432 MELITAEA. By Dr. A. Seitz. 



the ivory-yellow bands of the hindwmgs are separated by rows of cinnamon-brown spots, which in wheeleri 

 are a very brillant brickred. On the wliole nuhigena is related to the dull editha and the fiery-red 

 wheeleri, as mtrinia is to the dull merope and the fiery iberica. editha, probably a species of its own, conies 

 hermosa. from Southern California, where the caterpillar feeds on Erodium cicutarum and Viola. — hermosa Wr. 

 is marked very much lilie nuhigena, but the colouring is more dull, more extensively spotted with white, the 

 antemarginal black band of spots on the forewings above nmch deeper and broader than in typical nubigena; 

 California. 

 augusta. M. augusta Edw. (88 c) seems to be a combination of forms, having the fiery-red ground-colour of 



an extreme wheeleri interrupted by numerous yellow macular bands such as we find in editha, the result being 

 a pattern very similar to that of aurinia sareptava. (Vol. 1, PL 65 d). Southern California; altogether one of 

 bugusiina. the loveliest butterflies of North America. — augustina Wr. has the black bordering of the coloured bands 

 obsolete. 

 baroiii. M. baroni Hy. Edw. (88 c). The yellow spots of the upper surface as in the preceding, but the vivid 



brick-red of that species is replaced by a deep red-brown which gives it a distant similarity to a small- 

 sized chalcedon. From this it is easily distinguished by the pale spots of the under surface of the hind- 

 wings, which in chalcedon are yellow, m baroni pearly or silvery-white. The caterpillar resembles that of chal- 

 cedon, velvety-black with fine white dots upon the tubercles, the dorsal spines honey-yellow, the rest black; 

 feeds on Castileja, hibernating in webs; pupates in May. Pupa bluish-white, thickly and finely dotted with 

 black, marked with a few yellow spots. Imago from end of May till July. 

 rubicunda. M. rubicunda Hy. Edw. (88 c). Of the same size as the preceding, with which it flies in the same 



localities. The red and yellow spots on the upper surface bright and concise, just as in colon; but whereas 

 in that species the outer of the yellow bands of the hindwings is the sharpest and most distinct, it is in 

 rubicunda either wholly absent or only just recognizable. The caterpillar according to Baron quite different 

 from that of baroni, but is said to live on a different food-plant, although Castileja is also mentioned here. 

 The imago was taken at considerable elevations in the pine-wood region, locally apparently common. It hkes 

 to rest on sandy spots, like Oeneis iduna with which it associates. In the net it clutches itself very firmly with 

 its claws (Behrens). California. 



acasius. M. acastus Edw. (88 d). This is the first of a series oi Melitaeas with brillant, uniform red upper sur- 



face, of a brownish brick-red shade reminding one somewhat of 3Iel. cynthia $ or a very brillant red Arg. 

 pales. The under surface of the hindwings resembles that of the Euroiiean-Asiatic species of the athalia-grow^, 

 having parallel rows of broadly confluescent spots crossing the hindwings, corresponding in colour to the apex 

 of the forewings, whereas the chsk of the latter reniains red. Utah, Nevada and Montana. The $ has the 

 colour of the upper surface paler. 



•palla. M. palla Bsd. (88 d). (J resembles the preceding species, but may easily be distinguished above by the me- 



dian band of the hindwings which is paler, contrasting strongly with the more fiery ground-colour. Underneath 

 the cinnamon-brown portion of the outer band does not reach the costa of the hindwings, but leaves the upper 

 two cells (above and below the 1. subcostal nervule) fi-ee, of the same colour as the yellow bands. The $, 

 quite similar underneath, but more strongly shaded with red-brown, is above very much more black, with dull 

 reddish and yellowish spots. Larva on Castileja. Western states of North America, from British-Columbia to 

 California, almost everywhere common. 



whUneyi. M. whitneyi Behr. (= pola Bsd.) (88 d) is easy to tell by the fatty or feebly silvery lustre of the outer 



macular row on the under surface of the hindwings; above, especially in ,^, the spots are paler fulvous. 

 From California to Nevada. 



hoffmanni. M. hoffmanni Behr (88 d) may be at once distinguished by having the basal half of both wings 



black, only slightly spotted with yellow, forming a vivid contrast with the outer half which in ^ is almost 

 clear fulvous, in $ paler. The black colour may, particularly on the hindwings, extend more or less far towards 

 the ternien, encroaching upon the fulvous colour, creating thereby a long series of greatly varying aberrations, 

 one of which, of most curious appearance, is figured in Holland's Butterfly-Book (PI. 17, fig. 14) ; many of these 

 ahnormts. have been given names, as f. i. ab. abnormis Wright, which has the forewings almost uniform rufous, thinly 

 banded with black, the hindwings with the exception of a broad fulvous outer band almost uniformly black. 

 helciia. From the Western United States; an alj^ine form from the Rockies was separated under the name of helcita 



B.sd. 

 sierra. M. sierra Wright (88 e) recalls even more strongly than the preceding species, M. aririnia-iberica, 



having the bright brick-red ground-colour strongly interrupted by ivory-yellow macular bands and chains; 

 the basal area of the hindwings is marked with large spots of ivory-yellow. $ above with alternating yel- 

 low and brick-red bands, as in aurinia-sibirica or desfontainei, but differently located. Western United States. 



gabbii. M. gabbii Behr ( = sonorae Bsd.) (88e) resembles above somewhat the preceding, but is easy to distin- 



guish by the lovely silvery lustre of the three pale bands of the under surface of the hindwings, very much 

 as in the Argynnis species. Occurs in the Pacific States as far as Utah and Colorado. 



