176 BULLETIN 114, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



and the black spreads more or less over the red, in particular above 

 the dorsal line, we have gentilis. 



On the basis of this single form and its variations, it would not be 

 safe to assert that evolution had proceeded in one direction and not 

 in another, for proof that it did not occur in any one of several ways 

 would be difficult to produce. We will therefore leave to the sum- 

 mary of the group our hypothesis of its actual relations to its nearest 

 relatives, and the reasons therefore, and, with the briefest summary, 

 leave the subject at this point. 



It can hardly be doubted that the closest affinities of amaura are 

 with syspila on the north and with gentilis on the west, and with 

 these forms intergradation certainly occurs. With annulata its 

 relationship is very close, but whether direct or through gentilis is 

 uncertain. It is the closest relative of elapsoides, but between the 

 two there is apparently a slight but distinct structural gap, strongly 

 suggesting differentiation of the latter by isolation, followed by a 

 rejoining of the two ranges. 



