114 Psyche [October 
carnelian red as in typical atalanta and the costo-apical or sub- 
apical white patch of atalanta isa salmon-buff in this variety. There 
are four white apical spots. The outer margin of the hindwings are 
of an apricot-orange; the basal portion of the primaries and second- 
aries is of a bordeaux red (rusty red) instead of a deep purplish 
black as in atalanta. 'There is a submarginal row of black spots on- 
the hindwings in the same position as those of carye. The under- 
side more nearly resembles atalanta. In its characters this varia- 
tion partakes of the aspects of both carye and atalanta. Henry 
Edwards (3) records a specimen of what he speaks of as a hybrid 
between carye and atalanta. The description of his specimen re- 
sembles mine very closely. The submarginal row of spots had 
white pupils while mine has none, except a very faint trace in two 
of them. Henry Edwards’ specimen was raised by Dr. Behr from 
the larva from Lagunitas, Marin Co., July 1876; while Mr. Cottle’s 
specimen was caught flying at Buchanan and Washington Streets, 
San Francisco, in August 1914. So there is quite a time interval 
in the capture of these two similar variations, but in a short distance 
geographically. This is a very interesting variation, which we are 
hardly justified in calling a hybrid, and undoubtedly has some evo- 
lutionary significance. 
As an excuse or an explanation for naming these new variations 
it is well to say that it is particularly useful to know as much about 
the variations of a species as possible, especially now, when so 
much is being said of the order of evolution; whether it is indis- 
criminate or directed or whether it may follow both paths. It is 
only by the accumulation of definite data concerning variations 
that we can arrive at a correct idea of the order of evolution in a 
given species. It is the method we want to know, and there is no 
more intricate problem confronting us. 
REFERENCES. 
1. Essig, E. O. The Genus Vanessa in California. Pomona 
Journal Entom. and Zo@l., VIII, 3, Sept. 1916, pp. 97-108, fig. 
1-11. 
2. Wright,W.G. The Butterflies of the West Coast, 1905, pp. 
177-178, pl. XXII. 
3. Edwards, Henry. Proc. California Acad. Sci. (Pacific Coast 
Lepidoptera), Vol. 7, 1877, pp. 171-172. 
