52 



and fuller materials to determine its position." This is as much as to 

 say that without hesitation he calls every form that he may consider 

 distinct a new species, and leaves it to time and fuller materials, with 

 eight out of ten chances to prove it a useless synonym to bother the 

 heads of students and to increase the more than worthless literature of 

 synonymy. Is this working for the good of the science? It may be 

 working for the honor of Mr. Edwards, for if the described form prove 

 distinct, his name is certain to have priority. It is, of course, not to 

 be supposed that a describer must never make a synonym, for it is im- 

 possible always to draw the line between specific and varietal characters, 

 but he may keep on the safe side. He would not err in describing a 

 new species from but one example if its characters differed from those 

 of its nearest allied form in as marked a manner as in the case of 

 Vanessa Antiopa and V. Mi/berti, or Argynnis Diana, Idalia and 

 Cybele, or Me litem Phaeton and Chalcedon. 



On the other hand, if a new form is closely allied to a known species, 

 I maintain that it should not be described with a new name, without 

 large material to determine the constancy of its separating characters. 

 Toshow what I mean by closely allied forms I will mention here some 

 so-called species which I think should not have been described as spe- 

 cies, and which will eventually prove to be mere varieties of one an- 

 other:— Some of the allied species of Papilio Asterias, Callidryas 

 Eubule and Senms ; Danais Berenice and Strigosa ; some forms of 

 Argynnis, such as Cybele, Carpenterii and Aphrodite, Zerene and 

 Monticola; Melitcsa Anicia and its allies; most of the recendy de- 

 scribed species of Apatura; Satyrus Alope and Pegala; Lyc(Z7ia Me- 

 lissa, Scudderii and Acmon ; and numerous other examples. 



If Mr. Edwards wants certainty as regards distinct species and va- 

 rietal connection, which is what we all want, he may attain it by breed- 

 ing from the ^%% if he always goes far enough to establish it upon the 

 characters of the imago; his larval characters will not do. And though 

 he may with certainty establish a variety, he can never with absolute 

 certainty prove two forms to be specifically distinct. Sufficient cer- 

 tainty will be admitted by all, however, if but one form be raised from 

 many sets of eggs, and by comparison of large series from varied lo- 

 calities no intermediate grades be found. 



