THE ATHALIA GKOUP OF THE GENUS MELITJEA. 135 



I have, for example, one female in which only a single row of 

 spots of the ground colour, viz. that within the inner line, 

 remains, and a male with only the same row of spots and an 

 intimation of a few more within the extra line. Many of them, 

 however, approach the darker forms of hritomartis on the upper 

 side, and occasionally are not much darker than dark specimens 

 of athalia. Mr. Sheldon has a female beautifully variegated on 

 the upper side, reminding one of the best Bouveret or Weesen 

 dictynna. The under side seems to vary less, having always a 

 general look of athalia, the dictynna spots being always entirely 

 absent ; the outer portion of the central band is, however, 

 almost always much broader than the inner, and I have one 

 female in which, by reason of the light colour and total lack 

 of division in this band, a distinct reminder of deione is afforded, 

 which is, oddly enough, enhanced by the somewhat triangular 

 shape of the hght spot. The colouring of these light bands is, 

 however, generally somewhat lighter than is usual in athalia, 

 especially in the male. 



Asteria, when regarded in detail, is by no means so constant 

 as I supposed when writing my * Butterflies of Switzerland, &c.' 

 It is often much suffused on the up. s. almost to the extinction 

 of the ground colour, while in other specimens the lines and 

 nervures are very clear, giving quite the appearance of a very 

 tiny aurelia. The approach of varia female to asteria has already 

 been noticed ; the converse is much more rarely the case, but 

 both male and female are sometimes wonderfully close to merope 

 on the up. s. It is, I imagine, the nearest approach to the 

 ancestral Melitaeid form. On the un. s. there is occasionally an 

 indication of the second marginal line, but as a rule the charac- 

 teristic absence of this is complete. In many cases the narrow- 

 ness of the dark bands and the lack of division in the central as 

 well as in the terminal band gives a very albinistic effect to the 

 un. s. ; the breadth of the dark bands is, however, very variable, 

 as is also their colour ; indeed, in the latter respect, asteria is 

 quite as variable as any others of the group. 



On p. 8 of the ' Entomologist' for this year I noticed Ober- 

 thiir's var. nevadensis of deione. Lately, however, Mr. Powell, 

 of Hyeres, has drawn my attention by letter to the fact that 

 Oberthiir has since, in the third part of his ' Etudes,' pp. 251, 

 252, declared his conviction that the form there described is 

 either a race of athalia or a new species altogether. Having no 

 material on which to found an opinion, it is impossible to express 

 one, further than by saying that from all that is known of the 

 distribution of athalia, it is not likely that any form of it is to be 

 found in the South of Spain. Certainly nevadensis would form 

 a strong contrast to other southern Spanish forms of deione, but, 

 then, so does vernetensis to other Pyrenean forms o( dictynna. 



To another j)oint I must also briefly refer, viz. to Dr. Chap- 



