THE ATHALIA GROUP OF THE GENUS MELIT5?A. 109 



and the light bands are generally whiter in those specimens 

 which have the deeper tint in the dark bands. The approach 

 to dictynna in the more melanistic males has already been 

 noticed ; the more melanistic females, on the other hand, often 

 approach very near to raria on the upper side. 



The next species, varia, is rich both in extreme and in minor 

 aberrations, the former being both melanistic and albinistic, the 

 latter of these being commoner in the male, the former in the 

 female. There is a wide range of these extreme forms in the 

 National Collection, and Aigner-Abafi specially mentions melanic 

 forms of varia in the paper previously referred to ('Annals of 

 the Hungarian National Museum,' 1905). They practically 

 extend over much the same range as the aberrations of athalia. 

 The minor variations include in the male the extent of dark 

 suffusion of the up. s. h. w., and the greater or less obsolescence 

 of the markings on the upper side, and the fore wing of the 

 under side, and in the female the greater or less extent of 

 melanistic tendency; in both sexes the depth of the ground 

 colour, and of the colouring both of the dark and light bands of 

 the un. s. h. w., is subject to considerable variation. The 

 presence of the greenish tint on the upper side of the female is 

 due to the freshness of the specimen and soon wears off; it is 

 never, in my experience, retained long in the cabinet. The 

 specimens from the Stilfser Joch are described as being very 

 varied in ground colour, extent of basal suffusion, and breadth 

 of black markings, yet some of these variations are, to some 

 extent at any rate, racial; the varia of the Heuthal, for instance, 

 both male and female, exhibit much more dark suffusion than 

 those of the Simplon, whereas the females from Campfer in the 

 same neighbourhood are so light as to approach, on the upper 

 side, somewhat closely to parthenie. The resemblance between 

 the females of varia and aurelia on the upper side has already 

 been touched upon, and in very small specimens an approach 

 is occasionally made towards asteria ; but unless the former are 

 so worn as to have lost the outer line of the border, un. s. h. w., 

 there is always a ready distinctive character — for instance, the 

 specimen in the National Collection labelled " varia, teste 

 Hormuzaki " is quite certainly named correctly, though some 

 doubt appears to have been felt in the minds of those who 

 referred the matter to his judgment. 



Britomartis is probably the most variable on the upper side 

 of all the species of this group. The males of the first brood 

 bear a very close resemblance to dark specimens of athalia; 

 indeed, on one occasion when I was exhibiting a series at 

 Geneva, a well-known lepidopterist was pointing out to a youth- 

 ful collector, before the meeting began, the peculiarities by 

 which he might know them to be that species, and was hugely 

 surprised, when I suggested his looking at the under side, to 



