total unicolourism (albinism, melanism,xanthism, erythrism, chlorism) 
nobody doubts the original presence of the factors for an elaborate 
colour-pattern, although it remains invisible. Why then should the 
same supposition be inadmissible in the case of other deviations 
from the original -pattern, and why should not the latter manifest 
itself, if the secondary modifications to which it is subject are 
suppressed. 
The above mentioned parallelism in the series of colour-patterns 
in different Hepialid genera may therefore be considered as a proof 
that these chains of modifications are phylogenetically older than 
the genera themselves. We may even push their origin still further 
back, to bevond the branching point of the Lepidopterous order into 
its different families. 
This supposition is supported by the evident correspondence between 
the original colour-pattern and the distribution of the wing-veins, 
because the regular arrangement of uniform spots along these veins 
and along tbeir interspaces may probably be considered as a last trace of 
the primordial communication of neighbouring veins by series of 
connections, which disappeared almost completely; the so called 
disecoidal vein forming a last remnant. Such systems of transverse 
connecting veins occur in the wings of primitive insects, e.g. Ephe- 
merids and Neuroptera, which fact certainly strengthens the hypo- 
thesis of their former presence in Lepidoptera. 
Nor are we restricted to wing-veins when seeking connections of 
the original colour-pattern (composed of a single motive of decora- 
tion regularly repeating itself) with other organic structures of the 
wings. It might also be related to the branching of the nervous 
system over the wing-membrane, and the distribution of the sense 
organs which are situated at the end of these branches. For we 
know by the investigations of Voer, F. Könuer and others regarding 
scent-scales on the wings of butterflies, that these smell-producing 
dermal appendages are originally distributed between the veins in 
patches at regular distances, each patch being provided with a 
nerve-branch. In many other groups of the animal kingdom we 
meet with numerous instances of an original connection between 
colour-distributton and that of sense organs with their nerve tracts, 
therefore the supposition that such a connection primitively existed 
in insect wings also, cannot be qualified inadmittable. 
