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Show 1869.] MR. A. G. BUTLER ON A NEW GENUS OF LEPIDOPTERA. 43 found they would properly belong to his genus Pericheeta, which, however, upon more mature examination, I believe, as I have stated above, to be synonymous with the genus Megascolex of Templeton. The species hitherto described are all natives of Ceylon; but in the National Collection we have a specimen from the Dukhun (Deccan), in India, and two or three from New Zealand, undescribed; and I wrote to Mr. Johnstone to ask if there was anything in the dung-bed which came from that island or from India, through which the Worms could have been introduced into this country. In answer he tells m e that " he does not know of any matter, in the bed, from the East Indies." There are, he adds, a few Orchids amongst the plants ; and the bed has been partially emptied annually for five years, the same kind of worms being always found there. Mixed with these worms, in the same bed, are numbers of a common British species, some of which Mr. Johnstone kindly sent me, and which upon examination I found to be the Lumbricus fcetidus of Duges. Perhaps upon attention being called to these Earth-worms of Indian form, they may be found in other parts of the country in similar situations. 4. Description of a new Genus of Heterocerous Lepidoptera, founded upon the Papilio charmione of Fabricius. By A R T H U R G. B U T L E R , F.L.S., F.Z.S., & c At page 205 of his 'Entomologia Systematica' Fabricius describes a very remarkable species of Lepidopterous insect under the name of Papilio (Danais) charmione, the characters of the species being probably taken from a figure by Mr. Jones, whose ' Icones' furnished Fabricius with many of his new species. This figure was copied by Donovan in 1827, forming the subject of the 171st plate of his ' Naturalist's Repository,' vol. v. Fabricius gives the Island of Johanna as the locality from which charmione was obtained. But Donovan remarks, " W e , however, perceive in our copy of the 'Entomologia Systematica' that this habitat is erased, a correction made by ourselves many years ago upon the authority of Mr. Jones himself." In his 'Species General des Lepidopteres' (published 1836) M . Boisduval referred this species to the genus Terias (Pierinee), with the following observation:-" N e 1'ayant jamais vue, nous n'affirmons pas qu'elle appartienne au genre Terias." But in the margin of the page I find a note in pencil by Mr. E. Doubleday-" Not even a Butterfly." The supposition that charmione was a Rhopalocerous insect seems to have arisen from the fact that it is represented as such by Donovan. Whether the antennse really are clubbed or not, is a question that can only be decided when we see a perfect example of the species ; at present the only point that can be settled is that the species certainly is not a Butterfly; for an old and well-worn specimen in |
