26 THE entomologist's record. 



Rhopalocerous family group, especially in those which are also 

 characterised by a somewhat generalised condition of other characters, 

 may, as a rule, be considered, in every group, as a relatively primitive 

 character ; on the other hand, the inclined or depressed covering 

 of short and broadly expanded, blade-like scales, represents a higher 

 degree of specialisation. 



The basalfleck affords a good subject for comparative morphological 

 investigation, since it is variable in form and structure, and indicates 

 different lines of specialisation. So much the more important does the 

 study of this structure become, if we consider that its concealed 

 position does not render it liable to adaptation under the direct 

 influence of varying conditions of environment. It is, therefore, more 

 likely to indicate the true affinities, which may be more or less 

 disturbed and obscured in other structures. In my endeavour to 

 ascertain the different ways in which the primitive type of the basal- 

 fleck has been modified in the various, more or less, specialised forms, 

 i.e., to make out the lines of descent, and thereby the phylogenetic 

 relationships, I have examined the whole of the greater and smaller 

 systematic groups of the Rhopalocera. 



The primitive type of the basalfleck is characterised by : (1) Its 

 covering a somewhat large area, reaching from the proximal end of 

 the basal joint to the middle of the same, or even further, and 

 occupying in its basal half, almost the entire breadth of the inner 

 side of the joint ; (2) By the tapering form of its distal end, which is 

 somewhat irregularly and vaguely limited by scales ; and (3) By the 

 slender, straight chitinous cones, which, although but slightly developed, 

 are somewhat equally spread over the entire area of the basalfleck, and 

 do not form a distinctly marked area. Such a primitive, or scarcely more 

 specialised, condition is very common in the Heterocera, and is also 

 to be found in some lower members of the different Rhopalocerous 

 super-family groups, or Gentes,^ as I have called them, viz., the 

 Papilumes, Lycaenae, Danaidae, and, in a somewhat less pronounced 

 form, even in a few Satyri. In the Libytheae the basalfleck is not very 

 specialised, but in the Nymphales the degree of specialisation, even in 

 the most generalised members, is tolerably high. It may here be 

 mentioned that, for many reasons, this highly specialised form is not 

 to be derived from any form already specialised, as represented in 

 the modified members of any other family, but must have been 

 developed independently from the yeneralised type form described above. 



[To be continued). 



* As to the systematic value of these and the family groups, see below. 



Relationship of Callimorpha hera and Euthemonia russula as 

 exhibited by their early stages. 



By J. W. TUTT, F.E.S. 

 I was fortvinate this year in being able to compare the eggs and 

 young larvae of these two species side by side. The result was 

 sufficiently interesting to give my notes to our readers. Although I 

 described the egg of C. hera on August 6th, under a two-thirds lens 

 used as a hand glass, yet when I made that of -£". russnla, I had several 

 hundreds of those of C. hera, in various stages of development, under 



