| OCR Text |
Show 244 MESSRS. MOORE, WALKER, AND SMITH [Mar. 7, organ cannot be used as generic characters. Thus, whenever in a group of reptiles the limbs are in a more or less rudimentary condition, the number of toes indicates only specific distinctness, and sometimes it is evidently subject to even individual variation. Further, the genera Seps, Gonyylus, and Heteromeles had been distinguished only by the differences in the number of toes of their rudimentary limbs, as we cannot take into account the more or less complete scaly covering of the external ear-opening, which is sometimes very distinct, sometimes rather indistinct, and sometimes entirely hidden by an overlapping scale. At present, we know the following modifications intermediate between the toeless Seps mono-dactylus and the five-toed Gongylus ocellatus :- Fore toes. Hind toes. Gongylus ocellatus 5 5 (well developed). Gongylus capensis 5 5 (feeble). Gongylus viridanus 4 4 Seps tridactylus 3 3 Heteromeles mauritanicus . . 2 3 Seps monodadylus 0 0 Consequently I am inclined to unite the species mentioned into one genus, for which the name Seps may be retained. Several instances have been made known of animals restricted in their habitat to islands, and having the organs of locomotion in a much less developed state than nearly allied species of continental faunas. Speculation has seized upon these instances to connect this peculiarity of structure with the fact of insulation ; and the short-limbed Gongylus viridanus of Teneriffe, when compared with the continental five-toed Gongylus ocellatus, would appear to offer another instance leading to the same way of reasoning. But then we find that Gongylus ocellatus is also an inhabitant of Malta, Madeira, and other small islands, without showing signs of imperfectly developed limbs, and, again, that Seps monodadylus and Heteromeles are not less continental species than Seps tridactylus, as also that the five-toed Sphenops sepoides aud the short-limbed Sphenops meridionalis are widely spread over large districts of the same continent. 3. Descriptions of some new Insects collected by Dr. Anderson during the Expedition to Yunan. By F R E D E R IC MOORE, FRANCIS WALKER, and FREDERICK SMITH. [Eeceived February 21, 1871.] (Plate XVIII.) Order LEPIDOPTERA. HETEROCERA. 1. SYNTOMIS ANDERSONI, Moore, n. sp. (Plate XVIII. fig. 1.) Male and female. Wings hyaline, veins bluish black ; body black, with orange-yellow bands : fore wing with the costa and exterior and |
