236 Mr. J. S. Baly's Descriptions of 



XXI. Descriptions of sorne neio Species o/Sagra; Bemarhs 

 on that Genus; and the Characters of Cheiloxena, a 

 new Genus belonging to the same Family. By J. S. Baly, 



Esq. 



[Read June 4th, I860.] 



In the following paper I have endeavoured (as completely as the 

 materials before me will allow) to bring our knowledge of the 

 genus Sagra from the date of M. Lacoidaire's valuable work up 

 to the present time ; it will be seen that I have reduced some of 

 the Lacordairian species to mere varieties, whilst, on the other 

 hand, I have named and described others lately added to our 

 collections, which I believe to be new ; at the end of the paper 

 I have given a list of the species, marking with a f those with 

 which I am unacquainted. 



Sagra nigrita, Oliv. 

 During the last few years this insect has been received plen- 

 tifully from Mr. Thwaites, of Ceylon, thus proving (as M. La- 

 cordaire imagined) that the locality given by Olivier in his great 

 work was erroneous ; I possess two male specimens which, instead 

 of being entirely black, as in the type, are nigroaeneous ; they 

 agree in all particulars, save locality, with S. dentipes, the next 

 species in Lacordaire's book. I cannot but think that Fabricius 

 and Weber were wrong in supposing this latter insect to have been 

 brought from the Cape of Good Hope; according to the description 

 given by Lacordaire, it is much more nearly allied to the Indian, 

 than to any known African species, and, in all probability, will 

 eventually prove to be a mere variety of S. nigrita. 



Sagra sj^lendula, Weber. 

 This insect is spread over the whole Indian continent. I have 

 also received it from Shanghai, where it was taken by Mr. For- 

 tune ; the specimens from India are generally much darker and 

 more deeply tinged with violet ; tliose from northern China are 

 a third smaller than the ordinary size. 



Sagra Petel'ii. 

 I have examined six examples of the male of this beautiful 

 little species, but in one specimen only have I found the posterior 



