RANDOM NOTES ON ZYGAENA EXULANS AND ITS VAKIETIES. 267 



4. a. — This is by far the finest form of all those I have yet seen. 

 The specimens I have of these are all apparently females (picked per- 

 haps on account of size and beauty, before I thought of writing any 

 notes on the species). They are well-scaled and very large, with bright 

 orange nervures, and oi'ange mottled thorax =: the specimens from 

 Lauteret in the La Grave district = var. JiaviUnea, n. var. b. A sub- 

 variety, closely resembling above (4a), slightly smaller, with pale 

 nervures, and thoracic mottling yellow, rather than orange. Thes})eci- 

 mens I have of these are also apparently selected females. How stupidly 

 we often do these things ? A few of the most brightly coloured and 

 strongly marked Grauson Valley specimens would also come in here. 



Such are the variations of Z. exulans which have come under my 

 notice. The above notes are not drawn up from a few specimens, but 

 from the examination of some two hundred Scotch, and almost as many 

 Alpine specimens. To look at the female insect in a cabinet, gives no 

 idea of its exquisite beauty when alive. Then its wings are sprinkled 

 with the finest, palest scales, which makes it look as if it had just tumbled 

 out of a flour-bag. The Lauteret females, with their orange peppering, 

 looked perfectly lovely whilst alive, and suggested a bag of gold-dust, 

 rather than a flour-bag, as their last resting place. 



In the description used in this paper, I have used the term " well- 

 scaled " and " poorly scaled " in a comparative sense. With the 

 exception of vars. clara and flavilinea, tlie species never exhibits any 

 scaling comparable say witli Z. trifolii or Z. lonicerae. 



Anyone who has once seen Z. exulans in its mountain homes, on the 

 Ijorders of the region of perpetual snow (none of the places I have 

 mentioned in the Alps are less than 6,00U, and it is most abundant from 

 8,0UU to 9, (JOG feet) will cease to wonder why so many rubbed specimens 

 used to be obtained. The insect is, of course, a sun-lover, and on dull 

 days gets well down among the grass and herbage, jjrobably as a pro- 

 tection from the ground frosts, which are frequent even in summer at 

 a high elevation. Add to this that in Scotland, the Braemar locality is 

 heathery, and one has a full explanation of the matter. A fine day, 

 when the insect is just emerging, will give good specimens ; an 

 occasional fine day with several intervening wet ones will give an 

 abundance of specimens, but in poor condition, their beauty having l)een 

 damaged probably b}'- their scuttling about in the herbage, or by the 

 wet itself. 



In this paper I have tried to comjjare my summer ca})tures with 

 our Scotch race, but we have yet much to learn about Zi/gaena exulans 

 and its variations. When will one of those collectors who get hundreds 

 of Scotch exulans attempt to get some Scandinavian and Lai)land examples, 

 and increase onr knowledge, by telling us whether these show the same 

 local variation and differences that I have shown to exist in the Alpine 

 races ? I am sure this would be more interesting than filling up blanks 

 in one's ealjinet with (piestionable British rarities. But to those wlio 

 enter into the woi'k, my experience offers a word of warning, and that 

 is, that com})arison is not only useless, but absolutely misleading, when 

 based on narrow lines and worked out on insufficient material. 

 ( 'ompared with the Continental races which I have seen, the amount of 

 variation in Scotch specimens inter se may be put down as practically 

 nil, but they want comparing (as a race), very closely with other races. 



