434 



ON THE DERBID GENERA 

 PIIEMCE AND PROUTISTA (Hem.) 



bj G.-IV. liirknldy 



In my last writing on the geniis Phenice (1907, A. S. E. Belg., LI, 

 300), I accepted Mr. Distant's pronouncement that P. moesta is a 

 true Phenice, and that my Proutista is a synonym of Westwood's 

 genus, because I did not possess Boheman's paper on the genus 

 Derbe and because I supposed that M. Distant, with t'uU hterature 

 and types ayailable, would be in a position to settle this question, 

 which is merely nomenclatorial. Incidentaily, I may say that, in 

 ascribing the date 1845 to this genus, Mr. Distant has fallen into a 

 double error, lirstly, because the pubhcation of the Memoir was 

 made in 1842, and secondly, because a summary was pubhshed in 

 two places in 1841. 



Recently, I hâve acquired a copy of Boheman's scarce paper 

 (( Ûbservationes in Derbe Genus» (Svensk. Vet. Ac. liandl. for 

 1837, pp. 223-230, PI. VII), and, through the kindness of Dr. L. 0. 

 Howard of Washington, I hâve seen M. Distant's « Insecta Trans- 

 vaalia », thèse trowing a very ditïerent light on the subject. 



The type of Phenice, is, as M. Distant states correctly, Derbe 

 fritillaris Boheman, from West Africa. It is represented roughly on 

 Boheman's lig. 8, the tegminal and alar venation being enlarged on 

 figs. 15-6; thèse latter agrée with Westwood's figures, in his 

 Memoir, ofP. fasciolata, a species which is stated to be congeneric 

 with P. fritillaris. Now, neither tegmen nor wing of P. fritillaris 

 can possibly be referred to a genus containing moesta also, as may 

 be seen at once on comparing thèse figures with those of P. moesta 

 in the « Fauna of British India », Rh. [II, f. 142, unless, of course, 

 there is somegross error in the descriptions and figures of Boheman, 

 Westwood or Distant. 



This contention is still further strengthened by the figure of 

 Mr. Distant's newspecies from Natal, Phenice abdominalis, (Ins. 

 Transv. 195, 1907; fig. 3, on PI. 20, 1908). As with P. fritillaris, so 

 now is it impossible to consider this new species congeneric with 

 P. moesta, the two Aethiopian species agreeing in al essentials. 

 Taking Mr. Distant's figures themselves as the standard, and 

 comparing the figure of P. abdominalis in the « Ins. Transv. » and 

 that of P. moesta in the « Fauna of India », we see a quite différent 

 venation both of tegmina and wings; moreover a character given 

 for Phenice by Mr. Distant hiinself in the latter work (p. 295), is 



