OCCURRENCE OF SO CALLED " TYPE " SPECIMENS OF THE 2 NAPI. 91 



race of subspecies filipendidae of the Po Valley in northern Italy is very 

 similar to pulcherrima and the red scaling is even more extensive. I 

 have some beautiful confiuens collected at Palazzolo sull'Oglio by 

 Perlini. The exceptional individuals of race siciliensis, Vrty., mentioned 

 above, also belong to pulcherrima. 



(To be continued.) 



On the occurrence of so called " type " specimens of the 

 ? P. napi in Alpine regions. 



By B. C. S. WARREN, F.E.S. 



So much has been published on this interesting species that it is 

 with some diffidence I write this paper ; but on more than one occasion 

 there have been references in the Entomologist's Record to the capture 

 of typical specimens of P. napi in Alpine regions, in company with the 

 var. bryoniae. As these records passed without comment, either from 

 the Editorial Staff or the readers of the magazine, it appears that one 

 of the most interesting forms of butterfly life in the Alps has been 

 passed over as a common species of the lowlands, owiug to a superficial 

 resemblance between the two forms. 



Mr. C. B. Williams, in some notes on Lepidoptera in the Val 

 Formazza, writes, " the two varieties (napi and bryoniae) here exist 

 side by side and probably intercross. Prof. W. Bateson, who collected 

 at this same locality in 1895 and 1897, caught females of the type form 

 along with var. bryoniae." (Ent. Rec, vol. xxviii., p. 6.) 



Mr. D. H. Pearson in a note on butterflies taken by him at Binn 

 (Ent. Rec, vol. xxi., p. 264) says, " P. napi var. bryoniae were also 

 common, and flying with them were a few of the lowland 'form." 

 That these white 2s are type napi from the lowlands, which have 

 ascended in these localities to the Alpine regions and managed to 

 establish themselves there, appears to be the accepted idea. In point 

 of fact, however, I think there can be no doubt they are nothing of the 

 sort, but the extreme development of a beautiful line of variation of 

 the var. bryoniae. I had the good fortune to take a few of these 

 lovely and variable aberrations, a few summers ago ; and was able to 

 study their distribution and characteristics, and so became aware of 

 what I believe to be their true origin. In the neighbourhood of 

 Kandersteg, from the beginning of May to July 20th, 1918, bryoniae 

 was one of the most abundant and widely distributed butterflies in the 

 district. It was to be seen in dozens in the Ueschinen Tal from 4,000 to 

 about 6,500 ft. ; on the Gemmi Pass as far up as, and some way 

 beyond, Winteregg ; in the open fields in the Stockenwald ; and in a 

 variety of other localities. The vast majority were ordinary bryoniae 

 (i.e., the ? s, with a canary-yellow ground colour, and brown spots 

 ana scaling on the upperside), but everywhere among these, occasional 

 examples of the so-called " type " occurred, with a white groundcolour 

 and grey spots and scaling on the upperside ; but the underside, in the 

 majority of cases, showed the same characteristics in both forms. 

 Owing to the great range of variation of the upperside, the underside 

 of bryoniae has been much neglected. It is almost as variable as the 

 upperside, but in the $ s most usually there is a deep tone of orange- 

 yellow which is never seen in napi, except occasionally to a slight 

 extent in ? s from Ireland. 



