THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 51 



HISTORY OF PHYCIODES THAROS, A POLYMORPHIC 



BUTTERFLY. 



BY W. H. EDWARDS, COALBURGH, W. VA. 



(Continued from Page lo.) 



I have had upwards of 500 examples of the species before me in 

 making these comparisons, most of them bred, but many taken in the field 

 during several years past, since my attention has been attracted to the 

 variation manifested. Many others I have brought together from localities 

 as far apart as those mentioned. And I can well corroborate the words 

 of Drury, applied to t/iaros, now more than an hundred years ago : "In 

 short, Nature forms such a variety of this species that it is difiicult to set 

 bounds, or to know all that belongs to it.'' 



In most of the comparisons above made I have used the under side 

 of the hind wings only, for the reason that here the markings are most 

 decided and colors most varied ; but there are differences in the fore 

 wings also corresponding much with the others. On the upper side there 

 is more uniformity throughout the species ; but, as a rule, the winter form 

 has the fulvous portions deep red, while in the summer generations the 

 fulvous is usually paler, and often partly replaced by yellow, as before 

 mentioned. The ist summer generation at Coalburgh had much less of 

 this change in the fulvous portions than the 2nd, and the 2nd corresponded 

 in this respect with the ist Catskill summer generation. But the upper 

 side of var. A forms an exception, the black being paler, almost gray, and 

 the hind margin of fore wing edged by a narrow band which is distinctly 

 separated from the blacker submarginal patches. Usually these are con- 

 fluent and concolored with the band, making in effect a very broad black 

 margin. The blackish net work about the base is very open, the lines 

 fine. A appears to be an offset of B in the direction most remote from 

 the summer form, just as in Papilio ajax, the var. Walshii is on the farther 

 side of telamonides , remote from the summer form marcelhis. On the 

 contrary, var. C leads from B through D directly to the summer form. A 

 is farther from this last in all respects than are several species of this 

 genus, and were it not for the intermediate grades, I do not think it would 

 be suspected of any close relationship to the summer form. Variety B 

 I conceive to be nearest the primitive type. Besides that this has appeared 



