{August 1883. BULLETIN BROOKLYN EN'TOM. SOC. VOL. VI. 37 
Synopsis of the genera, of the N. A. Rhopalocera. 
By John B. Smith. 
The following table of genera has been compiled from actual examina- 
tion of specimens in some groups, and from the works of Doubleday, 
Westwood, Hewitson, Scudder, Butler, Morris. W.H. Edwards and others. 
Hitherto no attempt has been made to tabulate all the genera or to give 
in this form a comparative and condensed description of the genera. Mr. 
Scudder in Vols. II and III of the Buffalo Bulletin. tabulates the Vym- 
phales and Rurales (Lycaenids and Hryeinids) and in the Boston Trans- 
actions classifies the Hesperidae without however satisfactorily defining the 
genera proposed or used by him, In the Butterflies genus making has 
been rampant and it is quite possible to find a different genus for every 
species in our fauna. Genera without number, yea families and sub fa- 
milies have been proposed, adopted and rejected—many without de- 
scription, examination or study, and as a result there is a vast mass of 
names created and lying in wait for some resurrectionist, to be used by 
him to confuse and upset existing states of things and this opportunity 
has been and will continue to be used. To show the confusion caused—- 
Vanessa anhopa has that name on the continent. Mr. Scudder for 
reasons given and which he deems satisfactory makes it the type of 
Papilio while Mr. Kirby makes its near allies Mymphalis// So too of 
others, and in fact nearly each author uses a different term for a given 
insect and worse yet uses a given and well known term to apply to 
entirely different insects. Prior to Doubleday, Hewitson and West— 
wood’s great work many of the genera were undescribed ; that work gave 
careful descriptions of all the genera known to them, illustrated in al- 
most every instance by a species on their plates. Mr. Scudder is the only 
American author that has done any systematic work in this line, but un- 
fortunately he stands almost if not quite alone in his minute subdivi- 
‘sions, creating a new genus or using an old one for each of our three 
species of Vanessa so that I could use from him only structural characters 
primarily dividing his groups. Mr. W. H. Edwards’ work on special 
groups or genera has not been overlooked and Mr. Butler’s work in the 
Satyridae and elsewhere has been used. I have adopted the system of 
Doubleday and Westwood as used and modified by Mr. Edwards: in the 
Flesperidae | have used the characters proposed by Dr. Speyer in the 
appendix to Mr. Edwards’ catalogue. Premising thus much and that the 
table has been compiled with particular reference to the American fauna 
I shall tabulate according to families. 
