67*2 Mr. H. J. Elwes on a 



both sexes, as we see it in cyhele. Meadii differs from 

 either in tint, especially the female; it is somewhat 

 smaller, and probably, like atlantis, is exclusively con- 

 fined to the mountains. The peculiar bright green 

 coloration of the under side of secondaries in meadii, 

 however, has no parallel among our fritillaries." 



A. callippe is, in its typical form, which occurs all 

 through the lowlands of California, a very distinct 

 species ; but liliana is, according to Mr. H. Edwards, 

 intermediate between it and coronis, and the specimen 

 which he sent me as typical of it does not agree with 

 those which Mr. Godman and I took abundantly near 

 Los Angeles, some of which Mr. H. Edwards afterwards 

 named liliana, though I should certainly call them 

 callippe. 



A. semiramis, again, is a South Californian form, 

 which has been taken by Mr. Wright in the mountains 

 separating the San Bernadino Valley from the Mohave 

 Desert, and of which I have six specimens from him, as 

 it was not yet out when I visited these mountains in 

 May, 1888. To my eye it is nothing more than a form 

 of coronis, in which the black markings of the upper side 

 have become paler and more reduced, as might be 

 expected from the arid character of the country where 

 it is found. Edwards says : — " It is curious how the 

 markings resemble two such distinct species as adiante 

 (upper side) and coronis (lower side)." 



The species allied to monticola, namely, zerene and 

 hremneri, have puzzled me quite as much as Edwards, 

 Strecker, and others, and I do not see how the difficulties 

 of their synonymy can ever be cleared up ; but I can 

 only say that, if I have not succeeded in arranging them 

 correctly, it is not from idleness or carelessness, but 

 on account of the impossibility of identifying species or 

 forms described in such a way as these have been. 

 Many of the names cannot be certainly identified, and 

 had better be dropped. I think, however, that three 

 more or less distinct forms can be recognised among the 

 very numerous specimens which I have from the Pacific 

 States. There are a larger form monticola, and a 

 smaller form, which both Messrs. H. and W. H. Edwards 

 call zerene, Bdv. These both vary extremely on the 

 under side, but in monticola the males occasionally, and 

 the females usually, have more or less silvery spots ; 



