411 



A KEY TO THE ASIATIC GENERA OF THE EESPERIID^E. 



By Capt. E. Y. Watson, Indian Staff Corps, f.e.s., f.z.s. 

 (Read before the Bombay Natural History Society on 2nd April, 1895.) 



In the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1893. 

 page 3, there appeared a paper by me on a proposed arrangement of 

 the genera of the Besperiidw, and Mr. de Niceville has suggested to 

 me that, for the convenience of workers in India, I should publish an 

 excerpt of it as far as relates to Indian genera. In adopting his sug- 

 gestion, I have considered it would render the paper more complete if 

 all the Asiatic genera were included, as there are only sixteen of the 

 latter at present described, which have not been recorded from within 

 Indian limits, and it is quite probable that some of these will also be 

 obtained hereafter within the Indian region. 



I have found it necessary to alter, to a certain extent, the arrange- 

 ment of my previous paper owing to several new genera having been 

 recently described, and I have also found that, by slightly modifying 

 the characters taken, it has been possible to arrange the genera more 

 naturally. Having also seen specimens of the true Isma obscurus, or 

 some species very closely allied to it, I now consider that I was wrono- 

 in assigning u Isoteinon " cephala, Hewitson, to the genus Isma, from 

 the type species of which it differs markedly in the length of the 

 antennas. It does not, however, appear necessary to found a new genus 

 for cephala, as it only appears to differ from Zographetus in wanting 

 the male-mark characteristic of that species. It is therefore tentatively 

 included in that genus, together with its close ally cephaloides, 

 de Niceville. 



Since the publication of my paper above referred to, some nineteen 

 new Asiatic genera have been described — sixteen* of them by 

 JVIr- de Niceville, who has in every case kindly sent the types to me 

 for examination to enable me to include them in the present paper ; 

 one, ApostictopteritSj by Mr. Leech, in the " Butterflies from China 

 Japan, and Corea ;" and two by Colonel Swinhoe in the Transactions 

 of the Entomological Society of London for 1893, which are referred 

 to below. 



* Crossiura, Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc, vol. vii, p. 350 (1892). 



Charmion, Ochus, Sepa, Journ. As. Soc. Eeng., vol. Ixiii, pt. ii, p. 48 (1894). 



Suada, Ge, Itys, Idmon, Pudicitia, Mimas, Creteus, Zela, Zampa, Iton, Eetion, and 

 Acerbas which are described in the paper which precedes this in the present Volume of this. 

 Journal. 



