50 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



persists and the marginal zones that disappear, although where 

 one ocellus disappears at the end of a series the rule generally 

 holds good. 



The specimen, fig. 1, seems to he a case of discontinuous 

 variation. I have never seen anything approximating to an 

 intermediate condition betweon it and the normal, and, judging 

 from the fact that it is confined to one side, and that the wing 

 showing the aberration is slightly crippled, it would appear to be 

 due to some cause at work during pupal life, and in such a case 

 it would probably not be hereditary. In one sense it may be 

 regarded as an instance of ocellar enlargement, since the marginal 

 zones of four of the ocelli extend so far over the surface of the 

 wing as to blend into one another, almost forming transverse 

 bands across the wings ; and it is noteworthy that in all the 

 ordinary varieties of E. hyperanthus in which the ocellus is 

 enlarged, that I have come across, the central pupil is enlarged 

 more or less in proportion to the enlargement of the marginal 

 zones, as is very well shown in the lanceolate variety, fig. 2 ; 

 and in such cases a practically complete series of intermediate 

 forms is obtainable with little difficulty. It may be worth noting 

 that the neuration is apparently quite normal in both cases. 



My tHanks are due to my friend Mr. Hay ward for the care 

 and skill he has displayed in photographing the specimens for me. 



F. P. Bedford. 



FUNGI versus ANDROCONIA. 



Eeferring to Mr. Eickard's paper on "Butterfly Scales," in 

 the January (1897) number of the ' Entomologist ' {ante, p. 1), I 

 would like to refer him to a paper just published at Cambridge, 

 Mass., by A. G. Mayer, as a bulletin of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology, on "The Development of the Wing-scales and their 

 Pigment in Butterflies and Moths." I think he will find on close 

 examination that by his test all the wing-scales are really fungi. 

 I have requested that a copy of the paper be sent to the ' Ento- 

 mologist,' and have no doubt that Mr. Packard can secure it for 

 examination and study. It seems to me that the proper method 

 of bringing this whole subject to a final conclusion would be for 

 Mr. Rickard, or some one who agrees with his views in the 

 matter, to study the development of these scales in Pieris rapce 

 in the same manner in which Mr. Mayer has studied the deve- 

 lopment of the normal wing-scales. I must confess that nothing 

 that has been added in the most recent contribution to this sub- 

 ject has served to change my expressed views. 



John B. Smith. 

 Rutgers College, Jan. 13th, 1897. 



