278 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



margins), figs. 1, la. It will also be seen that the outer part 

 of the inner marginal blotch of urticce is "bitten off" in var. 

 icUnusa. In var. turcica the black markings are in the identical 

 position as in urticce, and in specimens in which the puncta and 

 inner marginal blotch tend to disappear, they disintegrate exactly 

 in tlie manner seen in aberrations of V. urticce — the inner mar- 

 ginal spot^/i/'si in its basal portion — which is just the part that 

 remains intact in ichnnsa, so that the black spot in turcica falls 

 partially in front of the same blotch in ichnusa. This is 

 shown in fig. 2 by the lined and by the black portion of the spot 

 in urticce. The distribution of colour in the hind wing is inter- 

 mediate in turcica between figs, la (an extreme form) and 2rt. 



5. Base of the fore wings. These parts are suffused with 

 black and yellowish scales in all three forms, but, as the figures 

 show, the basal and inner central area in ichnusa is covered as 

 far as the first costal blotch ; while in urticce and var. turcica 

 the basal parts show much of the ground colour as in fig. 2. 

 The basal suffusion in ichnusa is quite unlike that in the American 

 V. milherti, and must not be confounded with it. Both kinds of 

 basal colouring appear in aberrations of V. urticce. In F. urticce 

 var. caschmircnsis the basal sufi'usion reaches as far as the inner 

 marginal blotch, but does not cover the space before the first 

 costal blotch. 



Under sides : — 6. As compared with Central European urticce, 

 these parts are of a somewhat richer brown in the two southern 

 forms and the light area of the fore wings is conspicuously 

 darker and warmer yellow in colour. British specimens of 

 V. urticce appear to be distinguished from most Central European 

 forms and from the southern specimens by exhibiting much 

 black (not brown-black) in the basal and median portions of the 

 wings. These black markings often become very conspicuous 

 and brilliant (ab. subtus-nigra), and the tendency to them makes 

 it more difficult to obtain aberrations from British larvse, which 

 resemble ichnusa-twrcica in their under sides, than from most 

 Continental larvae. Thus all my best aberrations from the latter 

 larvce — for instance, ab. ioforniis, ab. ioprotoformis — exhibit rich 

 broiv n-hl'cick under sides, with the lighter parts warm brownish 

 yellow, as in var. iclmusa (it should also be here remembered 

 that atavic forms of V. io show brown under sides and a tawny 

 orange upper side — compare var. geisha, male and female, from 

 Japan) ; while, with few exceptions, of which my ab. subtus- 

 puncta {antea vol. xlii. p. 310) is a fair example, my aberrations 

 from British larvae exhibit black under sides tending to grey, 

 instead of brown and yellow.* The ochreous, occasionally almost 



* The Asian varieties caachmirensis, chinensis, connexa have broivn 

 under sides. The brown may in the large var. chinensis either cover the 

 whole wing surface, as in the brown V, io var. geisha, or be restricted to 

 the same wing parts as in V. urticce. 



