EEVISION OF LINNiEAN TYPES OF PAL^ARCTIC PHOPALOCEEA. 



Revision o£ the Liniiean Types o£ PalEearctic Rhopalocera. By Roger 

 Yerity, M.D., F.It.E.S., F.Fr.E.S. (Commimicated Ly the President.) 



[Head 6tli February, 1913.] 



The kindness of Dr. B. Daydon Jackson has enabled me to examine the 

 insects of the Linneau collection, which, as is well known, was purchased 

 and brought to England in 1784 by Dr. J. E. Smith, and subsequently 

 became the property of the Linnean Society. 



Unfortunately the types of all the insects described by Liunasus were not 

 in his collection, as he also largely used that of the Baron Charles De Geer,. 

 now preserved in the Royal Academy of Science in Stockholm, and that of 

 the Queen Ludovica Ulrica, which is now in the Uppsala University. 



Most of the Pal?earctic Rhopalocera belonged, however, to Linnseus^ as 

 will be seen in the following pages ; and the opportunity I have had of 

 examining- them has enabled me to make observations which cast light 

 on several points of interest. Some of these have been the object of 

 long controversies amongst entomologists, owing to insufhcient original 

 descriptious, and others reveal mistakes which have been carried on for 

 a century and a half, and which were so thoroughly rooted by habit that 

 nobody ever suspected their existence. I hope in consequence that this 

 note may prove to be of some interest, and that it will encourage others to 

 do a similar work on the other Rhopalocera and on the Heterocera, which,, 

 I have no doubt, would yield as interesting results. 



Dr. Daydon Jackson^s thorough knowledge of the works and life of 

 Linnseus has been of invaluable assistance to me. Thus it is important 

 to know that he received many insects from Erik Brander, who was Swedish 

 Consul at Algiers from 1753 to 1765 : consequently the types of some of the 

 common European species actually are African,, and the " nimotypicaU' race 

 is that which flies in Africa, as will be observed. Linnreus also had several 

 correspondents in Germany and one in Hungary, as may be inferred by the 

 localities of his insects. I have found no evidence that Kiiblor, who 

 collected plants for him in several Italian localities, ever furnished him 

 with insects. 



One of the difficulties met with in working out the Linnean specimens 

 is due to the great amount of examples that Smith added to the collection. 

 However, after I had acquired some practice, I found that I could separate 

 the insects nearly always with absolute certainty, availing myself of several 

 data : — (1) the labels in Linnteus's own handwriting ; (2) the pins which 



