HYBRID SPHINGIDS. 



203 



to the subject, without, however, publishing anj^thing thereon ; but 

 for the student who will devote his time largely to the matter we 

 still wait. 



At the recent exhibition of the Societe Lepidopterologique de 

 Geneve, the following Sphingid hybrids were exhibited by my friend 

 Dr. Denso. The nomenclature looks somewhat formidable, but 

 reference to Nat. Hist. Brit. Lep., v., pp. 23-24, will aid in its simpli- 

 fication, as will also remembrance of the fact that atmtauti is merely 

 the large Algerian form of pomdi, and atlcuiticus that of ocellata. 

 The specimens shown were — • 



5 6 hybr. austauti s x atlanticus 2 = metis* , Aust. (among which was the 

 type of the ab. deleta, Aust.). 



1 (J hybr. atlanticus s X austauti ? =oherthuerij, Tutt. 



2 (f , 2 2 mongr. austauti x x^opuli 2 =darwinianal, Stdfss. 

 2 (f , 2 2 mongr. jjopuli s x austauti ? =fangi\, Stdfss. 



2 i hybr. austauti <i x ocellata 2 =varians^, Stdfss. 



2 <f , 1 2 h-^hv. ocellata a xaustauti 2 =o^)erosa||, Stdfss. 



6 J hybr. ocellata g xpopuli 2 =hybiidus, Stphs. (not hybrida, "Westd. as 

 noted). 



1 <i hyhr. ocellata <? x{popuUi x austauti 2) 2 = da ubii*.\, Stdiss. 

 1 d hybr. atlanticus i xpopuli 2 =frinysi**, Stdfss. 

 1 c? , 2 2 hybr. oceWato i xexaecata 2 =neopalaearctica, Stiiss. 

 1 <r hybr. tiliae i x ocellata 2 =leoniae, Stdfss. 



It has been deemed advisable to note these separately, as the 

 nomenclature looks intricate, and to anyone not quite conversant, 

 misleading. There are, as a matter of fact, only four hybrids here, 

 viz. : — 



hybr. hybridus, St])hs.{ = ocellata 3 xpopuli 2 =atlanticus <? xaustauti? = 

 ocellata <? x austauti 2 =atlauticus <j xpopuli 9 , etc.). [Atlanticus is specifically 

 identical with ocellata and austauti with jJopuli] . 



hyhr. inversa, Tutt {=popidi <f xocellata 2 =austauti <J x atlanticus 2 = 

 populi s xatlanticus 2 =austauti 3 xocellata ? ). 



hybr. neopalearctica, StdUs. ( = ocellata <f xexaecata 2). 



hybr. iconjae, Stdfss. ( = aZtae <? xocellata 2). 



We are not altogether free from helping to form this muddled 

 synonymy ourselves, but it is quite clear that there can only be one 

 available name for the same hybrid, e.g., hybr. Iii/bridii.s, Stphs., for 

 the cross between ocellata J xpopuli 2 , etc. The crosses of local forms 

 of these species inter se, or of one local form with the type form of 

 the other species leaves the actual hybrid unaltered. The special race 

 may produce a different -looking insect — but if a special name be given, 

 it can only be as a variety of the primary hybrid of the two species, 

 thus oberthueri, Tutt, openmt, Stdfss., daubii, Stdfss., friwjsi, Stdfss., 

 are at the most forms or varieties of the hybr. hybridus, Stphs. 

 Similarly, metis, Stdfss., is merely a var. of the hj-br. inrersa, Tutt. This 



* Since austauti —populi as a species, and atlanticus = ocellata as a species, it 

 follows that metis, Stdfss. =iHi'ersn, Tutt, both having the same parentage (see 

 A'. Hist. Brit. Lep., v., p. 24). 



t Similarly oberthueri, Tutt = hybrid us, Stphs. (op. cit. p. 23). Dr. Denso 

 calls this hybrida, Westd., but Stephens named it, not Westwood (see N. Hist. Br. 

 Lep., iii., p. 448). 



* As these are merely crosses between local races of the same species, they 

 are "mongrels," not " hybrids." 



§ Since austauti=populi as a species, therefore varians, Stdfss. =inversa, Tutt. 

 II Similarly oj^erosa, Htdiss. = )iybndus, Stphs. 



1i This is really a cross between ocellata xpopuli and hence = hybridus, Stphs. 

 •* This is again only Itybridus, Stphs., since atlanticus = ocellata. 



