African r,<pccic& of the Lycacncstlus gvonf of Lycacnidac. 71 
Type, Triclema lucretilis, Hew. 
Karscli was the first to divide the somewhat large and 
intricate genus Lycaenesthes into two, when he separated 
the species in which vein 8 was absent and in which the 
costal vein anastomoses with 11. However closely a 
group of insects may be allied together by a merely super¬ 
ficial likeness of pattern, yet when it is seen that a certain 
number have structural characters differing along the 
same line, it is evident that the family is in the process 
of change, and that in the evolution of the group it is 
splitting up itself into different genera. Under such 
circumstances it appears to me not only justifiable but 
necessary to adopt the lines that are being worked out by 
the insects themselves, and when structure in the imago 
changes then that species should form or be placed in 
another genus, and this should apply in all cases, except 
where it is known that such structure varies inter se in the 
species of the genus. The genus diagnosed by Kai’sch 
should thei’efore be adopted. In the species T. lamias, 
whilst the neuration of the male is constant that of the 
female is not so, for out of a fairly long series I have two 
in which veins 11 and 12 do not anastomose, though even 
here there is a possibility of an aberration. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
A. Upper side brown. 
t. Primaries above with a tawny patch . rufoplagata. 
2. ,, „ uniform dull brown . lacides. 
.3. „ with no basal spots in 
either wing. tisamenus. 
4 Primaries above blackish; markings 
below very dark. hades. 
5. Primaries above dull brown, dark spot 
at end of cell, dark subtermiiial line in 
both wings. Below pattern markedly 
divided with white. phoenicis. 
6. Both wings warm brown above; primaries 
with a trace of a short paler subter- 
ininal line ; secondaries with a distinct 
pale subterminal line. Below warm 
brown with broad white dividing 
lines. lamilila. 
