198 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



produce trile geographical races, its individual variation is very great 

 and in limited localities, found all over the world and thus*not having 

 any real geographical value, one meets with a distinctly higher 

 percentage of one of the extreme forms, so that series from localities 

 even quite near to each other may look very distinct. It is quite clear 

 that these variations are only due to favourable or unfavourable 

 conditions to the development of the larva. Few species vary as much 

 in size: any fairly extensive series contains variations from 35 to 60mm. 

 in expanse ; the ground colour varies from a uniform bright camiine 

 to ochreous yellow, which is also uniform, except at the baseof cell, where 

 it is carmine, and at its extremity, where it is whitish ; the largest 

 individuals are usually the brightest, but there are numerous exceptions, 

 the size chiefly being due to the amount of food available, the colour to 

 the degree of moisture. 



Cramer in his PapiUona Exotiques, pi. xxvi., fig. E, figures under 

 the name of cardiielis a specimen. from the Cape of Good Hope of the 

 largest, brightest, and most vigorous cardui ; it seems to me that the 

 name should be revived to designate this form. Failla [Naturalhta 

 Siciliano, vii. (1889)] has called minor the extremely small and pale 

 specimens ; his description evidently refers to dwarfs of 35-40mm.; the 

 name cannot in consequence stand for the commoner form, contrasting 

 with cardnelis, but not pathological, expanding about 45mm., with 

 more elongated wings, pale ochreous, black pattern less extensive ; I 

 should call it inops and I should designate the three principal race- 

 like gradations of the species by calling cardnelis or inu/is those series 

 in which one of these two forms largely predominates, and by calling 

 univcrm those in which they both occur in about equal numbers, and 

 in which the extreme forms are unfrequent and transitional specimens 

 constitute the mass. For instance, my series from New York and one 

 from Bolognola, 1200m. (Central Italy) contrast greatly with a series 

 from Sicily and with one from Algeria, so that the names cardnelis and 

 inops would be most necessary to designate these extreme differences ; 

 on the other hand neither one nor the other could be applied to series 

 from Florence, because they are constituted by a form of about 50mm. 

 in expanse, of an ochreous colour, with a carmine gloss, less bright 

 than m cardnelis (typical individual form of nnireisa) ; according to 

 localities and years a variable number of cardnelis and inops are mixed 

 with them. I have observed no seasonal dimorphism in the two 

 broods. The underside of the hmdwings show marked variations, 

 which might be called : infranigrans, infragrjsea, infrabkunnea, 

 INFRAOCHRACEA, iNFRAFLAVA ; the first and last form are very rare, the 

 former being similar to P. kersJiawii of Australia in that respect, and 

 reminding one also of indica ; the second is by far the most abundant 

 in universa, the third in nymotypical cardui; the two last are found 

 especially in inops. I have collected at Vallombrosa, 1000m., a 

 specimen very similar to the aberration figured by Oberthiir from 

 Algeria in Et. hep. Comp., fig. 2417 ; it is a transition to ab. elymi, 

 Ramb., but, being much more frequent in nature, the name emielymi, 

 mihi, will be found useful to designate it. A few females have a 

 supplementary white dot-like space below the row of apical ones (form 

 sexiespupillata), and I possess one which actually has still another 

 between the cubital nervures, as in the most usual female atalmita 

 (septiespupillata). These names might be used also for the corres- 



