LXXVI 



as to give himself the trouble to decipher it, and makes it out quite 

 satisfactorily to be « Clytus attenuaUis mihi. hab. in ins. mar. 

 pacifie. D, Latreille ». This spécimen is also labelled by Chevrolat 

 « Plagithmysus atlenuatus Boisd. » , and lias likewise attached to it 

 another label « Œmona Immilis? Newm, » 



On comparison of this type with my séries of species from the 

 Sandwich islands it is clear that it does not agrée with any of them. 

 Its locality is notwithstanding probably the Hawaiian islands, but 

 as it is quite possible the genus may occur in some of the other 

 islands of Polynesia this is still a somewhat doubtful point; it is 

 however certain from the évidence that Boisduval was wrong in 

 saying it inhabits New-Holland; and it is almost equally clear that 

 Chevrolat made a mistake in citing New-Zealand as the habitat; 

 for Dejean's label would not justify this, and it is more than pro- 

 bable that Chevrolat's error arose from the Œmona label which by 

 some means had be corne erroneously attached to this spécimen ; 

 Œmona being a New-Zealand genus : and it may also be considered 

 as highly probable that Motschulsky having seen this same example 

 with the Œmona label attached fell into the error of announcing 

 that his genus was the same as Œnemona (meaning Œmona there 

 being no Œnemona extant) of Newman. 



As regards the third species, Clytus distortus Chev., referred by 

 Chevrolat with doubt to the genus, Bâtes has recently remarked 

 (Biol. Cent. Am., Coleop., vol. V, p. 302) that the species cannot 

 be referred to Neoclytus and his remarks render it equally certain 

 that it is not a Plagithmysus. 



Horn's suggestion that Plagithmysus is the same as Neoclytus is 

 not a good one, the genus is well characterized by the peculiar form 

 of the wing-cases, and the remarkable fact that there is no folding 

 of the wings at the apex, so that they project beyond the wing- 

 cases and look like a prolongation thereof. 



The errors I hâve hère had occasion to clear up demonstrate the 

 necessity of labelling carefuUy each example in a good collection 

 of insects. It was no doubt by a carelessly attached label that 

 Motschoulsky was led to assert Plagithmysus to be a synonym of 

 Œmona, with which it has no affinity, and Chevrolat to publish 

 New-Zealand as the locality for P. attenuatus. While it was pro- 

 bably from want of a label that the false locality California has 

 been in vogue for P. pulverulentus for forty years. The fading of 

 the label written seventy years ago by Dejean illustrâtes the neces- 

 sity of adopting an indelible ink, and for some years past I hâve 

 myself used carbon for writing the particulars to be connected with 

 insects to be preserved. 



M. le D"" Alfred Dugès, frère de notre collègue, nous adresse 



