1942] 
Nearctic N eonympha 
61 
SOME NEW OR LITTLE KNOWN NEARCTIC 
NEONYMPHA 1 
(Lepidoptera: Satyridse) 
By V. Nabokov 
The capture in Arizona in June 1941 of what struck me as 
an undescribed species of Neonympha suggested certain in- 
vestigations, the results of which are given in this paper. A 
study of about a hundred specimens labelled “ henshawi Edw.,” 
which I accumulated from different sources, revealed that two 
pairs of gemmate species, one pair unnamed, the other neg- 
lected, occurred in Arizona. Confusion has been due not so 
much to some chance obscurity in a great entomologist’s de- 
scription 66 years ago, as to the indifference and consequent 
lack of precision in regard to this section of N eonympha on 
the part of those who wrote after him. Somehow lepidopterists 
have never seemed overeager to obtain these delicately orna- 
mented, quickly fading Satyr ids that so quaintly combine a 
boreal-alpine aspect with a tropical-silvan one, the upperside 
quiet velvet of “browns” being accompanied by an almost 
Lycaenid glitter on the under surface. There exists very little 
information concerning such things as the number of broods, 
possible seasonal variation, limits of distribution, allied Mexi- 
can and Central American forms, haunts, habits and early 
stages. 
What follows is an attempt to set down the peculiarities of 
these four insects as a tentative basis for further research that 
would amplify the comparatively meager facts at my disposal. 
A definition of the species most usually confused with henshawi 
Edw. and a full description of its typical race, with comparative 
descriptions of two other races are followed by comparative 
descriptions of the three other species, listing their distinctive 
characters in the same order. The species to be discussed are: 
Neonympha dorothea n. sp. (referred to by Edwards as 
1 Published with the aid of a grant from the Museum of Comparative 
Zoology of Harvard College. 
