Zoological Society. 303 



and confer it on the African insect ; but I contend that as Linnaeus 

 clearly denned the American species under that name in the * Museum 

 Ludov. Ulr.,' and in his subsequent work made no attempt to dis- 

 criminate the three species, we are warranted, 1st, in retaining the 

 name of Paphia for the American insect, in which case it will be ne- 

 cessary to sink the Fabrician name of Polyphemus into a synonym of 

 Paphia ; 2ndly, in giving to the African one the Fabrician name of 

 Dione (striking out the incorrect Fabrician reference of Petiver's 

 Guinea insect to the Asiatic species) ; and 3rdly, in giving a different 

 specific name to the Tusseh silk moth of India, to which Fabricius 

 restricted the name of S. Paphia, but which it ought certainly not to 

 retain, seeing that Linnaeus, when he first proposed that name, knew 

 only the African and American insects. Drury has however enabled 

 us to clear up the difficulty as to this third species, having figured it 

 in the second volume of his • Illustrations' under the name of Mylitta 

 (pi. 5. fig. 1 =Paphia, Cramer. Ins. 13. tab. 147. fig. A), which name 

 Fabricius also adopted, giving the Asiatic species twice over under 

 the names of Paphia and Mylitta. 



The synonyms of the three species will stand thus : — 



1. Saturnia Paphia, Linn. Mus. Lud. Ulr. 

 B. Polyphemus, Fabr. 



Hab. North America. 



2. Saturnia Dione, Fabricius. 

 Phalcena Guineensis, Petiver. 



Ph. Paphia, Linn. Syst. Nat., ed. 10. ex parte. 

 B. Petiveri, Guerin, Ann. Soc. Sericicole. 

 Hab. Africa. 



3. Saturnia Mylitta, Drury, Fabr. 

 B. Paphia, Cramer, Fabricius. 

 The Tusseh Silkworm Moth. 

 Hab. India. 



Saturnia Wahlbergii, Boisduval in Delegorgue, Voy. dans 

 l'Afr. Austr. ii. p. 600. 



Of this supposed species, which inhabits Port Natal, I have seen 

 specimens, but I cannot consider them distinct from S. Dione, of 

 which they are highly coloured individuals. The following is M. 

 Boisduval' s description : — 



" Elle est un peu plus grande que la Saturnia Pyri d' Europe, et 

 son port est assez different. Le dessus des quatres ailes est jaune, 

 fortement saupoudre d'atomes bruns avec une bande etroite, brune 

 doublee interieurement de gris violatre commune reguliere ; com- 

 mencant pres du sommet des superieures et arrivant au bord interne 

 des inferieures, juste au niveau de l'extremite de 1' abdomen. Vers le 

 base des quatre ailes on voit une autre bande commune tres-sinueuse 

 irreguliere, violatre precede a la base des superieures d'une espece de- 

 tache de sa couleur. L'ceil des ailes superieures est petit, transparent, 

 cercle de jaune et entoure d'un peu de violatre surtout dans le male ; 

 l'ceil des ailes inferieures est plus grand, jaune, a prunelle diaphane 

 et a iris noir cercle' de violet. Decfte a M. Wahlberg, l'un des com- 

 pagnons de M. Delegorgue." 



