A Synonymic Catalogue of Diurnal Lepidoptera

Abstract

THE great work on the “Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera,” by Doubleday and Hewitson, completed after the lamented death of the former by the assistance of Prof. Westwood, included under each genus a synonymic list of all the described species which the authors were able to determine. But more than twenty years have elapsed since the completion of this most valuable work, which still remains without a competitor either in this country or on the Continent, and thus our means of reference upon systematic matters connected with the beautiful and interesting group of butterflies generally, have remained at what must be regarded nowadays as a somewhat antiquated standpoint, whilst the business of describing has been carried on with the most astonishing energy. In Britain Double-day's collaborates Hewitson, and his successor Butler, have described an almost inconceivable multitude of new species, and a considerable number have also been added to the list by Bates and Wallace; whilst on the Continent the Brothers Felder and Dr.Herrich-Schäffer have been equally active. New views have also been put forward as to the natural sequence and limitation of the groups (families and subfamilies) into which the great Rhopalocerous tribe is divided, and the whole face of this department of entomological science has undergone a wonderful change in the last twenty-years.