_Artogeia_ vs. _Pieris_

[Kenelm Philip]

	Charles Nicholls asked, a while ago, about the genus _Artogeia_
vis a vis _Pieris_. This is one of those distinctions that depends on
one's approach to taxonomy, particularly whether you incline towards
'lumping' or 'splitting'.

	In 'The Classification of European Butterflies' (1975) Higgens
states: "The five species following, placed here in the genus _Artogeia_
Verity, are usually included in _Pieris_ by many authors. Their genitalia,
androconial scales and chromosome numbers differ from those of _P. bras-
sicae_ and it is not satisfactory to include them in the same genus."

	_Artogeia_ was also used in the Miller-Brown Catalogue/Checklist
of North American butterflies. However, in the Supplement (1989) Ferris
writes: "The use of the genus _Artogeia_ in _Memoir No. 2_ was based upon
a revisionary paper "_Artogeia_ Verity 1947, gen. rev. for _Papilio napi_
Linnaeus" published by Otto Kudrna in 1974 in Entomologist's Ga., 25: 9-12.
Many specialists have questioned the use of this generic name. A year after
_Memoir No. 2_ was issued, Kudrna published another paper in which he
rescinded his earlier action elevating _ARTOGEIA_ to full generic status
[_in_ Blab, J. & O. Kudrna, 1982. Hilfsprogramm fur Schmetterlimge. Nat-
urschutz aktuell, 6: 1-135]. He further recommended that _ARTOGEIA_ might
be used in the subgeneric sense as defined by Klots [1933. A generic re-
vision of the Pieridae. Entomologica am. (N.S.), 12: 139-242]. Robbins
and Henson [1986. J. Lepid. Soc., 40(2): 79-92] have also presented data
that suggest the use of _PIERIS_ to replace _ARTOGEIA_. On the basis of
these actions, it appears preferable to use _PIERIS_ as the appropriate
generic name."

	The recent book 'Alberta Butterflies' also uses _Pieris_ for _napi_
and its relatives.

	Whether one chooses to regard a given group as a subgenus or as
a genus seems to still be somewhat a matter of taste, although both lumpers
and splitters will stoutly maintain that their interpretations are the
only ones supported by the data. There is some ongoing work in the
Pieridae, and no doubt someone out there can produce new evidence for or
against the use of _Artogeia_ as a genus.

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu