286 LYCJENI1XE. 



For the primary division it will be seen that I have chosen the 

 form of the legs, organs that are functional and in one group, 

 subfamily Gerydince, are peculiarly modified. For the subdivision 

 of the very large number of the remaining genera, after separating 

 the few that come under the Gerydince, the venation of the fore 

 wing offers good characters. In all genera of butterflies there 

 seems to be a more or less irregular, sometimes progressive, 

 shifting of the veins of the fore wing upwards towards the costa 

 and outwards towards the apex. In consequence of this movement 

 certain veins become obsolete, and the first of these to disappear 

 are the outer branches of the subcostal, i. e. veins 8 and 9. In the 

 Indian genera of the Lyccenida?, the great majority of the forms 

 have lost vein 8, in a few more genera vein 9 is also absent, and 

 only (as has already been noted) in three genera are the full number 

 of veins in the fore wing present in both sexes. Attempts to 

 form natural major groups founded on the presence or absence of 

 veins 8 and 9 in the fore wing failed. I turned, therefore, to the 

 specialization and movement of the median system of veins in the 

 same wing and found that though in most, if not all, the non- 

 Gerydine forms, vein (5 had shifted upwards and was emitted close 

 to the base of vein 7 at the upper apex of the discoidal cell, and 

 that even in a few forms it had moved still further outwards and 

 forked from vein 7 beyond the apex of the cell, still in a very 

 large number vein 5 had retained its place and was emitted from 

 the point of junction of the middle and lower discocellulars which 

 were subequal in length ; while in a certain number of forms 

 vein 5 had also moved upwards and originated close to the bases 

 of veins 6 and 7. A critical examination of the two non-Gerydine 

 groups thus formed showed that the division was a natural one, all 

 those with veins 5 and 6 of the fore wing approximate can, by 

 other characters and by a fades and style of colouring peculiarly 

 their own, be separated from the members of the group in which 

 vein 5 has retained its original place, and at base is not approximate 

 to vein 6. The minor modifications of the venation in one group, 

 and of the shape of the hind wing in the other, that redivide the 

 two sections just mentioned each into two, have possibly less 

 taxonomical value, but they have the advantage of not separating 

 closely allied forms. In conclusion, I have been obliged to erect 

 monotypic subdivisions for Curetis and Liphyra. The forms 

 tinder these genera seem to me curiously isolated, not so much 

 perhaps by the venation of the wings in the imago as by the 

 remarkable abnormalities exhibited in their larval and pupal 

 states. 



It is immaterial, I think, in what order the subfamilies are 

 taken, but as a matter of convenience I have adopted, so 

 far as is possible, the sequence and arrangement pursued by 

 de Niccville. 



