357 



sidered as a mere transitional stage between the larva and the 

 imago, but as an independent organism, much more nearly 

 related to the butterfly than to the caterpillar, and having 

 preserved in its structure many primitive and archaic char- 

 acteristics that are of great value to us for the interpretation 

 of the imaginai features. Poulton even gave an enlarged and 

 accurate drawing of the wing-sheath of the Vanessa polychloros 

 pupa, in which some of the light marginal spots can be easily 

 recognised, but without paying further attention to this colour- 

 pattern ; his interest being especially directed to the important 

 vestiges of diminution in size and change in form of the forewing. 



During the long time that has elapsed since the pubHcation. 

 of my first paper, an immense number of articles dealing with 

 the wing-development and the colour-patterns of Lepidoptera 

 have appeared. 



I need only mention the names of Eimer, Fickert, E. 

 Fischer, E. Haase, Jordan, von Linden, A. C. Mayer, 

 Newbigin, Piepers, Rothschild, Spengel, Spuler, Standfuss,. 

 Staudinger, Tower, Urech, to hold myself excused for not 

 even trying to give you a sketch of the different methods applied 

 to the investigation of this interesting question and the con- 

 clusions to which they have led. 



Yet, I venture to say, the problem is by no means solved, 

 and so great a diversity of opinions prevails that there is every 

 reason for returning to the subject. I even believe myself 

 justified in saying that, had the method indicated by me in 

 1889 been more generally applied, we should now stand on 

 firmer ground and have made greater progress in the under- 

 standing of the phylogenetic relations between races, species, 

 genera, families, and even orders of Lepidoptera. 



It is but fair to acknowledge, however, that the Countess 

 VON Linden has indeed taken this course and has published 

 an elaborate and exact paper on the wing-development of rather 

 a large number of diurnal Lepidoptera, without, however, having 

 come to my conclusions as to the occurrence of a primitive 

 pattern which is common to the different species of one and 

 the same genus or family, and which in passing into the definite 

 pattern is more or less effaced, altered, restricted to the underside, 

 or otherwise obscured. 



