significance of iving -markings. 113 



form of two large and very showy ocelli, while the rest 

 of the series is almost or quite obliterated. 



The conspicuous ocellus near the anal angle of the 

 hind wing in A. iris (fig. 30) may very probably be 

 identified with III. 14, as is shown by a comparison of 

 the under side with that of A. ilia, in which most of the 

 series is present. 



The second point that remains for notice is the 

 frequent occurrence of blue centres in the spots of this 

 series. A large proportion of British specimens of P. 

 cardui have a few blue scales in the centre of III. 14 ; 

 in some there are distinct blue patches in the centre of 

 both III. 13 and 14, while specimens of P. kershaivi, 

 from S. Australia, have conspicuous blue centres to 

 these, and also to III. 12 in addition. It is interesting 

 to remark that (so far as I have observed) those British 

 specimens of P. cardui in which D e is present, mostly 

 have blue centres to III. 13 and III. 14 as well*; as we 

 know that the presence of D t is an ancestral feature, 

 this would lead us to make further enquiry into the 

 occurrence of these blue centres, in order to see whether 

 they too have a history. Turning to the closely allied 

 P. himtera, we find the blue centre well-marked in III. 

 11 and 14, while in P. cari/e we find the whole series in 

 the hind wing blue-centred, with the exception of III. 10. 

 In the very showy P. gonerilla of N. Zealand, III. 11 — 14 

 are conspicuously present on the upper side, each with a 

 blue centre (fig. 25). P. itea has III. 12 — 14 provided 

 with small blue centres, besides possessing a blue relic 

 of IV. 15 at the anal angle of the hind wing. But the 

 most interesting development of the blue-centred III. 

 10 — 12 occurs in V. io, where these three spots, without 

 losing their separate identity, combine to form the 

 ocellus of the hind wing. In many specimens of V. io, 

 attentive examination of the hind wing will disclose the 

 presence of the next member of the series, namely III. 

 13, in a rudimentary form, consisting in fact merely of a 

 minute black patch, with a few blue scales in the centre, 

 almost concealed by the long chestnut-coloured hairs 

 that beset this part of the wing (fig. 35, III. 13). In the 



'■'■'• This, however, appears not to be the case with the British 

 Museum si^ecimen of P. cardui uientioned on p. 93, in which 

 respect it differs from the Mortehoe specimen mentioned on the 

 same page. 



TKANS. ENT. SOC. LOND. 1890. — PART I. (APRIL.) I 



