IV 



Lepidoptera by modern Entomologists. More than two-thirds of these Illustrations are 

 illustrative of that beautiful order of insects ; and yet, with the exception of some of the 

 showy butterflies and moths, scarcely a reference is to be found even in the works of 

 Fabricius, the personal friend of Drury, whose Entomologia Systematica, published in 1793 

 and I794, contains the last general summary of the species of this order ; Gmelin also, 

 whose Systema Naturae it has been the fashion to decry, but which, as a laborious compi- 

 lation fi-om the works of preceding and chiefly Continental authors, is of great service,* 

 was only acquainted with these illustrations through the early works of Fabricius.t It is 

 true that M. M. Boisduval and Guerin have respectively published various new exotic 

 Lepidoptera, especially of the Nocturnal group, in the Voyages of the CoquiUe and 

 Astrolabe ; but we still want a general revision, not only of the species but of the genera 

 of this order. It was to have been hoped that, as regarded the Javanese species, this 

 would have been effected by Dr. Horsfield, whose work upon the Lepidoptera of Java, as 

 far as published, leaves nothing to be desired of the structural details of the species 

 illustrated therein. M. Boisduval also, in his Histoire Naturelle des Lepidopteres, has 

 treated the subject in a masterly manner, availing himself both of the preparatory 

 states and veining of the wings ; but we greatly miss those beautiful details which render 

 the works of Horsfield and Curtis invaluable. It is in this comparative ignorance, both 

 of the structural and metamorphotic details of exotic Lepidoptera, that we may attribute 

 the want of a sound and philosophical distribution of the order in question ; and which at 

 the same time prevents us from determining the situation of many remarkable and 

 anomalous groups. Of these the genera Castnia, Urania, &c. and the whole tribe of the 

 Zygajnidae may especially be mentioned ; and it is with the view of inciting enquiry into 

 this part of the subject, that I have introduced many of the latter species into the genus 

 Callimorpha amongst the Nocturnal moths. 



Another obstacle has been produced by the little attention paid by the Entomologists 

 of the last century to the geographical situation of their insects ; as an instance of this, it 

 will be sufficient to mention that Linnseus and Fabricius made use of the term " In Indiis" 

 generally, to indicate that an insect was an inhabitant either of the West or East Indies. 

 Drury indeed appears to have paid more than the ordinary degree of attention to this part 

 of the subject, as appears from the Catalogue of his Insects, which I obtained at the sale 

 of Mr. Donovan's collections, to whom, as appears by a note, they were presented by 

 Mr. Drury, Thus under Lucanus interruptus, (Genus Passalus, Fabricius,) we find the 

 following entries : — 



• A similar comijilation bringing down the science to tlie present time Kould be invaluable, even with all the inaccuracies 

 charged to Gmelin. 



+ This is eyident from Gmelin's occasionally copying some of Fabricius' erroneous references, e. g. Bombyx oruatrix, Gmel. 

 p. 2444. with a reference to Drury, v. 1. t. 74. as in Fabr. Syst. Ent. p. .:>86. instead of tab. -24. 



