Mr. Stephens un Sphiiijc I^phemercefonnis, "JJ 



An examination of the accompanying figure will at once show the 

 correctness of the above concise description, drawn up, as my la- 

 mented friend Haworth assured me, at the period of Drury's sale, 

 at which the insect was purchased by Donovan ; since when it has 

 been hidden from view, till the mutability of human possessions once 

 more brought it into light : but, at the same time, it is manifest that 

 its location is not amongst the ^gerUdce (see jEg. formiciformis, 

 the insect next to which it is placed in Lepidoptera Britannica, p. 72.), 

 the structure of the antennae, neuration of the wings, &c. being dis- 

 similar ; neither has it any alliance with Zeuzera, to which genus it 

 would appear Donovan assigns it, the sole resemblance thereto 

 arising from the apparent simplicity of the tip of the pectinated an- 

 tennae ; the neuration of the wings in Zeuzera and its congeners 

 being totally unlike, the discoidal areolet being singularly inter- 

 sected with nervures, whereas, in the insect now under examination 

 that areolet is simple ; the only resemblance being that the first 

 posterior nervure is bifid in both insects. 



From the mutilated state of the insect it would be mere waste of 

 time to attemjjt an amended description of the specimen ; I shall 

 therefore merely add, that upon examining it, with reference to its 

 genus, by inspecting the antennee, it was palpable that the latter had 

 been injured, and that the pectinations had been partly destroyed ; 

 but I am not i^ositive whether or no the extreme apex might not 

 originally have been simple, as in Stftiiropus Fagi ^ , several of the 

 male Geometridce, 8ic. The antennae may be described as being 

 rather long, and simply pectinated on each side, the pectinations 

 apparently extending nearly to the apex ; the thorax is broad, ovate, 

 robust ; the anterior wings long and narrow, I'ounded behind, with 

 rather strong nervures, and hyaline ; the posterior abbreviated and 

 small ; the abdomen long, robust at the base, and gradually atte- 

 nuated to the apex ; so that its discrepancies from Psyche are sufH- 

 ciently great to remove it from the same genus : in Psyche the an- 

 tennae are short, curved, with short, twisted pectinations, extending 

 evidently to the apex ; the thorax slender ; the abdomen linear, atte- 

 nuated merely at the apex ; the anterior wings broad, subtruncate 

 on the hinder margin, with slender nervures ; the posterior elongate 

 and ample ; but in both insects all the wings are nearly diaphanous, 

 but mostly so in the Ephemercefortnis. I therefore propose to distin- 

 guish the latter as a genus by the name 



Thyridopteryx, 



Hiibner's genera of the Canephora; being all named from the peculi- 

 arities in the wings ; and shall conclude by quoting Ochsenheimer's 



