THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 181 



NOTES ON ARGYNNIS FREYA, CHARICLEA AND MONTINUS. 



BY H. H. LYMAN, MONTREAL. 



As is well known to readers of the Canaihan Entomologist, Mr. 

 Scudder, in his sumptuous work on the Butterflies of New England 

 recently published, stated that Mr. Edwards had confused the two 

 northern species, Argyrmis Freya and Chariclea. This was denied by 

 Mr. Edwards in the April number of this journal and' Mr. Butler's 

 authority was invoked to prove that Mr. Scudder had himself transposed 

 these names. Here the- matter rests, but as I think that I can throw 

 some additional light on the question I shall endeavour to do so. 



In the preface to Mr. Scudder's work he states that " twenty years 

 ago the present work was definitely planned, announced and begun and 

 the greater part of it has been written for fifteen years," though he adds 

 that much of it was rewritten within the past few years. 



On page X. of the same preface, in speaking of the appendix in 

 which certain butterflies not found in New England are described, he 

 says : " It was, Iiowever, an afterthought not entering into the original 

 plan * * * * it has, indeed, been written during the printing of 

 the work." This fact that the first volume was written fifteen or more 

 years ago and the third only last year, no doubt explains the contra- 

 dictory statements in reference to the affinities of Argynnis Alontinus 

 which appear in these volumes. 



On page 604 of the first volume Mr. Scudder, in speaking of A. 

 Moiithms, szys : " Tliis species is certainly distinguishable from B. 

 chariclea (Schneid), or B. chariclea boisduvalii (Somm.), both of which 

 forms have been found by Mr. Couper on the northern shore of the Bay 

 of St. Lawrence. Whether it should be looked upon merely as a geo- 

 graphical race, or as a species, is a question about which there may be 

 easy difference." This certainly implies a very close connection between 

 these forms, and in the original description of Moiitinus, in Scudder's 

 " List of the Butterflies of New England," published in the Proceedings 

 of the Essex Institute in April, 1863, reference to which he curiously 

 enough omits from his recent work, he began his description with " Very 

 similar to A. Chariclea^ 



So far so good, but on turning to the appendix in the third volume, 

 page 1807, under the hedidmg oi Bj'enthis freija Thunb., which is the 

 same as Freya Hiibn., he says : " This species is very closely allied to 



