220 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



Hesperia. Practically, he merely renamed the Linnean Plebeii, 

 which contained the same groups, and he retained the Linnean 

 subdivisions thereof — Rustici and Urbicolae — so that, instead of the 

 Linnean sections — Plebeii : Plebeii- Rustici, Plebeii- Urbicolae, we have 

 the Fabrician subdivisions — Hesperia : Hesperia- Rustici, Hesperia- 

 Urbicolae. Owing, however, to Fabricius noting Hesperia as a division 

 equal to Papilio, and not as a division of Papilio, the name has been 

 allowed to stand, although from the classificatory point of view a 

 mere synonym of Plebeii. In 1798, Cuvier cited (Tabl. Elem., p. 588) 

 malvae, Linn., as the type of Hesperia, Fab., which rendered void 

 Fabricius' later action (111. Mag., vi., p. 277), when, in 1807, he 

 restricted Hesperia to a section of " blues," of which boetica was one, 

 and erected Thy mete, Helias and Pamphila for the skippers. The diagnosis 

 of Fabricius for Hesperia reads (Ent. Syst., in., p. 258) as follows : — 



Palpi duo compressi, hirti, apice cylindrici nudi. Antennae clava oblonga, 

 ssepius uncinata. 



Cuvier evidently did not clearly understand the action of Fabricius in 

 renaming the Linnean Plebeii, for, after quoting the Linnean Plebeii, 

 with Papilio argus, Linn., as type, he notes : On a separe nouvelle- 

 ment du genre des papillons : 



Les Hesperies (Hesperia, Fabr.) dans lesquels le renflement des antennes est 

 pointu, la tete grosse, et qui tiennent ordinairement les ailes horizontales, ou du 

 moins ne les relevent qu'a demi. Leurs chenilles ont seize jambes, et se filent une 

 coque — Le P. de la mauve — P. malvae (Petit ; ailes d'un brun fonce, parsemees de 

 taches blanches). 



The restricted genus Hesperia, with malvae, Linn, (alveolus, Hb.), 

 as type, is, as already noted, very closely allied to the genera 

 Favria (cribrellum), Muschampia (tessellum, nomas, proto, syrichtus, etc.), 

 Powellia (spio, orbifer, sao, phlomidis, etc.) Sloperia (poggei) (see antea, 

 p. 218), from which, however, it can be at once separated by the 

 presence, in the $ , of a costal fold to the forewings, and also a tuft of 

 hairs on the tibiae of the hindlegs. The genus, under the name of 

 Scelothrix, Ramb., with the species maculata, Brem., sidae, Esp., cynarae, 

 Ramb., carthami, Hb., alveus, Hb., serratulae, Ramb., cacaliae, Ramb., 

 andromedae, Wallgrn., centaureae, Ramb., m«hw, Linn., was separated 

 from the rest of the allied species (grouped as sections of Pyrgus, Hb.), 

 by Speyer (Can. Ent., x., p. 148) (see antea, p. 218). His diagnosis 

 of Hesperia ( = Scelothrix, as above restricted) reads as follows : — 



Club of antenna elongate, ovate, somewhat compressed, feebly falcate, rounded 

 at the end. Locklet long ; palpi projecting more than length of eyes beyond front, 

 the middle joint bristly, the apical joint thick, bluntly conical, horizontal, or 

 directed obliquely forwards. Hind tibia? without spines. Male with much-developed 

 costal fold ; two membranous, sheath-formed appendages on the metasternum, and 

 a long hair-tuft on the hind tibia?. Tuft, of hind tibiae composed of long, fine, pencil- 

 like hairs. 



The metasternal appendages are a pair of almost linear, rather 

 flat, membranous, apparently hollow structures, at first sight to be 

 compared with a short, broad, sabre-sheath, thickly-scaled on the 

 front edge, and particularly at the tip, with longer hairs. The hind 

 tibial tuft arises close under the knee of the hind tibiae on the inner 

 side. It is composed of fine, long, pencil -like hairs, and is always as 

 long, often considerably longer, than the tibiae ; when drawn in, it 

 appears to be placed under the sheath-like metasternal appendages. 

 He observes that the genus approaches very near to Pyrgus in the 



