130 Mr, J. W. Dunning on 



Of course, the generic name Acentropus was given to 

 the insect in allusion to the supposed absence of tibial 

 spurs. But according to Nolcken, Acentropus is a mis- 

 nomer, the legs possessing spines, which render the 

 name inapplicable. Under the microscope, he found at 

 the end of the mid-tibia one, and on the hind-tibia, not 

 far from the middle, one, and at the end another, small 

 spine. All previous authors had agreed in describing 

 the tibiae as without spurs or spines, and Speyer (whose 

 specimens were sent to him by Nolcken) in his first paper 

 (Stett. Zeit. xxx. 405) spoke of the spur-less legs ; but 

 subsequently (xxxi. 222, n.) he says that he has con- 

 firmed Nolcken's statement, but the spurs are minute 

 and fragile. For myself, I see, but only on one or two 

 specimens, very small and very short spurs.* But as 

 between Lepidoptera and Trichoptera, how stands the 

 argument, so far as the armature of the tibiae is con- 

 cerned ? If the middle and hind-tibiae are spurred (as 

 must now be admitted to be the fact) , this is the rule in 

 one Order as much as in the other ; but if they were not 

 spurred, this would be as much at variance with the rule 

 in one Order as in the other. And either the presence 

 or the absence of spurs leaves the question unanswered. 



A few words next as to the various positions in the Order 

 Lepidoptera which have been assigned to Acentropus. 



Stephens spoke of the Tineidce as '' the only family to 

 which it can be allied ; " and in 1840, Westwood placed 

 it provisionally in that family, between the genera Euspi- 

 lopteryx and Gracilaria. Five years later, in his ' British 

 Moths,' we find the genus at the very end of the Tineidce, 

 following the Trichopteroid genus Eriocephala {Microp- 

 teryx) , Euspilopteryx and Gracilaria, and coming imme- 

 diately before the Pterophoridce ; but it is noted, at the 

 same time, that it is " probably nearer to some of the 

 Hyponomeutidce." In 1848, Kolenati expressed an opinion 

 that Acentropus belonged to the Pyralidina, and the pupa 

 and habit of the larva at first led Brown also to consider 

 it allied to Hydrocampa, an opinion which he subsequently 

 changed. In 1859, Stainton placed it in the family Ey- 



* When this paper was read, Westwood exhibited drawings of Acen- 

 tropus, made in 1860, from specimens given him by Brown ; and these 

 drawings fully confirm Nolcken and Speyer as to the presence of tlie 

 minute spines on the mid- and hind-tibiae. 



