74 



union of a female of any particular species witb a male of the same species a variety 

 of that species may be obtained, is correct, how would the absence of variety iu this 

 instance be explained ? The specimens in question are said to be a variety of T. munda, 

 a species described as particularly variable ; and yet here would be a case of two gene- 

 rations in which no variety was produced. If it is said that the tendency of a variety 

 of a species may be to propagate an offspring bearing its own type of colour and 

 markings, then how is a species to be distinguished from a variety ? But it may 

 happen that the larvae in question, now in the course of being reared, may produce a 

 variety of insects. In that case the fact of the existence of varieties will be proved by 

 the result of actual experiment, instead of resting, as I apprehend it now does, upon 

 theory only. To prove that so-called ' varieties' are varieties and not hybrids, I con- 

 tend that it is not suiBcient to prove their descent from a particular female, but there 

 must be evidence of the male parent having been an insect of a precisely similar type 

 to that of the female parent, because, if the male varied from the female, the very 

 question upon which I raise an issue is again involved. 



" I shall be glad to know if any one has actually obtained varieties of any species 

 of Lepidoptera from an union, which they have been able to prove, between a male 

 and female of one and the same species and type. I do hope that some of the gen- 

 tlemen here present will try the experiment. My desire is to obtain actual and posi- 

 tive proof, the only ground upon which received facts in any science ought to stand. 



" I make these observations with all due deference to the opinions of those who 

 have more experience and knowledge than myself, and shall be only too happy to be 

 corrected by them in any error I may have fallen into upon the subject. 



" I should observe that the specimens in question are not in such good condition 

 as bred specimens usually are, in consequence of their having been kept for some 

 time in the cage for the purpose of obtaining eggs ; and I may also observe that their 

 larvae were some of them fed upon sallow and some upon apricot, and that so far Mr. 

 Gregson's statement, as to creating varieties of insects by feeding the larvae on differ- 

 ent kinds of plants, is not borne out." 



Note on Argynnis Cyhele and A. Aphrodite. 



The Secretary read the following paper, by Mr. Walker, " On Argynnis C'ybele 

 and A. Aphrodite " : — 



" I have received from Mr. Edwards, of Newburgh, U.S.A., a form of Argynnis 

 allied to Cybele and Aphrodite, which throughout this communication is spoken of as 

 No. 1. I wish to lay before the Society an extract from a letter addressed to me by 

 Mr. Edwards, which has some reference to the geographical distribution of species 

 or of varieties. Mr. Edwards writes as follows : — 



" ' I have not a doubt of there being in this region three allied species of Argynnis. 

 I have had before me a large number of Cybele, and of the No. 1, from many 

 localities, and I have taken both myself in large numbers. The true Cybele is the 

 common species of the Southern States and of New Jersey. In the vicinity of New- 

 burgh, sixty miles north of New York, I find about as many of No. 1 as of Cybele. 

 In the Catskill mountains, fifty miles north of Newburgh, I took during last summer 

 only eight specimens of Cybele, while No. 1 was extremely abundant. From Con- 

 neciicut and Massachusetts, from central New York and Canada West, all I have 

 received have been No. 1. In a long series of both species the differences are con- 

 stant and the distinctions plain. Cybele is larger, duller fulvous, and the fulvous is 



