1918] Grinnell—V ariations in the Genus Vanessa (Pyrameis) 113 
As Letcher surmises, in the case of muelleri, this variation may 
be ‘‘an example of the evolution of a true variety time only will 
tell.” At any rate since 1898 the variations have become more 
common, letcheri the commonest, and are very suggestive from an 
evolutionary standpoint. We must watch the behavior of these 
variations still more in future years. 
Essig (1) figures two specimens of letcheri as mueller. Here we 
have a series extending from typical carye, through intermedia 
and muelleri to letcheri, showing a progressive evolution. Mr 
Cottle took two other specimens of carye in Lafayette Square, 
San Francisco, showing an interesting variation, but they do not 
belong in the same category as the above variations. One of 
these has the primaries of the usual light coral red color, while the 
hindwings are of a light coral pink or a washed-out appearance. 
The other specimen has the usual color of all the wings replaced by 
a light flesh-pink (Ridgway). 
Vanessa cardui Linn. var. 
Expanse 66mm. ‘This very striking variation of a cosmopolitan 
butterfly bears a very close resemblance to letcher?, as can be seen, 
and is very nearly like that of cardui figured by Newman (5) from 
England. There is a submarginal row of comparatively large 
white spots on the primaries, the two middle ones being the largest; 
also a similar row of white spots on the secondaries which are of 
the same size. The outer ends of the veins of the hindwings are 
bordered wholly with black. And the middle region of the hind- 
wings is of the same fulvous color as the ground color of letcheri. 
Now cardui is a cosmopolitan butterfly while carye is restricted 
to the Pacific side of the two Americas, and the most restricted of 
all the Vanessas (Pyrameis); but here we have a form which 
occurs in cardui of the same pattern as the seemingly more recent 
one in carye. These sports, aberrations, or what is better to call 
them, variations of a different degree, are of more significance in 
the evolutionary history of species than seems to be generally sup- 
posed. We have here, probably, a good example of orthogenetic 
variation or a definitely directed evolution. 
Vanessa atalanta Linn. var. edwardsi var. nov. 
Expanse 56 mm. The wide band or series of quadrate spots 
across the primaries is an apricot-orange (Ridgway) instead of a 
