THE ZOOLOGIST 
No. 685.—July, 1898. 
MOTHS AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 
By E. Meyrick, B.A., F.Z.S., F.E.S. 
PROBABLY no group of animals has suffered so much at the 
hands of unscientific systematists as the Lepidoptera, and the 
reason of this is not far to seek. It is directly attributable to the 
great range of colour and variety of marking which are so striking 
a characteristic of the group, instantly attracting the attention of 
the superficial student, and causing him to neglect structural 
details as unnecessary, or even to intentionally reject them as 
contradicting the testimony of colour, and therefore untrust- 
worthy. Allied species, he argues, are usually similar in colour- 
ing; therefore similar species are allied; which, however, does 
not follow. 
It is true that this theory is now seldom put forward in a 
simple and unadulterated form. Dr. von Gumppenberg, indeed, 
has lately issued an elaborate monograph of Geometers, in which 
all structural investigations are cast to the winds, and the genera 
defined solely by colour and marking, but it does not seem to 
have been warmly received. But in a modified form the theory 
is still so extremely popular that it exercises considerable influence 
over the views of almost all lepidopterists. This modification 
consists in classifying species by superficial appearance in the 
first instance, and then trying to find structural excuses for it 
_ afterwards. No better example of the consistent working of this 
method can be found than in the works of Guenée. In the six 
Zool. 4th ser. vol. II., July, 1898. U 
