■228 



PSYCHE. 



[April 1S95. 



may cause Dr. Skinner to coinpare 

 his example with Nastes of the Rock}- 

 Mts. Nastes at Laggan is an exceed- 

 ingly variable species, and the pub- 

 lished figure of Pallida inclines nie to 

 tliink the original may be a somewhat 

 untypical 9 JVastcs, instead of a Hecla. 

 Analogy in Meadii and EUs does not 

 favor tiie probability of a white 9 in 

 Hecla. 



Since my earlier account of Colias 

 Elis^ in the Canadian Entomologist, 

 July 1S90, little further knowledge of 

 its geographical distribution has been 

 obtained. Mr. H. H. Lyman found 

 one 9 at Banff", 36 miles east of Laggan. 

 in 1S90, and Mr. IL K. Burrison 

 collected several specimens there in the 

 same season. I am not aware of any 

 other observations outside the original 

 district extending from Laggan to 

 Hector. JMeadii, as distinct from 

 Elis, does not occur at Laggan, and 

 there is no separation of Elis into 

 two forms, one of them more closely 

 approaching Meadii. The publication 

 oi Meadiihy Capt. Geddes as occurring 

 in Kicking Horse Pass is probably to 

 be undeistood as cancelled by his later 

 announcement of Elis from the same 

 locality. Up to the present time 

 Meadii seems not to have been found 

 north of the international l)oundar_y, 

 and Hecla has, I think, not yet been 

 reported from points nearer this district 

 than Hudson's Bay and Alaska. Elis 

 thus retains its vague geographical 

 isolation. 



I am now able to speak definitely in 

 regard to the supposed " albino 9 " of 



Elis. Mr. Strecker's determination 

 proves to have been based upon sev- 

 eral 9 examples of a Laggan butterfly 

 closely allied to Pelidne., which 1 have 

 in correspondence designated by the 

 MS. name Colias minis>u\ — of which 

 perliaps further hereafter. Having 

 sent Mr. Strecker fine examples of this 

 pale female Colias, and also of its 

 appropriate male, he distinctly recog- 

 nizes the 9 as the original of his Elis 

 albino $ , and the latter determination 

 is to be considered recalled. 



My series of Elis now lepresents 

 the result of eight seasons' collecting. 

 During that time every specimen col- 

 lected lias been critically examined, and 

 every example requisite for an under- 

 standing of tlie species has been 

 embodied in mv collection. The 

 representation is now so complete 

 that probably no element of the 

 variation is lacking, and the species 

 stands confessed in all its multiform 

 simplicity. I find that in proportion 

 as the material becomes more full\- 

 representative so the individuality of 

 Elis as a distinct species grows, with 

 the effect that occasional instances 

 partly shading toward Meadii have 

 become at length more evident! v 

 absorbed into Elis by the presence 

 of intermediate steps of variation 

 which unite the extremes with the 

 more typical elements of the species. 

 Complete material supplies a fuller 

 presentation of the consecutive vari- 

 ation, and results in a more accurate 

 identification and explanation of the 

 imperfectly typical examples. This 



