STUDY OF VARIATION IN THE RACES OF ZYGAENA FILIPENDULAE, L. 105 



are all steeped in beautiful stones of Mary Magdalene and her life in 

 the Grotto, and I gather that there is no place in the south of France 

 to which so many pilgrimages are made, for the pious and poetical 

 Provencals are able to accept all that is written and come to worship at 

 the shrine in large numbers. 



It was also most picturesque to see the gathered in grain emptied 

 out in the farmyard (if such you can call the level area just outside 

 the Hotellerie) and the horses brought to tread out the corn ; round 

 and round they went under the guiding hand of one of the men until 

 the chaff was separated ; after which the whole pile was well covered 

 up waiting for the " mistral " or other strong wind to rise, when it was 

 again uncovered and forked so that the chaff was easily blown away, 

 whilst the grain of course fell back and was then " bagged " in the 

 usual way. I must not close without a word of thanks to Monsieur 

 Pedone who managed the Hotellerie ; a large new wing has been 

 recently added to the old house and there is now ample accommodation 

 for all comers, and Monsieur is kindness itself, always ready to help in 

 case of need or to give any information that he possesses. 



An Essay on the Systematic Study of Variation in the Races of 

 Zygaena filipendulae, L, and of its subspecies stoechadis, Brkh. 



By ROGER VERITY, M.D. 



(Continued from p, 91.) 



At this point of the description of the successive grades in the 

 variation of the species I must make a short digression. A few words 

 must be said about the wing-pattern of the Zygaena in 

 general, to make the more complex variation, which follows, better 

 understood, although I am sorry to have to touch this vast and 

 difficult subject, here, in an inadequate way. The markings of the 

 Lepidoptera are of two sorts: the nervular suffusion or pattern 

 and the true or transverse pattern. The former originates on the 

 nervules and diffuses more or less broadly on either side, forming a 

 streak, which may be either shaded or sharply outlined ; along the 

 outer margin of the wing these streaks often broaden considerably and 

 blend transversally in a marginal band, which usually has a shaded 

 internal outline ; they also often blend in a uniform shade at the base 

 of the wing, but this shade may also be originated by the following 

 pattern, when it exists. The true or transverse pattern originates 

 within the internervular spaces, usually making an appearance under 

 the form of two dots (one on either side of the central crease or 

 rudiment of an atrophied and obliterated nervule) : the origin of these 

 spots is clearly shown, for instance, by the minute black specks of 

 Spilosoma menthastri, Esp., and of Spilarvtia lubricipeia, L. A 

 definite number of transverse series of these dots exists in the various 

 groups of Lepidoptera ; in the vast majority of cases the two dots are 

 blent across the crease in one larger spot and very often these blend 

 transversely also across the nervures into bands, which cross the wing 

 from costa to dorsal margin, such as in Arctia hebe, L., which can be 

 usefully compared to Zyyaena fausta, L. Here again two sorts of true 

 pattern are clearly discernable, in most cases, and sometimes even 

 three. These I should call primary, secondary and tertiary 

 pattern, because, as a rule, the first is much more dark in colour than 



