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XXVI. A Synojosis of the genus Clothilda. 

 By OsBERT SalviNj M.A., F.L.S., &c. 



[Eead 15th November, 1869.] 



DuEiNG an examination of a small collection of Diurnal 

 Lepidoptera which was sent to this country by Mr. 

 Ramsden, from the Island of Cuba^ I discovered that 

 errors have been made with respect to the identification 

 of two members of the limited genus Clothilda, by all 

 recent writers on Cuban Rhopalocera. In one case, the 

 Haitian C. pantherata and its Cuban representative have 

 been considered as one and the same species, though the 

 latter received a different name from Hiibner, which was 

 afterwards recognized by Klug. In the other case, I 

 found that the second Cuban form of this genus usually 

 stands in collections as G. jcegeri, from which, however, 

 it differs materially, as will be seen below. Besides these 

 additions to the Antillean species, I have another to add 

 to C. euryale, hitherto known as the sole representative 

 of the genus on the continent of America ; thus raising 

 the whole number of species in this genus to six. 



As stated in Doubleday and Hewitson^s " Genera of 

 Diurnal Lepidoptera,^' the genus Clothilda was first esta- 

 blished by Blanchard, in 1840, upon Argynnis briarea, of 

 Godart (C. pantherata). In all probability, Hlibner's 

 genus Anicia is of prior date to Clothilda, but as much 

 uncertainty prevails regarding the years when the 

 various portions of Hlibner's great work were issued, 

 and, moreover, as Anicia was never characterized, I think 

 Hlibner's title had best be set aside, and the arrange- 

 ment of the "Genera" adhered to. For the same reasons, 

 Hlibner's name Anelia, applied in the third volume of 

 the " Exotische Schmetterlinge " to C. euryale, must 

 also be considered as a synonym. 



The genus bears a strong resemblance to Argynnis, but 

 diS'ers chiefly in possessing a well-defined lower disco- 

 cellular nervure to the posterior wing. Indeed, this 

 feature is so well developed, that it renders the position 

 of Clothilda, in the Nymphalince, somewhat anomalous, if 

 the character of the open or closed cell be taken as of 

 primary importance. 



In its distribution, Clothilda is one of the very few 

 genera possessed in common by the Antilles and Central 



TBANS. ENT. SOC. 1869. PART V. (DECEMBER.) 



