GENERIC NAMES OF BUTTERFLIES 377 



Kippon himself corrected the misspelling Priamusptera to the spelling Priamoptera in 1898 

 (loc. cit. 1 : Errata (1), (2)), thus himself being the First Reviser in this case. 



PRINCEPS Hubner, [1806], Tentamen : [1]. Type-species by monotypy : Papilio machaon 

 Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat. (ed. 10) 1 : 462. 



The name Princeps Hiibner, as of the Tentamen, is invalid, owing to the fact that the leaflet 

 in which it was published has been rejected for nomenclatorial purposes by the Commission 

 by the Ruling given in its Opinion 97. Even if this name were not invalid for this reason, 

 it would nevertheless have been invalid as a junior objective synonym of the name Papilio 

 Linnaeus, 1758. In 1954 this name was placed by the Official Index of Rejected and Invalid 

 Generic Names in Zoology as Name No. 83. 

 PRINCEPS Hiibner, [1807], Samml. exot. Schmett. 1 : pi. [116]. Type-species by designation 

 by the Commission under its Plenary Powers under Article 70(a) (mjsidentified type-species) : 

 Papilio demodocus Esper, [1798], Ausl. Schmett. (14) : 205, pi. 51, fig. 1. 



When by the ruling given in Opinion 97 the Commission rejected the leaflet entitled the 

 Tentamen of Hiibner ([1806]) for nomenclatorial purposes and thus rejected, inter alia, the 

 generic name Princeps Hiibner, as published in that leaflet, it became necessary to ascertain 

 by whom, when and where the name Princeps was first validly published. It was found 

 that the work concerned was Hiibner's Samml. exot. Schmett., in the first volume of which it 

 was applied to the species figured on plates [106] to [134]. The information provided by 

 the discovery of the Hiibner manuscripts shows (Hemming, 1937, Hiibner 1 : 403-404) that 

 these plates were published on various dates between 1807 and 1818, that two only were 

 published in 1807, and that of these (pis [114], [116]) pi. [116] was published slightly before 

 pi. [114]. The only species figured on pi. [116] appeared under the name Princeps demoleas 

 (which, as will be seen below, was a misprint for demoleas). That species thus became the 

 type-species by monotypy. 



On the foregoing basis the genus Princeps became a genus based on a misidentified type- 

 species. The mistake in question originated not with Hiibner but with Linnaeus, by whom 

 the name Papilio demoleas was first published. What happened was that in 1758 (Syst. Nat. 

 (ed. 10) 1 : 464) Linnaeus described a well-known Oriental (and East-Palaearctic) species, 

 but unfortunately in 1764 (Mus. Lad. Ulr. : 214) misidentified with that species a rather 

 similar species widely distributed in tropical Africa, to which he then applied the name 

 demoleas of 1757. The African species remained without a name of its own until it was given 

 the name Papilio demodocus by Esper in 1798. The mistake made by Linnaeus in 1764 long 

 remained undetected, being copied from one author to another, being made, for example, 

 by Kirby as late as 1871 (Syn. Cat. diurn. Lep. : 543). Among the authors who copied the 

 mistake made by Linnaeus in 1764 was Hiibner in the Samml. exot. Schmett., whose figures 

 on pi. [116] clearly depict the African species, i.e. the false demoleas Linnaeus of 1764 and 

 not the Asiatic species to which the specific name demoleas of 1758 properly belongs. 



In order to rectify Hiibner's mistake and thus to connect his genus Princeps with the type- 

 species corresponding with Hiibner's intention when he applied the name Princeps demoleas 

 to the species shown on his pi. [116], a request was submitted to the Commission in 1935, 

 asking that the Plenary Powers should be used to designate Papilio demodocus Esper, [1798], 

 to be the type-species of Princeps Hiibner. This request was approved by the Commission, 

 which embodied its decision in Opinion 179, published in 1946 (Opin. int. Comm. zool. Nom. 

 2 : 557-568). In this Opinion the Commission designated under its Plenary Powers the 

 nominal species Papilio demodocus Esper to be the type-species of Princeps Hubner and also 

 of Orpheides Hiibner, [1819], of which, as has already been explained, the same misidentified 

 species was the type-species, these two generic names being objective synonyms of one 

 another. 



The name Princeps Hubner is an available name, but is not currently in use, its type-species 

 being one of the vast assemblage of species commonly referred to the genus Papilio Linnaeus, 

 1758. That genus is long overdue for revision, and, in order not to appear to prejudge the 

 status of the name Princeps whenever a comprehensive revision of the genus Papilio might 



