152 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
varia is quite distinct from parthenie, the correct designation of 
this form would be “ varia, Bisch., var. norvegica, Auriv.” 
Britomartis having been already disposed of as certainly, and 
dictynnoides as probably, a distinct species, and veronice having 
» provisionally considered under athalia, we are left with the 
satisfactory var. rhetica to treat as a variety of aurelia. It is 
as described by Frey (‘ Lepidopteren der Schweiz.’ p. 30 (1880) ): 
* Kleiner, lebhafter rothbraun weniger trib, mit feineren 
schwarzen Zeichnungen, das 2 nicht selten mit schr lichten 
braunen Fleckreihen.”’* I speak of it as unsatisfactory, because 
the distinctions are so slight that it is difficult to separate it; 
specimens from the Rhone Valley, from Wiesbaden, and from 
Czernowitz, are scarcely distinguishable apart. The name 
should perhaps be reserved for the light Engadine specimens 
which were in the mind of the author, though these again can 
hardly be distinguished from the light females which occasionally 
appear among the Visp and Sion examples. The name is fre- 
quently, and wrongly, applied in Switzerland to smallish dark 
specimens. 
Dictynna, though a very variable species, has not given rise 
to many varietalnames. I have found but two: var. vernetensis, 
Oberthur, and ab. seminigra, Muschamp. After long searching 
I have been unable to find any reference to the former in 
Oberthiir’s published works, and can only trace it back to 
Rondou’s ‘ Lepidoptéres des Pyrénées,’ p. 24 (1903), where 
the name is ascribed to Oberthur and the following description 
given: ‘‘Une race constante et trés différente du type. LHlle 
est beaucoup plus claire que dans les Hautes-Pyrénées, ou elle 
ne differe point de celles de la France centrale. Le dessus des 
quatre ailes est a peine plus obesur que chez athalia; aux 
inférieures la couleur fauve domine.’”’t ‘This is a very distinct 
form, showing much more of the ground colour than one 
meets with elsewhere, but it is still quite obviously dictynna 
even on the upper side; when placed by the side of Reazzino 
britomartis it rather serves to emphasize the specific distinctions 
of the latter. 
Ab. seminigra, Muschamp, is shortly described as follows in 
the ‘Bulletin de la Société lépidoptérologique de Genéve,’ i. 
p. 70 (1905): ‘‘alis posterioribus nigris uno eodemque modo.” 
The original specimens were taken on the Campolungo Pass, but 
it is by no means confined to this locality. I have specimens 
from various parts of Switzerland. 
* Smaller, lighter red-brown, less dull, with narrower black markings, 
the female not rarely with very light brown rows of spots. 
+ A constant race and very different from the type. It is much lighter 
than in the Hautes-Pyrénées, where it is in no way different from those of 
Central France. The up. s. of both wings is scarcely darker than in athaha, 
on the h. w. the fulvous colour is predominant. 
(To be continued.) 
