168 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History [Vol. XLIII 



by the dates of capture seem to confirm the opinion that the two forms 

 are probably the issue of one and the same brood and that the}' are 

 not "seasonal varieties" in the sense in which that term must be ac- 

 cepted. 



EupHiEDRA HUbner 



The genus Euphcedra is one of the most puzzling genera among the 

 diurnal Lepidoptera of Africa. A vast number of so-called species, or 

 forms, have been distinguished b}^ writers, in many instances leased 

 apparently upon solitary individuals coming into their possession 

 without sufficient material at hand to institute broad comparisons. 

 Until in coming years some careful student on the ground shall succeed 

 in breeding these insects from ova laid by individual females there 

 necessarily will remain more or less confusion in certain groups. This is 

 especially true of the forms allied to E. preussi Staudinger, E. ceres 

 (Fabricius), and E. xypete (Hewitson). 



Of these I have before me as I write a vast assemblage of specimens, 

 many of which were brought home by the American Museum Congo 

 Expedition. For example, there were collected by this expedition one 

 hundred and eight specimens representing E. preussi and varieties, 

 males and females. We have in the collections contained in the Carnegie 

 Museum as many more from various localities. In all this assemblage 

 of specimens it is almost impossible to find two individuals in either 

 sex which are absolutely aliive. There are slight differences in the shade 

 of color on both the upper and under sides, in the number of spots in 

 the cells on both sides of the wings, and in the discal and submarginal 

 markings, which may be strongly, feebly, or not at all indicated. In 

 addition to this, a close and accurate study of the literature shows that 

 the descriptions and the figures which have been given by authors 

 represent individuals rather than species; so that it is exceedingly 

 difficult to state in exact terms where one so-called species begins and 

 another ends in this group. The same remarks apply to other so-called 

 "species," in other groups in which almost infinite variet}' is plainh' 

 visible, but appearing to me to have as little real significance as the 

 shape and location of the spots on common cattle. On the other hand, 

 there are certain forms recognized by authors which appear to be quite 

 constant over the entire range in which they occur and which are not 

 difficult to discriminate. In some cases, however, it maj^ well be, as has 

 been suggested, that some of these which are not distantly related to 

 each other may, when the test of breeding is applied, turn out to be 



