74 



wing- in all the Lepidoptera in the pupa state. The wings are then 

 bent downwards, and the iipper wings cover the lower ones, the 

 upper surface of the latter turned sidewise. In the Papilionidae, 

 or true Butterflies, in their adult state, the wings are raised above 

 the body, their upper surfoce turned upwards and inwards, never 

 turning outwards. In the mature Hesperian the position of the 

 wings is different ; the anterior pair only are raised, while the lower 

 ones are stretched horizontally. In the perfect state of the lowest 

 Moths, the wings are stretched backwards close to the body, which 

 they more or less surround. In the varying attitude of the wings 

 we evidently have a manifestation of the cephalic principle, and 

 accordingly a safe basis upon which to found our systematic 

 arrangements. 



It is with diffidence that I suggest that, in the position of the 

 wings, we have a character which might be interpreted as assigning 

 a higher position to the Geometridae. In most of these moths 

 there is a more frequent common ornamentation of the upper 

 surface of the wings, perhaps predicated by the exposure of the hind 

 pair in a state of rest to the light. 



With regard to the position of the Deltoidsj Lederer says : 



"Ich konnte, wie gesagt, ebenfalls keine [Verschiedenheit] auffin- 

 den und trage um so weniger Bedenken, die nun aufzufiihrenden 

 Arten [Deltoiden] zu den Eulen zu rechnen, als sie selbst dann, 

 wenu noch ein sie von diesen trennendes, ausschliessliches Merkmal 

 aufgefunden werden sollte dennoch hier und nicht bei den Pyrali- 

 don unterzubringen waren und der Totaleindruck sie gewiss von 

 diesen noch weit mehr, als von den Nodninen unterscheldet, iiber- 

 haupt weniger in Wirklichkeit als in der Gewohnheit diese Arten 

 als Pyraliden zu betrachten, besteht." 



While I am not agreed with the separation of the Cymatophorina, 

 Herrich-Schaeffer, as a group equivalent to the Noctuidae, nor as 

 having more than analogies with the Eombycidae, I think Ave shall 

 be justified in considering the Deltoids as belonging to the Noctui- 

 dae; and this rather than allow an interpolation of the Family 

 Geometridae between groups so nearly allied, that certain of our first 

 authorities, Zeller, Lederer and Ilerrich-Schaeffer, cannot separate 

 them by any tangible character. 



