536 Mr. H. J. Elwes on a 



opportunity of visiting most of the principal collections 

 in the United States, and finding that there seemed to 

 be no prospect of getting a better knowledge at present, 

 I have thought it better to publish the notes I have 

 made, which are based on a study of very complete 

 materials. 



My own collection contains specimens, mostly in fair 

 series, of every species except astarte, eugeiiia, Columbia, 

 inornata, and carpenteri, and I have seen the types of 

 the first three of these, whilst I cannot recognise the last 

 two as species. 



I do not expect to see any addition of importance to the 

 genus, as the regions which they inhabit, excepting 

 Arctic and North-eastern Asia, are pretty well known, 

 but the life-history of most of the species is still unknown, 

 and Northern and Central China may perhaps add some 

 species to the list. 



In the abbreviations of my synopsis I have followed 

 Staudinger and Edwards' catalogue pretty generally, 

 so that a reference to one or the other of them will 

 explain any which may not be generally understood.* 



The genus Argynnis was founded by Fabricius in 

 1807. Hubner, in the ' Verzeichniss Bekanter Schmet- 

 terlinge ' in 1816, divided it into five sections, based on 

 the shape of the wings and the colour of the under 

 side, and included insects of other genera such as 

 MeliUea and Agraulis. 



Ochsenheimer, in the ' Schmetterlinge von Europa,' 

 vol. iv., p. 16, in 1816, first properly defined it, and 

 Doubleday, in his ' Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera,' con- 

 siders him the author of the genus. Its characters are 

 given by Doubleday in full, and the following remarks 

 made : — " The two sections composing this genus appear 

 to me to be too closely allied to admit of their separation 

 into distinct genera as I once thought advisable. The 

 only constant difference is in the position of the sub- 

 costal nervules ; for, though generally the species of the 

 first section (Argynnis) dift'er slightly in the form of tlie 

 palpi from those of the second (Brenthis), yet this 

 difi'erence is not constant. Moreover, as Westwood has 

 remarked, the form of the palpi does not appear to be a 

 character alwaj'S to be relied on in this and the following 

 genus." 



* An asterisk after a reference signifies, as in Edwards's Cata- 

 logue, that it refers to the preparatory stages of the insect. 



