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III. On the classification of Australian Pyralidina. By 

 E. Meyrick, B.A. 



[Eeacl December 5tb, 1883.] 



In the present paper I have put together and classified 

 all the species of the families Ejnpaschiadce and Pyra- 

 lididce (as limited) known to me as occurring in Australia. 

 No species of either family is indigenous to New Zealand, 

 though Asopiafarinalis occurs (introduced). 



The fauna is limited and fragmentary. Fifteen genera 

 are given, including twenty-four species ; two of these 

 {Aglossa and Asopia), with one species each, are recently 

 introduced from Europe ; nine of the remainder are 

 endemic, so far as is at present known. The other four 

 are presumably derived from a Malayan source, though 

 Cacozelia is not yet known, except from North America. 

 It is not, however, possible yet to judge of the geographical 

 distribution of this group, of which the species seem 

 often to range very widely. 



In dealing with Walker's species of Pyrales a difficulty 

 of nomenclature occurs to which I direct attention, as it 

 is frequent in this group. We find such names as 

 murcusalis and sahirusaUs, which are unintelligible. No 

 mode of dealing with them is free from objection, though 

 I think it would be most dignified to reject them al- 

 together. The fact is that Walker named a certain 

 number of species after historical characters, e. g., from 

 Croesus he forms croesusaUs, which requires absolutely to 

 be altered into croesialis or crcesalis ; and, running short 

 of classical names, he apparently conceived the idea of 

 making up fresh ones, adding a classical termination, 

 and placing -alis after it in the same way. I propose to 

 do with these (since entomologists are not agreed to 

 reject nonsense-names) what I presume Walker himself 

 wished to do, to treat them as classical names, and alter 

 the barbarously-formed termination into conformity with 

 classical rules ; thus, in the present paper, for cegusalis 

 I have written cEgalis. Fortunately many of these names 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. LOND. 1884. — PART I. (APRIL.) 



