170 THE entomologist's record. 



not occur, in localities also inhabited by oclmmheimeri. Oberthlir 

 follows Staudinger here, and says : " Nous avons vu beaucoup de 

 fhOiia avee cinq ou six taches aux ailes superieures, mais jamais nous 

 n'avons observe de confluence de taches dans duhia " {Lcp. des. 

 Pi/rdnees, p. 31). We notice that Oberthiir has not yet recognised 

 ocliscnlwijiicri as a Pyrenean species, and are inclined to think his 

 specimens of six-spotted dnhUi {iiicdicai/inis) are really referable to this 

 species. 



I was much interested recently in re-reading some notes by G. T. 

 Baker (-Bethune), on Z. medicaiiinis (Ent. Mo. Maij., xxi., p. 9). The 

 observations referred to were made in 1883, in the valley of the 

 Buttier, between Aosta and the Great St. Bernard Pass, a district 

 practically the same as that between Aosta and Courmayeur, in which 

 my own observations (Xofcs on Zi/iiacnidac, pp. 16-21) were made. 

 His description of the occurrence of the species suggests that they 

 occur in the same kind of places, and under similar conditions in the 

 two adjacent valleys, and I have no doubt from his descriptions that 

 the insects designated as " « " and " 6 " are jiwdicai/inis, whilst those 

 designated " c " (only a single specimen) and " (/ " are males, and 

 those "e" and "/" are females, of ochscnheiineri. The separation 

 made by Mr. Baker is so identical with that I made myself, on my 

 first acquaintance with these species, that there can be only such 

 doubt existing, as must always exist, when the specimens are not 

 actually under observation. 



The remarks made, prefaced by Staudinger's diagnosis — "Zi/t/ama, 

 var. duhia, var. major, al. ant. macul. 5 vel 6, al. post, latins nigris " — 

 are as follows : "Of this insect we took a large number in the Buttier 

 Valley, in none of which are the central or basal spots confluent. 

 The series is so interesting that I will describe them in detail : — 



" a. Fore-wings steel-blue, with the median spots red instead of crimson, and 

 narrowly separated ; hind-wings also red with a broad black border, spots on 

 underside all disconnected. 



h. Fore-wings bluish-bronze, with the spots crimson, smaller than usual, the 

 median ones being more widely separated ; hind-wings crimson with a broader 

 black border. 



c. Fore-wings bluish-green, with all the crimson-red spots very small, the 

 median ones being very oblique, and still more widely separated, and the hind- 

 wings having an exceptionally broad black border. On the underside of this 

 specimen there is a distinct trace of a sixth red spot on the fore- wings. 



d. Fore-wings greenish-bronze, with the crimson-red spots small and the sixth 

 spot just visible (well marked on the underside) ; the hind-wings are erimson, 

 with a broad black border. [In none of the foregoing are the anterior wings at 

 all transparent.] 



e. Green or blue-bronze, with markings similar to " d" but rather redder and 

 the sixth spot becoming much more visible ; the black border of the hind-wings is 

 decidedly narrower and more uniform, and the underside of the fore- wings is 

 suffused with red, and they have also a tendency to being slightly transparent, as 

 is noticeable in Jilipoidulae. 



f. In this variety the sixth spot is well marked, and were it not for the very 

 broad and blue-black border of the hind-wings, it might be mistaken fov filip end ii la e." 



With our own long series before us from the adjacent valley, we 

 have no hesitation in referring a and b to Z. medircviinis, and c, d, 

 e and _/■ to Z. ochsenheiweri. Baker is " inclined to believe that 

 considerable interbreeding must take place between it {duhia) and the 

 six-spotted Zijuacnac" {Ihid., p. 10). Careful examination of the paired 

 insects in the adjacent valley led me to believe that tkere was little or 

 no intercrossing between the species, the apparent mixture being due 



