The acknowledged value of the figures contained in Drury's
"Illustrations,"[1] the extreme rarity of many of the insects figured
therein, which continue up to the present day to be unique, and the
scarcity of the work itself, which appears almost unknown to Continental
Entomologists, having induced the proprietor of the plates to republish the
work, I have consented to undertake the charge of bringing it forth in a
form more adapted to the present greatly advanced state of Entomology. How
far I have succeeded must be left for the candid Entomologist to decide. It
is fit however that, by way of bespeaking indulgence for the numerous
errors into which I fear that I have, notwithstanding all my care, fallen,
I should mention the obstacles which have operated against my giving the
work that perfect style which I could have wished it to possess. Of these
the chief difficulty has arisen from the non-possession of the specimens
which served for the original illustrations, without which it may be
readily conceived that it has been impossible to ascertain with precision
many of the more minute characters, of which the present state of the
science requires the investigation; thus in many cases I have been obliged
to remain in ignorance of the particular structure of the antennæ, trophi
and legs, and the disposition of the veins of the wings, in many of the
smaller species of Lepidoptera, so that the precise genera may not in some
instances be correctly stated; and to many I have been compelled to attach
marks of interrogation for the like reason. Another and equally strong
obstacle has been produced from the little attention paid to exotic
{iv}Lepidoptera by modern Entomologists. More than two-thirds of these
Illustrations are illustrative of that beautiful order of insects; and yet,
with the exception of some of the showy butterflies and moths, scarcely a
reference is to be found even in the works of Fabricius, the personal
friend of Drury, whose Entomologia Systematica, published in 1793 and 1794,
contains the last general summary of the species of this order; Gmelin
also, whose Systema Naturæ it has been the fashion to decry, but which, as
a laborious compilation from the works of preceding and chiefly Continental
authors, is of great service,[2] was only acquainted with these
illustrations through the early works of Fabricius.[3] It is true that M.
M. Boisduval and Guérin have respectively published various new exotic
Lepidoptera, especially of the Nocturnal group, in the Voyages of the
Coquille and Astrolabe; but we still want a general revision, not only of
the species but of the genera of this order. It was to have been hoped
that, as regarded the Javanese species, this would have been effected by
Dr. Horsfield, whose work upon the Lepidoptera of Java, as far as
published, leaves nothing to be desired of the structural details of the
species illustrated therein. M. Boisduval also, in his Histoire Naturelle
des Lépidoptères, has treated the subject in a masterly manner, availing
himself both of the preparatory states and veining of the wings; but we
greatly miss those beautiful details which render the works of Horsfield
and Curtis invaluable. It is in this comparative ignorance, both of the
structural and metamorphotic details of exotic Lepidoptera, that we may
attribute the want of a sound and philosophical distribution of the order
in question; and which at the same time prevents us from determining the
situation of many remarkable and anomalous groups. Of these the genera
Castnia, Urania, &c. and the whole tribe of the Zygænidæ may especially be
mentioned; and it is with the view of inciting enquiry into this part of
the subject, that I have introduced many of the latter species into the
genus Callimorpha amongst the Nocturnal moths.
Another obstacle has been produced by the little attention paid by the
Entomologists of the last century to the geographical situation of their
insects; as an instance of this, it will be sufficient to mention that
Linnæus and Fabricius made use of the term "In Indiis" generally, to
indicate that an insect was an inhabitant either of the West or East
Indies. Drury indeed appears to have paid more than the ordinary degree of
attention to this part of the subject, as appears from the Catalogue of his
Insects, which I obtained at the sale of Mr. Donovan's collections, to
whom, as appears by a note, they were presented by Mr. Drury. Thus under
Lucanus interruptus, (Genus Passalus, Fabricius,) we find the {v}following
entries:--
7. 3. Interruptus, Muskito Shore, Capt. Keay, } also at Maryland,
8. 3. Interruptus, Sierra Leone, Mr. Smeathman,} New York,
Carolina, where
they are very
large.
9. 3. Interruptus, Maryland, Mr. Milward, 1756, Lin. Syst.
p. 560, f. 4.
10. 4. Interrupt. var. Rio Janeiro, Mr. Bonifas, 1775, that on the
right hand from Mr. Laing, at
Tobago.
12. Interrupt. var. Bought at Seymour's sale.
Here it is quite evident that Drury had carefully noted down the localities
of all the specimens of this insect which he possessed, and which are now
described as distinct species; and this extract will I think be quite
sufficient to shew, that from the careful manner in which these Catalogues
were kept by Mr. Drury, we are entitled to regard them, when there happens
to be a difference between the works of Drury and Fabricius, Linnæus, &c.
as at least of equal authority with the writings of these authors. I regret
that these Catalogues did not come into my hands until after the first and
second volumes of this edition were printed off. I have incorporated the
notes in the third volume; and have given, as an Appendix, extracts from
these Catalogues, where there happens to be any variation or doubt as to
the locality of any of the species figured in the first two volumes.
I have almost invariably adopted the very proper principle of referring to
that name, either generic or specific, which has the priority in point of
date. In the first edition, the first volume appeared without specific
names, which were at that time a novelty but recently introduced by
Linnæus. In the second volume, however, an appendix was given, containing
specific names both of the first and second volumes, and a similar appendix
was given at the end of the third volume; but no specific names appeared in
the body of the work. To many of the names contained in the appendices
Fabricius referred, many he entirely omitted, and for many he substituted
others. These last I have of course rejected; and have in many instances
given the dates when the names were first imposed by the different
authors--a plan which would be very serviceable if generally adopted. I
have, likewise, made a point in many cases of restoring the specific
_proper_ names, where, in consequence of a change in the sex of the generic
name, a corresponding change had been made in such specific name. This
alteration had been carried to a great extent in the Encyclopédie
Méthodique; and many male and female _proper_ names had been completely
altered, in order to suit them to the sex of the new genera in which they
were placed. This was, however, an error on the wrong side; because it is
admitted as an established principle, that if it should be thought
necessary to subdivide a genus, the names of the subdivisions should be of
the sex of the original generic name.
The plan upon which the first edition of this work was published may be
seen from the following specimen, which is one of the shortest given, but
which will be sufficient to shew not only the style of the former edition,
but also the manner in which I have treated the subject and the additions
which I have introduced.
{vi}Vol. I. Plate II.
Fig. III.--Expands about three inches.
_Upper Side._--The antennæ are black. The head, thorax, and abdomen
brown. All the wings (the edges of which are even not dentated) are of a
deep brown, with a shade of clay colour, rising near the anterior edges
of the superior ones, runs along near the tips and ends at the external
edges.
_Under Side._--The eyes are black, the palpi yellow. All the wings are
the same brown colour as the upper side, with the clay-coloured shade
near the tips as on that. The superior wings have five whitish spots on
each placed on a row near the external edges, the inferior ones have on
each sometimes five and sometimes seven spots of the same colour placed
in a circular row, that meets near the extremity of the body.