230 , THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



(3). Colourless varieties of chestnut species are noi akvays, 

 I think, " unhealthy or pathological." Mr. Jenner Weir showed 

 me two remarkable species of butterflies which seem to be 

 noticeable in this connection. Salatura consjncua, Butler, from 

 Celebes, has the under-wings brown, with the cell white, in 

 striking contrast ; but an allied Philippine Island species has all 

 white on the secondaries in place of brown. 



(4) . There are, of course, some white varieties of yellow species 

 on record, but, as a rule, this kind of variation is rare. However, 

 the white females of Colias are familiar to every entomologist. 

 In Triph(Ena comes there is an, aberration (sometimes only on 

 one side) in which the hind wings are pale instead of the usual 

 yellow. This, no doubt, is a case of atavism. Among flowers, 

 white varieties of yellow species are very rare, though they 

 occasionally occur, e.g., in Eschscholtzia californica and Aquilegia 

 chrysantha. 



(5). As to yellow varieties of green species, there are excellent 

 examples among birds. The wild canary, which I have myself 

 seen at Funchal, Madeira, is green, — the domesticated bird being, 

 as everyone knows, bright yellow. Palceornis torquatus, an Indian 

 parrot, is typically green, but there is a var. lutescens, which is 

 yellow. Both the type and the variety may be seen at the 

 British Museum. 



(6). For a red variety of a yellow species (p. 192), see Arctia 

 villica var. fulminans, mentioned in Entom. xxii. p. 2. 



(7). In the case of the variety of Arge galathea, mentioned by 

 Mr. Coste on p. 192, was it not the black that gave way to red ? 

 That black varies to reddish in some butterflies seems almost 

 certain. In Mr. Jenner Weir's collection I saw Caduga titya, 

 Gray, in which the marks on the primaries are black, while those 

 on the secondaries are rusty-brown. Now this species has two 

 mimics, coloured in exactly the same way, namely, Hestina nama, 

 Dbl., and Papilio agesto?', Gray. Thus there must have been 

 variability towards black or red, and I suppose it likely that 

 originally black markings varied to the rusty-brown we now see. 



From what we know of the power of certain reagents to change 

 the colours of insects, it is evident that " varieties " without a 

 satisfactory history must often be looked upon with suspicion. 

 Danais plexippus ab. fumosus (Hulst) * has the wings sooty-brown 

 instead of bright fulvous. I have seen the type of this form in 

 Mr. Hulst's collection at Brooklyn, and from what he told me 

 there can be no doubt that it is a genuine variety. Yet the very 

 same thing can be produced by artificial means ! In the museum 

 of the Institute of Jamaica, I found a specimen just like Mr. 



* Danais arcMpjms y&v. fumosus, Hulsfc, Entom. Amer., ii. 182. See also Entom. 

 Amer..i. 140 and 159, where evidence is given as to the existence of this form alive, 

 and also as to the production of a similar colour artificially by cyanide. 



