1918] Grinnell — Variations 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 muelleri. Here we 

 have a series extending from typical caryce, through intermedia 

 and muelleri to letcheri, showing a progressive evolution. Mr 

 Cottle took two other specimens of caryce 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 66 mm. This very striking variation of a cosmopolitan 

 butterfly bears a very close resemblance to letcheri, 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 caryce. 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 



