188 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



ON THE IDENTIFICATION OF DANAUS PLEXIPPUS, Linn. 

 By W. F. Kirby, F.L.S., F.E.S., &c. 



Considerable confusion has arisen, and still prevails, 

 respecting the butterfly which ought to retain this name ; and 

 it may, therefore, be useful to set forth the full evidence. 



The original description (Syst. Nat., ed. x., i. p. 471, n. 80), 

 with the references, &c., is as follows : — 



*'P. D. alis integerrimis fulvis; venis nigris dilatatis, mar- 

 gine nigro punctis albis. 



Pet. Mus. 58, n. 527. 



Sloan. Jam. 2, p. 214, t. 239, f. 5, 6. 



Catesb. Car. 2, t. 88. 



Eai. Ins. 138, n. 3. 



Habitat in America septentrionali. 



Alae primores fascia alba, ut in sequente, cui similis." 



The species alluded to in the last line is Danaus clirysipjpuSf 

 which has a white subapical band on the fore wings, a character 

 not exhibited by any American species. 



It is to be noted that Linne does not add the letters "M.L.V." 

 to either species, leaving it to be inferred that they were not in 

 the Queen's Collection at the time. 



In 1764 Linne published his descriptive Catalogue of the 

 Queen's Collection (Mus. Ludov., Ulric. Eeginge, &c.) ; and at 

 p. 262 describes Papilio plexippus, quoting Sloane, Catesby {ivith 

 doubt), and Petiver. The most important passages here are the 

 following : — 



" Habitat in America septentrionali. P. Kalm, Meus e 

 China." 



"Alse Primores apicibus late nigris in qua parte, prseter 

 puncta alba, etiam Fascia alba interrupta ex Maculis quinque." 



This would lead us to infer that Linne's type was a Chinese 

 specimen, which alone could be fairly compared with D. chry- 

 sippus, and to which alone the sentence beginning "Alae 

 Primores " could apply. 



This is the view taken by Dr. Aurivillius in his " Eecensio 

 Critica Mus. Lud. Ulr." p. 70, published in the Swedish 

 ' Vetenskaps Handlingar,' ser. 2, vol. xix., no. 5. He adds the 

 further evidence that two specimens of the Asiatic insect still exist 

 in the remnants of the Queen's collection, and that it is figured 

 under the name plexippus in an unpublished plate by Clerck. 



The notice of P. plexippus in Linne, Syst. Nat. (ed. xii.), i. 

 (2), p. 767, n. 117 (1767), only differs from that in the 10th by 

 the addition of the words *'Mus. Lud. Ulr. 262," and by the 

 reference to Ray being placed first. 



What is the evidence in favour of the name plexippus being 

 applicable to a North American species ? 



