Lactrta. 203 



Turiu Museum, approaches the var. nigriventris. Body and limbs 

 olive above, with black spots forminf^ a wide-meshed network; no 

 distinct ocellar spot above the axil; head much spotted with black 

 above ; a black streak along the side of the head, passing through the 

 eye and above the tympanum, continued on the neck ; tail with 

 blackish transverse V)ands with sharply defined white spots on the 

 sides ; throat and hjelly greenish white, with small black spots. 



The most remarkable colour- variation among Italian specimens is 

 that exhibited by the lizards found on the Faraglioni rocks close to 

 Capri (var. aerideo, F,\mer, farar/Uonensis, Bedr.). Black or bluish 

 black above, with more or less distinct markings of a more intense 

 black, sapphire blue or greenish blue beneath ; pale blue spots usually 

 present on the sides ; a blue or green ocellar spot above the axil. The 

 vars. civruleo-cierulescens, aerulescens monaconensis, and aerulescens 

 gallensis of Eimer, from other small rocks near Capri, also with blue 

 belly, are practically intermediate in the dorsal coloration between the 

 var. ai'ndea and the lizards of Capri, which do not suffer from those 

 found about Naples and are likewise highly variable in colour and 

 markings. Specimens with blue belly and blue or blackish back, with 

 or without lighter blue or green spots, are reported from the Mezza- 

 giorno rock near Palmarola, and S. Stefano Island. 



Several insular forms, of smaller size than the true var. olhiventrls, 

 have been described from the islands of the Adriatic. 



The specimens from Pelagosa Grande represent Bedriaga's var. 

 pelayos!*', which is described by "Werner as of a remarkably light 

 greenish yellow or greenish white ground-colour with deep black 

 markings ; the belly is usually white, but Bedriaga describes it as 

 sometimes blue or bluish, and Werner found it red in one specimen. 

 Young specimens are elegantly streaked, and so are some female 

 specimens, the markings of which may be suggestive of Acantho- 

 dactylon vidgaris. Males usually have a black vertebral stripe, straight 

 or wavy, or a vertebral series of large black spots, separated from the 

 spots on the sides by a narrower streak of the ground-colour ; these 

 spots may form longitudinal series, coarse marblings, or cross-l»ars. 



A female 48 millim. long from snout to vent is gravid. 



As regards the scaling, I note the following departures from what 

 is normal in the var. cdbiventris. The series of granules between 

 the supraoculars and the superciliaries is usually complete ; in 5 

 specimens out of 18 the parietal is not in contact with the upper post- 

 ocular ; one specimen has 5 anterior upper labials, and two lack the 

 masseteric shield. 



The var. adriaiica from Pelagosa Piccola is described bv Werner as. 



