138 Mr. H. J. Elwes on the 



Name of Species and Vars. Geographical Distribution. 



•n-j ci. 1 Pelidne, Boisd 1 British N. America, La- 



Fide Strecker , ^ ^^^^^^^.^ ^^^^ • • • l brador, Colorado, Ca- 



• J var. Interior, Scudd. . . T nada, Anticosti, Lake 



Do. I var. CAmtoa, W.H.Ed w. j Superior, B. Columbia. 



(? a good sp.) Alexandra, W. H. Edw. 

 Fide Strecker var. Edwardsi, Behr. . Colorado, Nevada. 



American forms unknown to Strecker or myself, and not 

 existing in his or in any English collections, are G. Emilia, 

 W. H. Edw. ; Barbara, H. Edw. ; Astriea, W. H. Edw. 



N.B. — This group does not seem so natural as the other 

 two, and perhaps connects them ; for though in the female 

 of some forms of Falceno and pelidne the border of the 

 forewing is unspotted, in others it is so to a certain extent, 

 or the border is entirely wanting, or indicated only by 

 indistinct markings, as in Alexandra, Scudderi, and 

 Edioardsi. 



These N. American forms seem to run into each other 

 in an inextricable manner, and to connect Palccno and 

 pelidne with Philodice, Cf. Edwards' Butt. North America, 

 ser. ii. part ii., under G. pelidne ; and part v., under 

 Philodice. Gf. Schilde, Stett.. Ent. Zeit., 1873, pp. 

 169—75. 



Mr. Edwards, in his beautiful work, gives excellent 

 figures of all these forms ; but so- far from clearing up the 

 question of their distinction, he seems to me to make the 

 question infinitely more difficult, as I am quite unable to 

 appreciate the characters on which he relies, or to define 

 the limits of the three species, eyen supposing that we 

 allow only three, as above, instead of seven or eight as 

 he does. 



I do not think that all the species which are mentioned 

 above can invariably be recognised with certainty, and I 

 am certain that many of the varieties could not ; yet, as 

 for the most part they have a fairly well-defined range, 

 they may be allowed specific rank for convenience' sake, and 

 in the absence of full information as to their larval 

 states. Speaking broadly, there are, with the exception of 

 the Neotropical species, which are confined to the Andean 

 ranges and temperate regions of the south, three well- 

 defined species of Golias, representing the three groups 

 which I have formed. These are nearly confined to the 

 Palearctic and Nearctic regions, which, as far as butterflies 

 are concerned, are inseparable. They are C. edusa, C. hyale, 

 and G. paloino. The first and last of these vary exceedingly, 



