208 THE ENTOMOI-OGJSt's RECORD. 



Linnaeus in his Fauna Suecica describes the species as ' margine 

 albo.' 



Zetterstedt in Insecta Lapporiica, p. 894, says " it is no rarity in 

 Norway, Sweden and Lapland and has white margins." 



Schoyen gives Arctic Norway and Labrador as localities, but does 

 not mention the colour of the border (Archiv. f. Mathematilt og 

 Naiuryidenskab, Christiania, 1880, v., pp. 119-228). Snellen says it is 

 scarce in Holland and the border is yellow or white {Be Hinders van 

 Nederland, p. 37). In Germany and France specimens with cream 

 border are the rule. In America the border is even darker than in 

 central Europe, but Lord Rothschild has seven from Yukon Territory 

 all of which have white borders. He very kindly allowed me to 

 examine two of these labelled Dawson, May, 1914. Both have the 

 upper scales of the border and costal markings transparent, thin and 

 rolled up, some so rolled that they look like hairs. The scales on the 

 under surface are similar but not quite so defective. The chesnut and 

 blackish scales, with which the border is heavily peppered, are all 

 normal. The blue scales are pale in both, flat in one and curled over 

 or rolled up in the other. The only two Norwegian specimens I have 

 been able to examine are in the British Museum labelled " Knoblock, 

 Norwegian Lapland, 1903." Both have white borders with the upper 

 scales all very thin and rolled up to form a pointed extremity. 



One has the blue scales of the forewings all rolled up and some of 

 those in the hindwings in a similar condition, the other has some blue 

 scales flat, others rolled up. 



Mr. G. Talbot says there are no specimens in the Hill Museum 

 from Scandinavia or Arctic America. A white bordered specimen 

 from Plataea, Greece, which has undoubtedly been on the wing for 

 some time has normal scales. No doubt it is faded. 



A specimen, slightly yellowish, from Ancona, Italy, has some 

 normal and some defective scales, and in a similarly coloured one from 

 Central Russia all intermediate forms are found between quite pointed 

 scales and large dentate ones. 



From this evidence one gathers that a large proportion of the 

 antiopa found in Europe and America in the Arctic Circle at the 

 northern limit of their range are white bordered, and that this form 

 becomes much scarcer further south. 



This supports Stainton's contention that the majority of British 

 antiopa are immigrants from Scandinavia and not from the south. 

 (Ent. Month. Mag., 1872-73, ix., pp. 105-107). 



If so, there ought to be records of its unusual abundance in 

 Scandinavia in the great antiopa years. 



The only reference to this, which I can find, is in the Zoological 

 Record, vol. ix., when it states that this species was much commoner 

 than usual throughout Northern Europe in 1872. 



It would be very interesting to know whether the scale defect is 

 hereditary, or whether it is due to the uncongenial climatic conditions 

 near the northern limit of its range. 



Norwegian entomologists could easily settle the question by 

 breeding from white bordered specimens. 



The result would throw light on all the other scale defects, in 

 which one part of the pattern is affected and the rest remains 

 unaltered. 



