36 THE entomologist's record. 



C. edusa was very abundant and much worn as a rule, in June, with a 

 fair sprinkling of var. helice. A new brood began to emerge as I was 

 leaving, but up to date, July 16th, var. helice had not again appeared. 

 Many of the C. edusa of both sexes were remarkably small, and seemed 

 to constitute a separate race, flying with those of ordinary size, perhaps 

 var. pyrenaica. None were large and especially fine, as some I have 

 from Gibraltar. C. Injale was only seen or taken three or four times. 

 It was evidently rare, at least in the early brood. But of these few 

 specimens, one female is a very beautiful variety. On the underside, 

 the tips of the primaries, and the whole of the secondaries, instead of 

 the usual dark mustard-yellow, are a greyish-white, just sufficiently 

 pronounced to preserve the contrast with the pure white of the discal 

 portion of the upperwings. The general effect is of almost a silver 

 underside. If this aberration is not already recognised, it deserves a 

 name of its own, and I would suggest armjpltea. Melit^ids were by no 

 means abundant, except, perhaps Melitaea phoehe var. occitanica, which 

 was mostly worn in the middle of June, but a month later issued 

 again in fresh beauty. This species was, on an average, always smaller 

 than the specimens from the Alps. I have taken hundreds of M. 

 phoehe in the Rhone Valley, both sides of the iSimplon, Monte Bre, 

 Pontresina, Orta, Reazzino, etc., but have never seen from central 

 Europe a specimen which could be said to be more than "trans ad var. 

 occitanicain," as represented by the Spanish examples. A point which 

 seems to be altogether ignored by Staudinger's absolutely insufficient 

 description " magis variegata," is the entirely different tone of colour 

 in these Spanish M. phoebe. It is not merely a matter of a little more 

 or less variegated effect of light and dark colour, but the artist so to 

 speak, has mixed his colours with entirely different pigments. In 

 Switzerland he takes for his ground colour the ruddy tone of Argyn?iis 

 adippe, and variegates it with black, white, and yellowish- brown. In 

 Spain the ground colour is more that of Dryax paphia ? , bedecked with 

 lemon-yellow, and much finer tracery of black. In the Swiss forms the 

 antemarginal band, on the upperside of the hindwings, is always strongly 

 chevroned in black, often suffused, and sometimes containing black 

 spots, as in ab. cin.cioides, Muschamp ; the Spanish specimens have 

 this band only delicately suggested, and often almost obsolete. Here, 

 I may mention a beautiful male from La Granja, in which the under- 

 side of the hindwings has the central pale band of pure colour without 

 any zigzag, black edging, or black spots, and no central row of black 

 marks on the primaries underside. I took a few Melitaea aurinia var. 

 iberica mostly worn. Jones records also M. desfontanei var. baetica 

 male and female. J/, didyma we found at first, not common and 

 difficult to get in good condition ; they were mostly females of the var. 

 occidentalis. M. deione was also passing (1st brood ?) and not abundant, 

 but many females were fine, and differed much in size. Both males 

 and females presented endless variation in the breadth of black mark- 

 ings, and in intensity of colour. M. parthenie, thinly scattered every- 

 where towards the end of June, was very bright in colour, but no females. 

 A nice series which I thought were beautifully variegated females, 

 Mr. Wheeler thinks to be deione, though all have a close family like- 

 ness to M. parthenie. Mr. Jones reports athalia, I do not think that 

 I saw or took this species — but had some of the Castilian forms of 



