular " tubular " vein in all five, 

 and, therefore, Mr. Meyrick should not have 

 represented it by a dotted line which indi- 

 cates a fold or scar, in other words a degen- 

 erate vein. But the worst of all was, that 

 there was not a trace of vein ix to be seen ; 

 the curved line, as representing here a vein, 

 introduced so artistically by Mr. Meyrick in 

 each and all of his illustrations was abso- 

 lutely wanting in nature. With this my 

 suggestion that the Geometridae might be 

 on the line of descent of the Parnassi-Papil- 



