272 Mr. a. T. Bethiinc-Baker on 



De Niceville, when he dealt with this genus in 1890 

 (Butt. Ind., Ill, p. 187), wrote, " Omitting T. j^Hnius, 

 whicli is easily recognised and belongs to a different group, 

 six forms of T. theophradus have been recorded from 

 India, and are maintained as distinct species by Mr, Butler. 

 I am able to recognise as satisfactorily distinct two only of 

 these forms, T. Uieojilirastus and T. venosus." The author 

 then goes on to record the various species in the usual way, 

 but states definitely under each name that he regards it 

 as a form of theophrastus. The very celebrated French 

 entomologist, C. Oberthur, also records, in his incomparable 

 " Etudes de Lepidopterologie Comparee," fascicule iv, 

 p. 158 et seq., a similar opinion, only he goes further and 

 treats venosus also as a form of theophrastus, and he con- 

 firms this in vol. x, p. 377, Both Bingham and Swinhoe 

 have followed de Niceville's lead, going further, however, 

 in that they give as synonyms all the other species except 

 venosus. I believe I wrote to my old correspondent, de 

 Niceville, and informed him after the publication of his 

 third volume that both T. bcdkanica and some of the 

 Indian species had genitalia quite different from T. theo- 

 phrasttis. I have long intended to revise the genus and 

 the time has now come when it ought to be done, because 

 I have no doubt at all that all the species Butler refers to 

 will stand as entirely separate species from the European 

 one. He (Butler), however, was not correct in his idea that 

 theophrastus would turn out to be confined to Europe ; it 

 is quite a common species in many parts of India, and it 

 occurs in Africa south of the Sahara, 



The species group themselves by their genitalia into 

 three well-marked sections, viz, the halkanica section, 

 including nara, callinara, extricatus, alleratus and venosus; 

 these all have short, broad clasps that are provided with 

 longish, strong, horn-like sclerites; theophrastus will form 

 another section; it has a long, narrow clasp, and a long 

 aedoeagus; whilst syharis and grammica and quadratus 

 have short very broad clasps, with no horn-like sclerites, 

 different in shape to either, but more nearly allied to 

 halkanica than to theophrastus; the last of the three, 

 quadratus, forms the connecting link with Fabricius's 

 species in the increased length of the clasps and the long 

 tooth at the apex. 



It is interesting and curious to find that both in this 

 genus and also in Castalius, the species that have been 



