African Species of Erotylidse. 139 



1879, p. 219), unable to discover any feature of generic 

 value by which it is possible to distinguish Crotch's genera 

 Megalodacne and Episcaphula, and I therefore regard the 

 latter, which is of later date, as a synonym of the former. 

 All the African species retained in Episcapha in Kulmt's 

 Catalogue have an elongate third joint to the antenna, and 

 must therefore be referred to Megalodacne. 



The sexes of m^any species of this genus are strongly 

 differentiated by the curvature of the tibite and the dilatation 

 of the tarsi in the male. Episcaphula dubia, Crotch, is the 

 female of E. aulacochiloides, Crotch, the punctured pro- 

 sternum noticed in the latter by Crotch being also a male 

 character. 



Episcapha schiveitzeri, Dohrn, is synonymous with Megalo- 

 dacne obliquata, Lacord. ; E. rectesignata. Crotch, is a barely 

 distinguishable form of it ; and E. neutra, Dohrn, is evidently 

 very closely related. Megalodacne scenica, Gerst., has also 

 been redescribed as Episcaphula picturata, Gorh. The 

 species described by Lacordaire as Episcapha repanda is 

 probably not the true M. repanda, but the one later named 

 E. piciventris by Gorham. Episcaphula subcoslata, Schenk., 

 appears to belong to the genus Plagiopisthen, which is best 

 retained for the present as a separate genus, on account of 

 its distinctive shape. Platydacne is a synonym of it. 



The paper by Gorham describing Erotylidse from South 

 and West Africa (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (7) v. 1900) is so 

 astonishing an example of confused nomenclature, and has 

 resulted in complicating the synonymy of the genera con- 

 cerned to such a degree, that the mind rather recoils from 

 the Augean task of clearing the ground. Gorham's genera 

 are usually exceedingly unsatisfactory, and his own con- 

 ception of them is often geographical rather than morpho- 

 logical, as shown by such remarks as " Had this species been 

 an African insect, I should have referred it to my genus 

 AmMyscelis ^' [l. c. p, 90) and " I have taken an African 

 insect for the type of Amblyscelis, otherwise I should have 

 regarded this species and A. nigrinus as belonging to my 

 genus Petaloscelis " (/. c. p. 89). It is evident from these 

 passages tliat the gewus Amblyscelis was a shadowy one, ev^en 

 in the mind of its author. Gorham has not, as a matter of 

 fact, cited its type at all, but states that it is formed for the 

 African species placed in Amblyopus by Lacordaire and 

 Crotch. Of these he mentions only A. senegalensis, Lacord., 

 which may therefore be considered the type of Amblyscelis. 

 This species I do not know, but it possesses the very large 

 and coarsely-facetted eyes and the narrow, loosely-jointed 



10* 



