152 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



varia is quite distinct from partheiiie, the correct designation of 

 this form would be " varia, Bisch., var. norvegica, Auriv." 



Britomartis having been already disposed of as certainly, and 

 dictynndides as probably, a distinct species, and veronicce having 

 been provisionally considered under athalia, we are left with the 

 unsatisfactory var. rhcetica to treat as a variety of aurelia. It is 

 thus described by Frey (' Lepidopteren der Schweiz.' p. 30 (1880) ) : 

 " Kleiner, lebhafter rothbraun weniger triib, mit feineren 

 schwarzen Zeichnungen, das 2 nicht selten mit schr lichten 

 braunen Fleckreihen."* I speak of it as unsatisfactory, because 

 the distinctions are so slight that it is difficult to separate it ; 

 specimens from the Ehone Valley, from Wiesbaden, and from 

 Czernowitz, are scarcely distinguishable apart. The name 

 should perhaps be reserved for the light Engadine specimens 

 which were in the mind of the author, though these again can 

 hardly be distinguished from the light females which occasionally 

 appear among the Visp and Sion examples. The name is fre- 

 quently, and wrongly, applied in Switzerland to smallish dark 

 specimens. 



Dictynna, though a very variable species, has not given rise 

 to many varietal names. I have found but two : var. vernetensis, 

 Oberthiir, and ab. seminigra, Muschamp. After long searching 

 I have been unable to find any reference to the former in 

 Oberthur's published works, and can only trace it back to 

 Eondou's * Lepidopteres des Pyrenees,' p. 24 (1903), where 

 the name is ascribed to Oberthiir and the following description 

 given : " Une race constante et tres diiferente du type. EUe 

 est beaucoup plus claire que dans les Hautes-Pyr6n6es, ou elle 

 ne differe point de celles de la France centrale. Le dessus des 

 quatre ailes est a peine plus obcsur que chez athalia ; aux 

 inferieures la couleur fauve domine."t This is a very distinct 

 form, showing much more of the ground colour than one 

 meets with elsewhere, but it is still quite obviously dictijnna 

 even on the upper side ; when placed by the side of Keazzino 

 britomartis it rather serves to emphasize the specific distinctions 

 of the latter. 



Ab. seminigra, Muschamp, is shortly described as follows in 

 the 'Bulletin de la Soci6t6 lepidopterologique de Geneve,' i. 

 p. 70 (1905) : " alis posterioribus nigris uno eodemque modo." 

 The original specimens were taken on the Campolungo Pass, but 

 it is by no means confined to this locality. I have specimens 

 from various parts of Switzerland. 



'^' Smaller, lighter red-brown, less dull, with narrower black markings, 

 the female not rarely with very light brown rows of spots. 



f A constant race and very different from the type. It is much lighter 

 than in the Hautes-Pyrenees, where it is in no way different from those of 

 Central France. The up. s. of both wings is scarcely darker than in athalia, 

 on the h. w. the fulvous colour is predominant. 



(To be continued.) 



