EEEBIA EPIPHRON AND ITS NAMED VARIETIES. 163 



the under surface are without markings. Meyer-Diir( iVo?<«. Mi'm. Soc. 

 Ilehet., ]5d. xii., p. L51, pi. 2, fig. 3) describes and iigures a variety 

 from the higher Bernese Alps, which he calls var. berncnsis, which in 

 some respects resembles the form figured by Esper, It is very i)Ossible 

 that var. nelamus, Boisd., to which reference will be made in its turn, 

 is identical Avith this form, in which case, it would be better to sink 

 Esper's name as being already the name of a si^ecies, and to adopt 

 Boisduval's name for this form. 



j3. Var. cassiope, Eb. — The name cassiope, by which the species has 

 been most generally known, was given by Fabricius m 1787 (Mant. Ins., 

 vol. ii., p. 42, No. 417), to a butterfly which he saw in Schiffermiiller's 

 cabinet, and for which he gives Austria as a habitat, and grass as the 

 food-plant. There is no indication that he recognised any close affinity 

 between it and the epiphron of Knoch, which he had already described 

 (No. 411). As there is some uncertainty about the exact meaning of 

 some of the words, I give the original Latin. Diagn. : " Alis integris 

 fuscis : fascia rufa ; punctis tribus ocellaribus nigris, posticis subtus 

 punctis solis." Description : " Alje omnes supra nigrsB fascia marginis 

 hand attingente, in posticis imprimis maculari rufa et in hac puncta tria 

 nigra. Subtus anticte concolores, postic^e punctis tribus at absque fascia 

 rufa." Borkhausen, in 1789 {I.e., Th. ii., p. 204, No. 16e), gives what 

 appears to be a free translation of this, as follows : — " All wings above 

 black-brown with an orange band, which on the fore-wings is undi- 

 vided and does not reach the margins, but which on the hind-wings 

 consists of separate blotches and has three black points. On the 

 imderside the fore- wings are marked as above ; the hind-wings lack 

 the orange band, but the three black points are present." 



Ochsenheimer gives the following diagnosis {I.e., p. 261, No. 44): 

 " Alis integris fuscis fascia rufa, punctis tribus nigris ; posticis supi'a 

 maculis rufis nigro punctatis, subtus foeminaa cinerascentibus, punctis 

 solis ; " and he goes on to say : " The ground colour is, in fresh speci- 

 mens, dark black-brown ; in those that have flown, paler. A rust- 

 coloured or orange band, divided by the nervures, is found on the fore- 

 wings near the hind margin ; it is uniform in breadth, and two to four 

 black spots are found in it. The hind-wings are oval, with a short 

 projection in the middle of the hind margin ; they usually show three 

 or four orange blotches, of which some, rarely all, have black spots in 

 them. In varieties, there are only one or two of these blotches, and 

 the black spots are hardly, or not at all, perceptible. On the underside, 

 the fore-wings are somewhat paler, the orange band is sliarpl}'^ defined 

 on both margins and contains two or three black spots. The hind- 

 wings are black-brown, and not markedly darker from the base to the 

 middle ; near the hind margin are one or several black dots in hardly 

 perceptible delicate reddish-yellow circles. In varieties, they are some- 

 times entirely wanting. The female is larger, has a paler ground colour, 

 and its spots are more numerous and larger on both fore-wings and hind- 

 wings. The underside of the fore-wings is orange, with the costal and 

 hind margins grey-brown ; the band is distinct, sharply defined, 

 and somewhat brighter than the disc. The hind-wings are brownish- 

 grey beneath, darker from the base outwards, and three or four black 

 dots stand in hardly- percei^tible orange circles, near the hind margin. 

 I have received this butterfly from Styria and Switzerland." 

 Ochsenheimer does not seenx to liave recognised any intimate connection 



