BOARMIDsE—VENILIA. 353 



margin rather straight ; colour soft ochreous or chrome- 

 yellow, with numerous large yellow-black spots disposed in 

 stripes— a rather straight and unbroken stripe near the base, 

 a central band, composed of a large erect dorsal blotch and 

 two broken or constricted spots, and a series of three before 

 the hind margin— two elongated blotches on the hind margin, 

 including most of the cilia, form a sort of fourth stripe ; the 

 remainder of the cilia are yellow. Hind wings rather deeper 

 yellow or ochreous, having usually five or six similar large 

 angulated spots which are not quite placed in stripes, yet in 

 some degree suggest them ; along the hind margin is a row 

 of similar spots which include the adjacent cilia, the latter 

 between them being ochreous; in all the wings there is 

 towards the base a dusting or dotting of black. Female very 

 similar. 



Underside of the fore wings of a rather richer ochreous- 

 yellow, the spots reproduced but blacker ; hind wings paler 

 yellow, and the spots of the upper side indicated, but paler. 

 Body and legs yellow, dusted with black. 



Very variable in the depth of the ground colour, from pale 

 yellow to rich orange-ochreous, but the paler colouring some- 

 times results from fading during life, and this probably 

 accounts for the disparity often seen between the colours of 

 the fore and hind wings. But it is in the size of the yellow- 

 black spots and the degree of intermediate dusting that the 

 most striking variations are found. In a form formerlv 

 described as a distinct species, under the name of quadri- 

 maculala, these are reduced to four spots on the costa of each 

 fore wing, the remainder and the hind wings being immacu- 

 late. This was — and is — a very rare form. Mr. Sydney 

 Webb has one such in Mr. Bond's collection, and there is a 

 specimen in that of the late Mr. H. Doubleday, at Bethnal 

 Green Museum. In Mr. Webb's cabinet is a specimen devoid 

 of spots — merely plain yellow — also some having three costal 

 spots ; others in which the usual spots are present in faint 

 indications, or are distinct but very small ; others have the 



VOL. VI. 



