COLIAS IV. 



Female. — Expands 2.2 to 2.5 inches. 



Either bright yellow, or of the tint of the male, or paler, a whitish yellow ; the 

 marginal border of primaries broad, of nearly even width except at apex, pale 

 dusky black, completely inclosing a series of yellow patches that cross the wing ; 

 discal spot as in the male, occasionally orange. 



Secondaries have the border much narrower and limited to upper half the 

 wing; often represented by a few scales or patches; the discal spot either pale 

 orange, solid, or an orange ring with pale centre. (Figs. 3, 4, 8.) Fig. 9 repre- 

 sents a curious variety, in which the border of primaries takes the form of a series 

 of long triangles, one on each nervule. 



So far as at present known, Chrysomelas is limited to Northern California. 

 Nevada has been thoroughly searched for butterflies, and this species has not been 

 taken there. The original examples from which Mi-. Edwards made his descrip- 

 tions were from Napa County. Mr. James Behrens has for several seasons taken 

 many at Shasta, Shasta County, and at Soda Springs, Siskiyou County. 



There is no doubt that Chrysomelas is nearly allied to C. Occidentalis, Scudder, 

 figured in Vol. I. pi. 18, described on page 57, a species found over N. W. Br. 

 America, from Vancouver's Island to Lake Saskatchawan, but not in the Rocky 

 Momitains or at high elevations. The two form a distinct sub-group, differing 

 from any other in the character of the border of the fore wing in the female. I 

 have thought Chrysomelas might be a southern form of Occidcntalis, and .so put 

 it in my Catalogue, 1884. On the other hand, Mr. Henry Edwards has been 

 familiar with both these forms in tlie field, and is positive that they are distinct 

 species. At the end of his description he says : " I have no doubt whatever of 

 the distinctness of this species. It is most nearly allied to C. Occidentalis, Scud., 

 the original types of which are now before me. It differs in the extreme width 

 of the marginal band, equally broad on primaries and secondaries, and always 

 distinctly cut by the nervules on both wings ; by its much larger size, and by the 

 paler ground color of the female, with more jironounced marginal border. The 

 usual absence of the discal spot of primaries is also a strongly marked charactei'." 

 This was in 1877. Ten years later, June, 1887, Mr. Edwards writes me : "I am 

 full}^ of the opinion that Chrysomelas is quite distinct from Occiil entails. There 

 is a difference between the two that cannot be expressed in words, but any one 

 who has taken the two forms on the wing, as I have, must be of my opinion. 

 Chrysomelas is from the Coast Range, a different region from the home of Occi- 

 dentalis. My first specimens of the former were from the foothills of Napa 

 County. I afterwards got it from Mendocino County, and Mr. Behrens takes it 

 at Shasta. These localities are part of the siime range of mountains, the Coast 



