Part 11

In his description of the insect Mr. Butler compares the neuration to that of Caligo, and says its nearest allies are Caligo, Dasyophthalma and Brassolis. In his latter paper he figures the wing of a Dasyophthalma by way of comparison. In the genera named all the branches of the subcostal nervure are simple, and are thrown off from the superior surface, excepting the single set which is emitted from beneath, and which marks (as in all butterflies) the limit of the discoidal cell; this corresponds fairly with the first set of inferior veins emitted by the subcostal vein in the fossil; for the other sets, however, no counterpart will be found in the living types.

It was probably Mr. Butler’s want of familiarity with fossils that led him to overlook several features which can be seen in these originals. Having first traced the outline of the wing and the general course of the veins directly from the specimens, I subsequently filled in by measurement all the other parts which I could follow, studying each vein, or supposed vein, with the utmost care, from one end to the other of its course. The result of that study is presented in fig. 8, which differs essentially in its details from the illustrations given by Butler, and looks, as he himself confesses, “exceedingly anti-lepidopterous.” In the first place, the wing is much narrower than depicted by him; and at the extremity of a vein (the submedian vein of Butler’s sketch) there is a slight but decided bending inward of the membrane, as very frequently occurs at the line of demarcation between the middle and inner area of the wing in all or nearly all the lower suborders of insects, but never, so far as I am aware, in Lepidoptera. What he has given as a simple costal vein is neither swollen at the base nor simple, but has two inferior branches near the middle of the wing, united near their origin by an oblique cross vein. Branching of the costal vein is unknown in Lepidoptera; but if it should be claimed that this might be the subcostal, just as much difficulty will be encountered with the structure and relationship of the veinlets below, which must then be considered as belonging to the median vein; in no Lepidoptera can any such irregularity be shown, nor so disproportionate a magnitude of the area covered by the median nervure and its branches; a branched internal vein and cross-veins, which probably united all the longitudinal nervures at no great distance from the outer border (but which can only be certainly predicated for the lower three median interspaces), place this insect wholly beyond the pale of the Lepidoptera. It is but fair to say that Mr. Butler, having examined the original after he had in his possession a tracing of fig. 8, denies the existence of the cross-veins; there is one point, however, which an unprejudiced examination of the fossil cannot fail to show; that Butler’s “fourth branch” of the subcostal[BE] arises not from his third branch, but from his upper discoidal vein; if he can reconcile either this or the points already referred to (on the supposition that his sketch is otherwise an accurate one) with the neuration of any group of butterflies, the writer will be the first to acknowledge it.

As our only purpose in this place is to deny the lepidopterous character of Palæontina, it is unnecessary to say anything in defence of the view we have expressed of its homopterous affinities; the superior position of the cell, the position and character of the lower cross veins (which we believe really traversed the entire wing), with their origin at the indentation of the lower border, suggest such a relationship, although there are not a few points in which it differs somewhat strikingly from living types.

The discovery of a fossil in the cabinet of the Rev. Mr. Brodie, which was found in England at the same or nearly the same horizon, as _P. oolitica_, and which seems to be a pupa case of one of the Cicadida of rather unusual size, renders my suggestion more worthy of credence.

At the conclusion of his latter paper Mr. Butler draws attention to the fact that Messrs. Westwood and Bates had expressed their agreement with his views. It should, however, be borne in mind, that, so far as appears from any facts which have been published, these gentlemen, whose well considered views upon the subject would unquestionably be of great weight, expressed this assent only upon a brief evening examination of a very obscure fossil in a poorly lighted hall, and before any one had questioned its lepidopterous character.

FOOTNOTES

[A] Probably an error for Tab. 5, fig. 28a, 28b, which seems to represent a Tenthredinidous larva.

[B] The plate, however, is wanting, both in the copy belonging to the Smithsonian Institution and in that in the Library of the Boston Society of Natural History, so that I cannot tell whether it is copied from Boisduval’s figure or is an original.

[C] Bull. Soc. Ent. France, 1838, 51-52.

[D] Bull. Soc. Ent. France, 1839, 11-12.

[E] Annales Soc. Ent. France, ix, 371-374 pl. 8.

[F] By Marcel de Serres, Actes Linn. Soc. Bord., Vol. xiii, pl. 2; Pictet, Traite de Palæont., II pl. 40, fig. 11; Butler, Lep. Exot. I, pl. 18, fig. 2; Ib., Geol. Mag. x., pl. 1, fig. 3.

[G] See particularly papers by Coquand, Marcel de Serres, Heer, Saporta, Giebel, Westwood and Butler.

[H] Ann. Soc. Ent. France (2) ix, 71-88, pl. 3, ii.

[I] Bull. Ent. Soc., France, 1851. 97-8.

[J] Cat. Satyr., 189-190.

[K] Species of Lethe.

[L] As, for instance, in the _Sphingidæ_, _Heliconidæ_, etc.

[M] Lep. Exot. pl. 48.

[N] Loc. cit., p. 190.

[O] In this figure the neuration has not been very clearly defined, the veining of the hind wings not being continuous.

[P] Lep. Exot., 127, pl. xlviii. Geol. Mag., x, 3, pl. i.

[Q] It should first be premised that throughout this description the fore wing will be spoken of as if it were perfect; for so completely are the essential parts preserved that one may feel a strong degree of confidence as to the character of the remainder; scarcely any of the costal margin can be traced on the stone, and yet one may describe with nearly absolute certainty the point where the extremities of the costal and the first two upper branches of the subcostal nervures strike it. For those, therefore, who would follow the description with a severely critical eye, the illustrations we have given will correct any apparent overstatement of the text.

[R] Acta Acad. Leop.-Carol., XX, 108.

[S] Insekt. Tert. Œning. ii, 177-79.

[T] Wahrscheinlich ist ausser diesem noch ein Ast da, der aber verwischt ist.

[U] Lep. Exot. I. 128.

[V] Compare, in this respect, Butler’s Revision of the Pierinæ, Cist. Ent., I, iii, pl. i, fig. 8; or Trimen, Rhop. Afr. Austr., Pl. ii, fig. 2.

[W] Insekt. Tert. Œning., II, 179-82.

[X] Butt. N. Amer., i, Argynnis, I.

[Y] Cat. Fabr. Lep., 109.

[Z] Lep. Exot., I, xv, 127-28, Pl. 48, fig. 7; Geol. Mag., x, 3-4, Pl. 1, fig. 7.

[AA] Insekt. Tert. Œning, II, 180.

[AB] Compare the illustrations referred to in the note on page 44.

[AC] These, it is true, are Danai, but aberrant forms, like Leptidia, etc.

[AD] See, however, the American genus Leodonta.

[AE] Insekt. Tert. Œning., ii, 182-3.

[AF] Palæontogr. viii, 12-13.

[AG] Saporta. Revision de la flore des gypses d’Aix. Ann. Sc. Nat. [5] Bot., xv, 284.

[AH] “La proportion des Graminées relativement au total des Phanérogames, qui est de 4·5 sur 100, est en rapport avec les minima relatifs de cette famille, tels qu’on les observe à la Nouvelle-Guinée et à la Nouvelle-Grenade.” Saporta, loc. cit., 292.

[AI] “Dans la flore des gypses d’Aix, non-seulement les Légumineuses occupent le premier rang, comme dans la plupart des flores intertropicales actuelles de l’ancien et du nouveau continent, mais elles atteignent une proportion de 13 pour 100, pour l’ensemble des Phanérogames, proportion parfaitement en rapport avec celle de 12 sur 100 qui est fréquente, selon M. de Candolle, dans certaines régions chaudes, telles que Timor, le Congo, etc.” Saporta, loc. cit., 292.

[AJ] Since this was written, Count Saporta writes me: “Le genre Smilax est un des genres tertiatres les plus frequents. J’ai aussi signalé dans le dépôt voisin de St. Zacharie (étage Tongrien inférieure [and therefore but slightly more recent]) une feuille qui m’a paru devoir se ranger parmi les Dioscorées.”

[AK] An old writer in Fuessly’s Magazin, writing from Italy, says that Thais feeds in that country upon Quercus. Five species of Quercus are known from Aix, but the statement in Fuessly’s Magazin has never, to my knowledge, been confirmed.

[AL] “Nous n’avons pas encore rencontré d’Aristolochia dans les gypses d’Aix; mais l’existence du genre dans le tertiaire moyen ne saurait être mise en question, depuis que nous avons entre les mains une superbe empreinte de Radoboj (Aristolochia venusta Sap.), qui dénote une forme voisine des Aristoloches à feuilles persistantes et demi-coriaces, comme l’_A. reticulata_ Nutt. de Virginie.” Saporta, loc. cit., 342-3.

[AM] In a recent letter from Count Saporta he remarks: “Relativement au _Thaites Ruminiana_, je n’ai pas encore découvert à Aix de vestiges du genre Aristolochia, mais _ce genre devait y exister_.”

[AN] Vierteljahrsschrift naturf. Gesellsch. Zurich, i. 12, 1856.

[AO] Recherches sur le Climat et la Végétation du pays tertiaire, 4to, 1861.

[AP] I venture to give one more extract from a recent letter received from Count Saporta, although he writes:—“Je vous écris n’ayant sous les yeux ni mes livres ni mes collections, ce qui enlevera nécessairement un peu de précision à quelques-unes de mes réponses.”

“Il est bien plus difficile de justifier par des exemples tirés de la nature des plantes la présence à Radoboj d’un insecte se nourissant de Capparis. Les Capparis ont du exister, mais leur feuilles sont difficiles à distinguer à cause de l’absence de caractères différentiels; leur forme et leur nervation peu visibles doivent les faire confondre avec beaucoup d’autres. Il me semble pourtant que des Capparis ont été signalés soit à Radoboj, soit à Hoering en Tyrol, dépôt un peu plus anciens [Tongrian], mais en l’absence de mes livres je ne saurais vous l’affirmer.”

[AQ] I use these genera in the sense indicated in my Historical Sketch of generic names. Proc. Am. Acad. Arts, Sci., X, pp. 91-293.

[AR] Heer et Gaudin, Climat du pays tertiaire, pp. 133-171.

[AS] Ann. Sc. Nat., [5] Bot., xv, 322.

[AT] Climat du pays tertiaire, ed. Gaudin, p. 205.

[AU] Loc. cit., p. 205.

[AV] Arbeit Schlesisch. Gesellsch. Vaterl. Kultur, 1834, 92-3.

[AW] Programm Petrischule Danzig, 1855-56, 4to, p. 30.

[AX] Loc. cit., 387.

[AY] Loc. cit., 390.

[AZ] 1872, xxxi.

[BA] Perhaps Mr. Butler is not altogether to blame in confounding Aix in Provence with Aix-la-Chapelle; at any rate the mistake had been made previously by the translator of Heer’s paper in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, VI, 72; the error is corrected by Mr. Butler at the end of his volume.

[BB] He seems not to have seen the earlier publication of Mr. Brodie.

[BC] Geol. Mag. [2] I, 448.

[BD] These veins have been given a distinct name (discoidal) by the English Entomologists, as if they hail an independent origin, and had nothing to do with the subcostal nervure; but by the use of this name, we wholly lose sight of the simple plan of neuration belonging to the wings of these insects. I have therefore preferred to speak of them as the inferior subcostal nervules, in contradistinction to the superior branches of the same vein.

[BE] In this case he counts from the tip of the wing, in reverse order.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

[My best thanks are due to my courteous friend Mr. Auguste Sallé, for his kind agency in securing an artist for the engraving of these plates. Owing, however, to the distance at which the work was done, a few errors have unavoidably occurred, which, to prevent misapprehension, are mentioned below.]

Plate I.

Fig. 1. _Eugonia atava._ Copied from Heer, Insekt. Tert. Œning., ii, pl. xiv, fig. 8 (1/1).

“ 2. _Lethites Reynesii._ Drawn by S. H. Scudder (1/1).

“ 3. _Eugonia atava._ Copied from Charpentier, Nov. Act. Leop.-Carol., xx, pl. xxii, fig. 4 (1/1).

“ 4. _Eugonia j.-album._ Neuration of fore wing; drawn by S. H. Scudder (1/1). The second superior subcostal nervule is carried too far toward the tip of the wing.

“ 5. _Lethites Reynesii._ Fore wing; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1).

“ 6. _Eugonia j.-album._ Markings of the upper surface of the fore wing; drawn by S. H. Scudder (1/1).

“ 7. _Eugonia atava._ Neuration of tip of fore wing (2/1); copied from Heer; Insekt. Tert. Œning., ii, pl. xiv, fig. 3a.

“ 8. _Neorinopis sepulta._ Markings of the upper surface of the two wings, restored; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1). The drawing represents the general effect of the fore wing as darker than the hind wing, and in so far is inaccurate.

“ 9. _The same._ Neuration of the two wings, separated; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1).

“ 10. _The same._ Neuration of the two wings, as seen in the fossil; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1). The engraver has unfortunately made the lines of the hind wing the heavier, as if it lay uppermost; they should have been the lighter.

“ 11. _The same._ Right hind leg; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1).

“ 12. _The same._ Left hind leg; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1).

“ 13. _The same._ Drawn by S. H. Scudder (1/1). The spot of the medio-submedian interspace of the fore wings has not been well rendered by the engraver.

“ 14. _The same._ Copied from Lefebvre, Ann. Soc. Ent. France [2], ix, pl. iii, II, fig. A (1/1).

“ 15. _The same._ Copied from the same, fig. C (1/1).

“ 16. _The same._ Copied from the same, fig. B (1/1).

“ 17. _The same._ Copied from Boisduval, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr., ix, pl. 8 (1/1).

Plate II.

Fig. 1. _Zophoessa Sura._ Neuration of the wings; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 2. _Mylothrites Pluto._ Copied from Heer, Insekt. Tert. Œning., ii, pl. xiv, fig. 4 (1/1).

“ 3. _Zophoessa Sura._ Markings of the upper surface of the wings; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 4. _Delias Pasithoe._ Neuration of the wings; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 5. _Coliates Proserpina._ Neuration and markings of fore wings; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1). The tip of the costal nervure has been extended too far toward the apex of the wing.

“ 6. _Lethe Dyrta._ Neuration of the wings; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 7. _Mylothrites Pluto._ Neuration of the wings; after a drawing obtained through Mr. Brunner de Wattenwyl (1/1). The second superior subcostal nervule on the left wing should join the nervure midway between the bases of the first and third nervules.

“ 8. _Neorina Lowi._ Neuration of the wings; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 9. _Lethe Dyrta._ Markings of the lower surface of the fore wing; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 10. _Debis Sinorix._ Neuration of the wings; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 11. _Zophoessa Sura._ Markings of the lower surface of the fore wing; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 12. _Pontia Protodice._ Neuration and markings of the upper surface of fore wing; drawn by S. H. Scudder (1/1).

“ 13. _Neorina Lowi._ Markings of the upper surface of the wings; drawn by G. Willis (1/1). This was drawn for the pattern of markings only; the neuration is faulty.

“ 14. _Debis Sinorix._ Markings of the upper surface of the wings; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 15. _Mylothrites?_ sp. Copied from Heer, Insekt. Tert. Œning., ii, pl. xiv, fig. 5 (1/1).

“ 16. _Pontia Freyeri._ Copied from Heer, Insekt. Tert. Œning., ii, pl. xiv, fig. 6 (1/1).

“ 17. _Mylothrites Pluto._ After a drawing from the original, furnished by Mr. Brunner de Wattenwyl (1/1).

“ 18. _Pontia Freyeri._ Drawn from the original under the direction of Mr. Brunner de Wattenwyl (1/1).

Plate III.

Fig. 1. _Thaites Ruminiana._ Neuration of the wings, restored; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1).

“ 2. _Thais Rumina._ Neuration of the wings; drawn by S. H. Scudder (1/1).

“ 3. _Thaites Ruminiana._ Markings of the upper surface of the wings, restored; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1).

“ 4. _Thais Rumina._ Markings of the upper surface of the wings; drawn by S. H. Scudder (1/1).

“ 5. _Parnassius Smintheus._ Markings of the upper surface and neuration of the wings; drawn by S. H. Scudder (1/1).

“ 6. _Thaites Ruminiana._ One of the wing-covers (patagia); drawn by S. H. Scudder (12/1).

“ 7. _The same._ Portion of the palpi; from a camera sketch by S. H. Scudder (12/1).

“ 8. _The same._ Antenna; drawn by S. H. Scudder (3/1).

“ 9. _The same._ From a camera sketch by S. H. Scudder (3/1).

“ 10. _The same._ Drawn under the camera from the reverse of fig. 9, by S. H. Scudder (3/1).

“ 11. _Thanaos Juvenalis._ Drawn in the position of fig. 12 by J. H. Emerton (1/1); fig. 11 a, the palpus, denuded (2/1).

“ 12. _Thanaos vetula._ Drawn in outline by an artist in the employ of H. Woodward, Esq., of the British Museum, and filled in by S. H. Scudder (+2/1). Incorrectly named _Thanatites Juvenalis_ on the plate.

“ 13. _Carystus Lucasii._ Neuration of fore wing. Drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

“ 14. _Pamphilites abdita._ Markings of the upper surface of the fore wing; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1).

“ 15. _Pansydia Mesogramma._ Neuration and disposition of spots on the fore wing; copied from Poey, Cent. Lep. Cuba, 2e Dec. (1/1).

“ 16. _Thanatites vetula._ Copied from Heyden, Palæontogr., viii, pl. i, fig. 10 (+2/1). Incorrectly named Thanatites Juvenalis on the plate.

“ 17. _Pamphilites abdita._ Markings of the upper surface of fore wing; drawn by S. H. Scudder (1/1).

“ 18. _The same._ Neuration and disposition of the spots on the fore wing; drawn by S. H. Scudder (2/1).

“ 19. _Carystus Lucasii._ Markings of the upper surface of fore wing; drawn by G. Willis (1/1).

LIST OF WOOD CUTS.

Fig. 1 (p. 50). _Mylothrites Pluto._ Outlines to show the disparity in size of the two insects referred to this species by Heer; drawn by S. H. Scudder; engraved by S. S. Kilburn.

“ 2 (p. 89). _Cyllonium Boisduvalianum._ Copied by photography from Westwood, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Lond., x, pl. xvii, fig. 17; engraved by H. Marsh.

“ 3 (p. 89). _Cyllonium Hewitsonianum._ Copied by photography from the same, pl. xviii, p. 27; engraved by H. Marsh.

“ 4 (p. 90). _Palæontina oolitica._ Copied by photography from Butler, Lep. Exot., pl. xlviii, fig. 1; engraved by H. Marsh.

“ 5 (p. 90). _The same._ Copied by photography from the same, fig. 2; engraved by H. Marsh.

“ 6 (p. 92). _The same._ Copied by photography from Butler, Geol. Mag., [2] i, pl. xix, fig. 4; engraved by H. Marsh.

“ 7 (p. 92). _The same._ Copied by photography from the same, fig. 5; engraved by H. Marsh.

“ 8 (p. 94). _The same._ Drawn by S. H. Scudder; engraved by S. S. Kilburn.

ERRATA.

Page 19, line 4; _for_ voicé, _read_ voici.

“ 29. The first three lines form a part of the quotation from Butler, and should have been but single-leaded.

“ 51, note; _for_ Dareai, _read_ Danai.

“ 58, line 9; _for_ before the cell, _read_ before the tip of the cell.

“ 62, line 13; _for_ fig. 2, _read_ fig. 11.

Transcriber’s Note: These errata have been corrected in this e-text. “Page 51, note” is footnote AC.

Additionally the following changes were made:

Page 16, le sujet le ce rapport => le sujet de ce rapport

Page 20, marveilleusement => merveilleusement

Page 25, de cette taile => de cette taille

Page 26, non estimable ami => mon estimable ami

Page 37, Satyrites Beynesii => Satyrites Reynesii

Page 41, Zeichung => Zeichnung (twice)

Page 42, Färburg => Färbung (twice, and another time on page 47)

“ 42, bie den Vanessen => bei den Vanessen

Page 46, dis zum Augenpunkt => bis zum Augenpunkt

“ 46, gezacht => gezackt

“ 46, indem ganz schwache => in der ganz schwache

Page 47, Varästelung => Verästelung

“ 47, enimal => einmal

Page 81, précédement => précédemment

“ 81, q’u à => qu’à

“ 81, Quatres genres => Quatre genres

“ 81, note (footnote AT), du pays tertiare => du pays tertiaire

“ 88, Aertze => Aerzte

Minor errors in punctuation, capitalisation, accents etc have been corrected without note.