266 H. STEMPFFER 



A. Primitive family group : Prothoracic legs functional in both sexes. 



B. Advanced family group : Prothoracic legs degenerate in the male, perfect in 



the female. 



C. Specialized family group : prothoracic legs degenerate in both sexes. 



He subdivided Group A into Papilionidae, Pieridae and Lycaenidae. As charac- 

 ters of the last he gives : Prothoracic legs slightly smaller in male than in female ; 

 venation of fore wings specialized, veins being reduced in number (10 or n) ; claws 

 appendiculate and bifid. 



This characterization of the Lycaenidae needs some qualification. It is probable 

 that Warren was thinking solely of the holarctic fauna when he refers to " 10 or 

 ii veins ", for most of the Lipteninae, and a few genera of the Lycaeninae (sensu 

 Aurivillius) have 12 veins in the fore wing. Also the prothoracic legs of the 

 Lycaenidae have more than a " small " difference in size between the sexes. In 

 almost all the genera of this family, the five segments of the fore tarsus of the male 

 are fused to form one single segment, which is often rather slender, slightly curved, 

 bears fine spines or short, stiff hair beneath, and has no distinct terminal claw. This 

 seems to be the first stage of regressive evolution which culminates in the degenerate 

 legs of the male of the Riodinidae. I think, the two families are more closely related 

 than Warren assumes when he puts the Lycaenidae in his Group A and the Riodi- 

 nidae in Group B. 



As far as I know, the genera of the Lycaenidae which provide exceptions to the 

 rule are : — Artopoetes Chapman, Coreana Tutt, Japonica Tutt, Liphyra Westwood, 

 Euliphyra Holland, Aslauga Kirby, Paraslauga Bethune Baker, Egumbia Bethune 

 Baker, Lachnocnema Trimen, Thestor Hiibner and Theclopsis Godman & Salvin. 

 The first three belong to the Far Eastern fauna, Liphyra is an Indo-Malayan genus 

 and Theclopsis is a neotropical genus ; as I am not sufficiently well acquainted with 

 these genera I will say no more about them. The other six genera belong to the 

 Ethiopian fauna, and I am of the opinion that they should be taken out of this 

 family, since they differ from all the other genera by an extremely important 

 character which best characterizes the family. Liphyra, Euliphyra, Aslauga and 

 Paraslauga should form the subfamily Liphyrinae described by Bethune Baker 

 (1924, Trans, ent. Soc. Lond. 1924 : 199-238). In this subfamily, Bethune Baker 

 also included the genus Teratoneura, but as I have pointed out in my description of 

 that genus (p. 73), Bethune Baker must have made a mistake since the fore tarsus 

 of the male of Teratoneura isabelle Dudgeon is quite ordinary and unsegmented. On 

 the other hand I propose that the genus Egumbia, in which the fore tarsus of the male 

 is five-segmented, and bears well developed terminal claws, be included in this 

 subfamily. 



When we compare the male genitalia of the four Ethiopian genera of the Liphy- 

 rinae we find the following similarities and variations : — 



Tegumen : — Euliphyra : well developed, a slight notch in the posterior margin, 

 a wide expansion of the anterior margin. 



Aslauga : reduced in size, a rather deep notch in the posterior 

 margin, a triangular expansion of the anterior margin. 



