118 THE ENTOMOLOGIST* 



abundant there than on the mainland, and tends to wholly 

 replace the type. 



Among the species presenting what may be considered local 

 forms may be classed Polijoinmatus ■pJihxas and Lycana cegon 

 var. Corsica. The P. yhhms are mentioned by Mr. Standen as 

 belonging to the form elciis, and no doubt they are close to this 

 form. They do not, however, exhibit the tails quite so con- 

 spicuously as the true eleus, and they are considerably blacker 

 than any eleus that I possess. Moreover, they do not appear to 

 be temperature forms like eleus, but rather to be a well-marked 

 local race. They occur throughout the season, and at various 

 altitudes. The majority of my own specimens came from the 

 slopes of the Pointe Ceppo, just above Vizzavona, where the 

 mean temperature would be decidedly below that of the South 

 of England. L. (Egon var. Corsica has been exhibited by Mr. 

 Jones to the Entomological Society. The female of this variety 

 is beautifully shot with blue, and the spots on the under side 

 vary considerably. In the majority of specimens they are large 

 and pale. 



There are five well-marked examples of insular races, viz., 

 Euchloe tagis var. insularis, Vanessa urticce var. ichnusa, Satgrus 

 seinele var. aristceus, Pararge megcera var. tigelius, and Syrichthus 

 sao var. therapne. E. tagis var. i)isularis is an insular race of a 

 species which varies considerably on the mainland, the var. 

 hcllezina found in the south-east of France being intermediate 

 between this variety and the type as found in Spain. Vanessa 

 urticce var. ichnusa is evidently a nascent species. It would 

 appear to be single-brooded, though the larvae resulting from the 

 hybernating females may be found over a considerable period. 

 It chiefly frequents the mountainous parts of the island, and a 

 number of specimens were noticed disporting themselves on the 

 summit of the Monte d'Oro, at nearly 8000 feet. The inner 

 marginal spot on the fore wings is occasionally quite well deve- 

 lojied, and faint traces of the central spots are sometimes 

 visible, either the result of reversion or of an occasional cross 

 with an immigrant from the mainland. As pointed out by Lang, 

 this variety is quite distinct from the so-called ichnusa occasion- 

 ally bred in England, being much less angular in outline than 

 the type. It is curious that an intermediate form, the var. 

 turcica, should be found in the Balkans and Asia Minor. 

 Satyrus semele var. aristceus is very distinct from the type. The 

 fore wings are more fulvous, and the female has three small 

 white dots near the margin of the hind wing, which occasionally 

 occur in the type, but are more usual in this variety. M. Mabille 

 considers it a distinct species, and says that " the larva presents 

 -constant differences, and never varies itself." A study of Corsican 

 forms, however, renders one's conceptions of a species very inde-" 

 finite. The specimen figured by Lang hardly represents the 



