AN EXHIBITION OF LEPIDOPTERA HELD AT GENEVA. 171 



Schiftermiiller, S.V. !SchmetterUnge der Wiener (/eifend, 1776, and quote 

 his description, which, however, might perhaps have referred equally 

 to diili/iiia. 



Melitaea phoebe and its variation. 



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

 Mr. Wheeler's hypothesis that " only in a very limited sense can 

 local races of lepidoptera be said to exist at all " involves a great deal 

 more than can be dealt with in a magazine article. It suffices that in 

 his next paragraph he adds " there can be no doubt that the dominant 

 forms of many butterflies are different in different localities." It is 

 also quite true that, within the geographical limits of abundance of a 

 species, any of the main races, which may be assumed to be the 

 accumulated result of local environment, may occur in a not very 

 different form, under some specific and not easily detected conditions, 

 elsewhere as an aberration, e.g., a form resembling occitanica, or one 

 resembling aetherea, may very conceivably occur as an aberration 

 among the more characteristic alpine form we know so well from 

 Switzerland. Mr. Wheeler's contention is largely what I have many 

 times asserted in print, that the inherent possibility of an insect's 

 aberrational variation lies between the extremes in colour and marking 

 of the most divergent forms in all or any part of its range. But even 

 granting this, do occitanica, Staudinger, and aetherea, Evers., occur in 

 Switzerland ? We must remember that, if Staudinger were asked to 

 forward typical M. phoebe, at a few pence each, he almost invariably 

 forwarded specimens from the Rhone and its lateral valleys (at least, 

 he did so twice to the writer), and the range of variation in Switzerland 

 must have been well-known to him. One, therefore, doubts whether 

 he would have named the Russian and Spanish forms had they not 

 been quite separate from those he already knew. Mr. Wheeler says 

 that aetherea and occitanica occur in Switzerland ; so far the matter 

 appears settled ; but what are the exact characters on w^hich one relies 

 for the names of these insects ? In other words, we want a settlement 

 of Staudinger's occitanica and Eversmanu's aetherea. One supposes 

 that the " Staudinger collection " may still retain the type of the 

 former. 



An exhibition of Lepidoptera held by the Societe lepidopterologique 

 de Geneve at Geneva. 



By Professor C. BLACHIEE. 

 This exhibition was held in the Great Hall of the National Institute 

 of Geneva from April 25th to May 5th, and proved a brilliant success, 

 drawing not only entomologists from Geneva and elsewhere, but 

 naturalists professing other branches of study, as well as attracting 

 many quite outsiders. Never before has Geneva had such a beautiful 

 exhibition, and the splendour of the butterflies has, no doubt, been 

 quite a revelation to many. The hall was excellently arranged and 

 lighted from above. In the centre, two long tables, slightly inclined, 

 were reserved for Palaearctic butterflies, whilst around the hall were 

 other tables bearing glass drawers and boxes containing exotic species. 

 At one end some separate tables were utilised for biologic exhibits, 

 others for collecting apparatus, for rearing larvte, and for the conser- 



