40 THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION 



entomologist would have regarded it as a new and 

 distinct species, had its origin not been known. 

 Nevertheless, Dr. Gemminger, a distinguished ento- 

 mologist, recognized it as a distinct species and 

 named it "Saturnia bolli." 



Moritz Wagner, from whom this account is taken, 

 gives the following description of the new form: "At 

 the first glance, the connoisseur is surprised by the 

 striking change of form. In the new species the shape 

 of the body, as of the wings, is somewhat larger and 

 heavier, while the feathery antennae are slightly 

 narrower and less luxuriant. From the longer hind- 

 body of the new species the carmine-red, longitudinal 

 stripes, which the parent species bears, have com- 

 pletely disappeared. The front wings have a less 

 sinuous form, but are somewhat broader. This 

 change of form is to be more decidedly observed in 

 the tail-like prolongation of the hind wings. Not 

 less striking than the differences of shape are those 

 of colour. In the ancestral species the colour is a 

 yellowish green, while that of the new species is a 

 beautiful lemon-yellow. The carmine-red marginal 

 stripe, with whitish inner border, borne on the ante- 

 rior wings of Saturnia luna, has quite disappeared 

 in Saturnia bolli and is indicated only by a very 

 narrow, dark yellowish colouring of the outermost 

 margin. 



"Most remarkable in this new species is the ap- 

 pearance of a new marking on the anterior wings, 

 which appears as a transverse stripe, with somewhat 



