240 



9 Ariccia, nr. Albano 



(^ Naples, P.M. 



? 



^ S. Stefano Id., nr. Naples 

 Columns as on p. 175. 



This lizard i.s locally distributed in the Province of Rome. It is 

 common on the ancient walls of Eome, where I have seen it climbing 

 about in mid-winter in company with the var. albiventris. At Castel- 

 franco, near Ostia, Dr. Sambon found it near woods. It is also 

 reported from Arezzo in Tuscany and from Palmajola and Salina, 

 Lipari Islands, but the correct identification is doubtful. Milne- 

 Edwards, in his Monograph (Ann. Sc. Nat. xvi, 1829, p. 54), indicates 

 its presence near Naples."' 



A male specimen from San Stefano Island, near Naples, presented 

 to the British Museum by M. G. de Southoff, appears to be referable 

 to this variety, although the number of scales across the body and on 

 the gular region is higher than in the other specimens. The head is 

 strongly depressed, even slightly concave on the occiput ; the upper 

 parts are black, with small light spots, and each ventral plate is nearly 

 entirely covered by a large black spot. 



The predominating black coloration which renders this variety so 

 striking is foreshadowed by some males of the typical L. miiralis, but 

 this feature is here not only exaggerated but has been passed on to the 

 females and young, as has happened in the \av. Jilfolensis from the 

 Filfola Eock. 



If the var. nigriventris be compared with the typical form, with 

 which it is connected by a complete gradation, it will be observed that 

 the increase in size and the gradual preponderance of the black mark- 

 ings go hand in hand with a reduction in the size of the dorsal scales 

 and a consequent increase in their number. 



* " D'autres, que j'ai trouves pres de Naples, ont, au contraire, le corps en dessous 

 comme en dessus d'un noir de jais, avec des taches blanches irregulieres." I 

 have examined three specimens from Naples (Savigny) preserved in the Paris 

 Museum. 



