202 VANESSA. By H. Stichel. 



ocellus of the hindwing, moreover, appears less completely rounded, being somewhat elliptical, and the edge 

 of the wing is less undulate and dentate. 



urticae. V. urticac L. (62e) of a bright foxy red ground-colour; the forewing witli 3 black costal spots, whose 



interspa^'es are yellow, there being a larger black spot in the middle of the hindmarginal area and two smaller 

 ones in the disc between the 3. radial and 2. median; hindwing with the basal half black; both wings with black 

 submarginal band bearing blue spots. Underside of the forewing ochreous, with the costal spots as above, 

 the apex and distal margin blackish; hindwing brown, basal half black with dentate edge, the whole surface 

 violescens. with darker pencilling; at the distal margin of both wings contiguous dull blue lunules. ab. violescens Slev. 

 has in certain lights a violet sheen on the blue marginal lunules of the upperside; with ordinary specimens in 

 urticoides. Russia, Kurland and Sweden, ab. urticoides F. d. Waldh. (= pygmaea Heyne) (62e) is a dwarf-form, corres- 

 ponding to ab. ioides of io. Tlie following aberrations are mostly artificially obtained, as in the preceding 

 discolor, species, but some appear also in nature in an identical or similar garb : ab. discolor //e;'« {= herrmanni //errw.) 

 has the ground-colour ochreous yellow, and has been produced by placing the food-plant in water mixed with 

 a metallic ink (!), ))artieulariy pale specimens, however, having also been bred by more natural treatment 

 embryonalis. (herrmanni). ab. embryonalis Solowjew is characterized by a greyish yellow ground-colour and the reduction 

 of the spots of the forewing; the central spots are altogether absent, and of the costal spots only the median one 

 consentanea. is fully developed ; low temperature form. ab. consentanea Jachontow is a similar aberration, with lighter ground- 

 colour than the main form, the spots of the forewing reduced, but the blue marginal spots enlarged; corresponds 

 to the dixeyi-gruetzneri type of V. polychloros resp. xanthomelas (according to the author); low temperature 

 bolandi. form. The greatest development of the blue marginal spots is found in ab. bolandii Lamb.; these spots are 

 prolonged to streaks and reach from the edge of the wing into the red-brown area; on the forewing the white 

 submarginal spot is well developed, being traversed by a continuation of the first blue spot; the two outer costal 

 spots are atiophied; on the hindwing the reddish yellow distal area is reduced in width and shaded with blackish 

 in front and behind. This form is closely allied to the previous one as regards the direction of development. 

 selysi. Caught at Spa (Belgium), ab. selysi Donck. is the first of a series of melanotic aberrations; on the forewing 

 the 2 black discal spots are absent above and below the 1. median vein, the dark margin is reduced in width, 

 and the blue spots are replaced by grey-blue smears, which extend at the apex to the nearest black costal spot, 

 the ground-colour of the forewing is pale red without a yellow tint between the black costal spots; the hindwing, 

 with the exception of an indefinite reddish area, is shaded with blackish, the blue marginal spots being entirely 

 atrebatensis. absent; the markings of the underside are similarly reduced and dulled; found in Belgium, ab. atrebatensis 

 Boisd. (62e) is recognized by the enlarged costal spots of the forewing, of which the two external ones are 

 almost or partly united, by the absence of the discal spots and of the blue marginal spots of the forewing, and 

 by the almost black hindwing, of whose ground-colour only some spots remain in the outer half; sporadically 

 nigiicaria. among the ordinary form, also product of low temperature, ab. nigricaria Hav. is quite similar, also here are 

 the discal spots of the forewing entirely absent as are the blue marginal spots of both wungs, the 2 outer costal 

 spots of the forewing are completely united, distally produced along the veins, and the hindwing is black except 

 for some small reddisli spots in the outer area; found several times in Belgium. More advanced in the same 

 idmiisoides. direction is ab. ichnusoides Selys (^ ab. nigrita Pick.) (62e), in which the two outer costal spots of the forewing 

 form a broad continuous patch, which is connected by a costal streak with proximal costal spot; the discal spots 

 are nearly always absent and the hindwing is entirely shaded with black; rare among ordinary specimens, also 

 dannenbergi. known as product of cold. In ab. dannenbergi Neiiburg., which is otherwise similar, the marginal spots ar 

 straw-colour (instead of blue), those of the iiindwing cuneiform, extended to the edge of the wing, forming a 

 conjuncta. continuous yellow marginal band on the underside, ab. conjuncta Ncnburg. is a stage in the same direction 

 of development in which all three costal spots of the forewing are united to a broad black area; product of low 

 osborni. temperature. A similar form is ab. osborni Donck.; the spots of the ochreous costal margin are united to a 

 broad black streak, the distal marginal area of the forewing is likewise ochreous yellow, traversed by black 

 streaks, the discal spots are wanting; hindwing brown, with the abdominal area ochreous yellow, the distal 

 margin the colour of the ground, the marginal spots very pale; found in Ireland. The most extreme melanotic 

 gruetii. form is ab. gruetii Corcelle; the base of the forewing is yellowish brown, a discoidal (cell-) spot reddish yellow, 

 the rest of the wing blackish in consequence of the spots being confluent, the normally white subapical spot being 

 grey; hindwing entirely black-brown; the blue marginal spots absent from both wings; underside black, the 

 disc of the forewing somewhat paler; found near Renan in the Swiss Jura. — The egg of the species is dark 

 green, with pale ribs. Larva black or greyish bro\\n, with indistinct yellowish or greenish longitudinal lines, 

 the body bearing short yellowish hairs; head black, minutely hairy; in summer, from June onward, gregrariously 

 on nettles (Urtica dioica, U. urens), very rarely on hops (Humulus lupulus). Pupa brown, with golden spots 

 as a rule, the body with small tubercles, the head angular; duration of pupal stage 14 days. The butterfly 

 in 2 — 3 broods, the last (hibernating) brood usually with the black markings more strongly developed, sometimes 

 nearly as in polaris. Widely distributed and very common in Central Europe, throughout northern Asia to 

 polaris. the mouth of the Amur. — We have to mention the following named subspecies: polaris^ -Sigr. (62e),' darker, 



