80 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



out a shadow of excuse. In ' Iris,' xviii. p. 12, another similar 

 aberration is mentioned, and illustrated on pi. i. fig. 5 ; this 

 again approaches somewhat closely to var. wolfenshergeri ; it 

 was bred in 1905 from a larva found at Werdau, in Saxony, so 

 that there ought to be no doubt as to the species to which it 

 belongs. Specimens showing a melanic tendency, without 

 reaching even approximately the navariiia-ioim, are by no 

 means uncommon ; it will suffice to refer to the specimens taken 

 at Martigny, and more particularly at Luan, by Mr. Sloper, 

 mentioned in Ent. xxxviii. p. 27, and those described by Aigner- 

 Abafi in his paper in the ' Annals of the Hungarian National 

 Museum for 1905,' pp. 496 et seq. 



Oberthiir, in his 'Etudes de Lepidopterologie comparee,' 

 speaks of M. deione as a very constant species ; yet its limits of 

 variation hardly seem less than those of others of this group. 

 On p. 11 of this work he speaks of a melanic specimen of the 

 herisale7isis-{orm, taken by Wullschlegel at Martigny, which the 

 illustration, pi. i. fig. 7, shows to be of a somewhat extreme 

 character ; but, apart from extreme aberrations, it varies in 

 detail in all the same directions as athalia and others. Its 

 variation in size, especially between the first and second broods, 

 has already been mentioned, and the female exhibits a greater 

 degree in difference of tint between the different bands of the 

 up. s. than does any other of the group. Keference has also 

 been made to its racial distinctions (vol. xlii. p. 149), but it will 

 be better to speak somewhat more fully as to these at this point. 

 The darkest race of all is the form of bensalensis found at Sierre 

 and at Ormona, above Sion, these examples being considerably 

 darker than those of Martigny. The lighter specimens from the 

 latter locality are very close to those from Granada, especially 

 the males ; the South Spanish females are, however, more varie- 

 gated on the up. 8. than even the most variegated of the Swiss. 

 The lightest I have seen have come from the French Pyrenees ; 

 almost as light as these are those from Digne and the Riviera. 

 The Spanish forms seem mostly to be darker than the type, 

 with the exception of the light race from the Sierra Nevada. 

 A new locality has lately been discovered for the species at 

 La Grave, in the north of the Hautes Alpes, the specimens 

 from which are large and lightish, the un. s. of those I have 

 seen being specially light. So far the expressions light and dark 

 have referred to the ground colour, but there is also a very great 

 difference in the breadth and intensity of the black markings on 

 the up. s., and on the f. w. of the un. s. ; occasionally also the 

 two portions of the central band are of slightly different shades, 

 which brings the insect somewhat closer to parthenie. In the 

 North of Spain the two insects become indeed very difficult to 

 distinguish, but this is mostly due to the variation of parthenie, 

 and will be treated of under that insect. The only other species 



