THE GYPSY 



MOTH. 



JPorthetria dispar (L.), 



This species was first described by Linnaeus, in 1758, in 

 the tenth edition of his *' Systema Naturse," Vol. I, page 501, 

 under the name of Phcdcena (Bomhyx) dispar, the specific 

 name being given because of the marked diflference or dis- 

 parity between the sexes. In 1801, Schrank, in his "Fauna 

 Boica," placed this species under his genus Laria ; but this 

 generic name had been previously used by Scopoli in the 

 beetles, and thus, being preoccupied, could not properly be 

 used for the moths. In 1810, Ochsenheimer, in the third 

 volume of his *' Schmetterlinge von Europa," established the 

 genus Lijparis and put dispar under it ; but Liparis is also 

 preoccupied, and cannot be used. Hlibner, in his "Yer- 

 zeichniss bekannter Schmetterlinge," page 160, published 

 about 1822, placed dispar in his genus Porthetria with three 

 exotic species, and therefore dispar, being the only European 

 species, has been taken as the type. In the same work, page 

 158, Hlibner established the genus Ocneria with ruhea Fab. 

 as the type, but Staudinger and some others, believing that 

 ruhea and dispar should be in the same genus, placed them 

 with their allies under Ocneria. 



In 1829, Stephens, in his "Illustrations of British Ento- 

 mology," Haustellata, Yol. II, page 55, established the genus 

 Hypogymna and placed dispar under it. He also proposed 

 this name in his catalogue the same year. In accordance 

 with the laws of priority, almost universally accepted by 

 zoologists, it is necessary to adopt the oldest tenable generic 

 name which is not preoccupied ; and therefore Hiibner's genus 

 Porthetria, with dispar as the type, was given by Kirb}^ in 

 his recent "Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera," and has 

 been adopted by Comstock and Dyar in this country. 



