Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Catalogue of the Arctianae in the Tring Museum, with notes and descriptions of new species. I and II

1910; Natural History Museum at Tring; Volume: 17; Linguagem: Inglês

10.5962/bhl.part.13688

0950-7655

Lionel Walter Rothschild Rothschild,

Botany and Plant Ecology Studies

I HAVE arranged my Arcikinae according to the Catalogue of the LepidopleraPkalacnae in the British Museum, vol.iii., this being tlie most recent work on the fiimily as a whole.I have, however, included the three genera Goiiotrephcs, A/tta.ria, and -Xeozatrephes, placed by Sir George Hampson among the Si/ntomiilae, because I consider these genera, in spite of the absence of the costal vein of the hindwing, more nearly allied to the Arctianae than to the Si/nlomidae.Considering the great use and imiwrtance to lepidopterists of the British Museum Catalogue, it is to be regretted that not sufficient distinction has been empiuisised between Subspecies and Aberrations.In several instances Sir George Hampson has cdrrectly separated the subspecies, but in by far the larger number of cases he has united them indiscriminately under the term " aberration."It cannot be too often reiterated that a Subspecies is a local race or geographical representative of a given species, in which the variation from the " type " is more or less uniform and constant : on the other hand, an Aberration is a sporadic or individual variation occurring among the typical individuals, and in which, even if several specimens occur, the variation from the type is rarely if ever uniform and not persistent.A difference from the type, liowever small, if confined to one locality and to the bulk of or the whole of the individuals from that locality, is sufficient to separate this group of individnals as a subspecies ; but, be the difference ever so great, if it is pnrely individual, not confined to any one locality, and occurs casually with the typical form, it can (inly be considered an aberration, and, in my opinion, should not be named.Subspecies, on the other hand, should be named trinomially, thus : Arctia caja americana.I have, in the body of this catalogue, given the localities, in many cases, in an abbreviated form, in order to save time and space.I here enumerate the principal localities and dates, in full.They are arranged from north to south eastwards, returning northwards and westwards.