( li ) 



rather pas.se. Mr. Nicholson, to whom I have submitted the 

 specimens, writes : "I believe all these specimens to be 

 melampus. The round-winged specimens are very like 

 my Swiss ones. Melanqms is hard to define as a species." 

 If Mr. Nicholson's views were to be accepted, it would 

 create a difficulty, for he observed of Hiibner's figs. 491 — 494, 

 from which the species pharte is named, " Hiibner's 

 figs. 491 and 492 are identical with the Lautaret females, 

 whilst his figs. 493 and 494 are identical with most 

 of the unspotted males, only Hiibner, strangely enough, 

 whilst showing the colour dimorphism that exists between 

 the sexes, has transposed the bodies, so that figs. 491 and 492 

 have $ coloration and ^ body, whilst figs. 493 and 494 have 

 (? coloration and ? body," (Ent. Rec, viii., pp. 258 & 

 259.) To illustrate his views more clearly he also exhibited 

 some typical specimens of ill. pJiarte from the Swiss Alps, 

 captured by Professor Blachier of Geneva, July 10th, 1885. 

 It will be observed that these females are absolutely identical 

 in tint, bands, and spotting, with the Lautaret females, and 

 that if the Swiss specimens are pharte, then the Lautaret 

 specimens certainly are. Berce (p. 188) makes the following 

 suggestive observation about M. pharte : "A little larger than 

 mclampus, from which it differs in that the ferruginous 

 blotches are altogether devoid of black points, those of the 

 superior wings more rectangular, those of the inferior wings 

 a little oval. It has the same habits as melampiis, and is 

 found at the same time, and in the same localities." This 

 would suggest that Berce knew of the two so-called species 

 overlapping, but that it did not occur to him that they 

 really formed but one species. I do not doubt that in many 

 localities both melampus and pharte have specific value. 

 Here, at Lautaret, undoubtedly the species are (or is) in 

 a state of flux, and, like Gccnonympha iphis and C. satyrion, 

 not specifically differentiated. Mr. Tutt said he would explain 

 these peculiar facts much in the same way that he had 

 already attempted to explain the parallel case of mixing of 

 denonympha satyrion and C. iphis. The altitude at which 

 the insects are found at Le Lautaret tends to produce the 

 Alpine forms satyrion and pharte ; whilst the marvellously 



