8908 Insects. 
from each other in size, and I have occasionally seen a female quite’ 
as large as a small male, but generally speaking the females are 
decidedly smaller than the males. In colour there seems the same 
variety in both insects, and I cannot see that the hind wings in 
J. Geryon “are more transparent than those of I. Statices,” nor that 
they “ appear somewhat blacker,” which seems rather inconsistent with 
the greater transparency. With regard to the antenne, which Dr. 
Staudinger describes as “shorter and stouter” than in I. Statices, 
I can only say that I cannot detect any difference with the naked eye; 
they appear to me in the same proportion to the size of the insect, 
and the result of an examination by a good microscope is, that the 
number of joints is the same in each, namely, 32 or 33; and the cor- 
responding joints in each are of the same shape, as well as the pecti- 
nations. Whether the number of joints in the antenne of Lepidoptera, 
irrespective of their shape, be a good specific distinction I cannot say. 
Curtis, in his description, illustrated by a very accurate anatomical 
drawing, of the antenne of I. Statices, appears to think not, as he 
only mentions the joints of the pectinated portion, which are all 
similar, as “numerous,” while he gives the number of the peculiarly 
shaped joints in the clavate portion as eight or nine; but great 
reliance seems to have been placed on mere number in separating 
Bombyx Callune from B. Quercus (Zool. 1656), the antennz of the 
former being there stated to be 84-jointed, and of the latter only 64- 
jointed, though in the specimens that I have examined I find the 
number the same in both. 
But to return: Dr. Staudinger further says, “I am the more inclined 
to think I. Geryon a good species, since the typical I. Statices is com- 
mon near Vienna, which is almost the only locality where the real 
I. Geryon is found! This is an argument for the distinctness of the 
two insects derived from their proximity to each otber in a certain 
locality, and would do just as well, when we consider their very limited 
locomotive powers, for proving them to be of the same species. The 
same may be said of a sentence further on, in which the same argu- 
ment is more fully set forth: “ The important fact that for many con- 
seculive years the two races have been found unchanged in character 
at a short distance from each other (1 am not aware whether they have 
been found on exactly the same spot) is a certain proof that they are 
distinct as species.” 
The way in which | imagine the variety I. Geryon may possibly have 
originated is this. Some perfect specimens of I. Statices (one impreg- 
nated female would be sufficient) were caught up by a violent wind 
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