MIMAS TILLE. 399 



Lucas, "British Hawk Moths," p. 131 (1895) ; Tutt, "Brit. Moths," p. 23 (1896) ; 

 Bartel, " Palaeark. Gross-Schmett.," ii., p. 146 (1900). Laothoe, Fab., " 111. 

 Mag.," vi., pp. 287 — 288 (1807). Laothoe, Leach, " Edinb. Enc," ix.,p. 130 (1815) ; 

 Oken, "Lehrb. Zool.," i., p. 753 (1815). Dilina, Dalm., " K. Vet. Ac. Handl.," 

 p. 212 (1816); Zett., "Ins. Lapp.," p. 916 (1840); Kirby, "Cat.," p. 709 (1892); 

 "Handbk.," iv., p. 56 (1897); Meyr., " Handbk.," &c, p. 300 (1895); Leech, 

 " Trans. Ent. Soc. London," 1898, p. 278 (1898); Prout, "Ent.," xxxii., p. 60 

 (1899); Staud., "Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 100 (1901). Merinthus, Meig., "Eur. 

 Schmett.," ii., p. 149 (1830). Minias, Stph., "111. Haust.," iv., app. p. 5 



(1835). 



The genus Mimas was eliminated from the remaining Amorphids 

 by Hiibner, about 1822 (Verzeichniss, p. 142), where he diagnoses 

 the genus as follows : 



The palpi fairly moderate in length. The forewings with deep inlets and 

 blunt angle ; banded — Mimas tiliae. 



Meyrick diagnoses (Handbook, p. 300) the genus as follows : 



Tongue short, imperfect. Antennae less than \, stout, thickest towards 

 middle, not lamellated. Abdomen stout, with appressed scales, pointed. Tibiae 

 with appressed scales, all spurs present. 



Dalman's Dilina has come into pretty general use for this 

 species, but he expressly makes ocellata the type of his genus, so 

 that it becomes synonymous with Smerinthus. Dalman's original 

 description shows that his Dilina is really a diagnosis of our family 

 Amorphidae. It reads ( Vetenskaps Acade miens Handlingar, 18 16, 

 pp. 205 — 206) as follows : 



Dilina. — Caput parvum retractum, palpis brevissimis obtusis oculos 

 clypeumve ultra non assurgentibus. Lingua brevissima, spuria, aut vix ulla. 

 Antennae sublineares flexuosae ; maris prismaticae subtus scobinaeformes, ciliatae ; 

 feminae simplices subfiliformes. Alae margine angulatae, 1. dentatae, 1. emar- 

 ginatae. . . . Larva scabrosa capite triangulari supra acuminata ; cornu anali. 

 Puppa nuda, terra sepulta. Generis typus : D. ocellata. 



According to Staudinger {Cat., 3rd ed., p. 100) there are only 

 two species included in the genus — tiliae and christophi — the latter 

 an eastern species recorded from the southern Ussuri district and 

 Japan. The following note by Leech (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 

 1898, p. 278) is interesting: 



Christophi, Staud., " Rom. Mem.," iii., p. 162, pi. ix., rigs, ^a, d, pi. 

 xi., fig. I (1887); "Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 100(1901) ; Kirby, "Cat.," p. 709 (1892); 

 Leech, "Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond.," 1898, p. 278 (1898). — This species, which is 

 closely allied to D. tiliae, can be readily separated by the absence of any o- re en 

 coloration, by the contour of the central fascia, and by the uniform dark brown 

 colour of the thorax. A series of 165 specimens of D. tiliae, comprising all the 

 known aberrations, shows nothing among them that could be mistaken for D. 

 christophi. Larva, on Alnus incana, is said to resemble that of D. tiliae very 

 closely. Amurland ; Japan ; Yesso (Leech). 



The series (1 $ , 3 $ s) in the Leech collection, shows M. 

 christophi to be a species closely allied to, but distinct from, M. 

 tiliae. It appears from the imagines to be a more specialised 

 form than the latter. The whole tendency of the coloration is to 

 become darker in christophi, inclining to an olive-brown tint, with 

 shades of purple-grey in some examples ; the hindwings duller 

 and darker than those of M. tiliae (Bacot). 



Mimas tili^, Linne. 



Synonymy. — Species: Tiliae, Linn., "Sys. ]NTat.," 10th ed., p. 489 (1758); 

 12th ed., p. 797 (1767); "Faun. Suec," 2nd ed., p. 287 (1761) ; Poda, "Ins! 

 Mus, Graec," p. 79 (1761) ; Scop., " Ent. Carn.," p. 183 (1763); " Introd. Hist. 



