33 



Mr. R. South exhibited Melitcea athalia, M. aurelia, M. 

 parthenie, and M. dictynua, and read the following note : — 



" In 1881 I found a good number of Melitcea larvae feeding 

 on yellow cow-wheat {Melampyrum pratense) and foxglove 

 {Digitalis purpurea). From these I bred a fine and variable 

 series of M. atkalia. 



Through the kindness of the Rev. J. C. W. Tasker, I 

 have a fairly good collection of Swiss butterflies, and among 

 them are fine series of several species of Melitcea. 



Among the North Devon athalia I find an example 

 which comes so close to M. aurelia from Switzerland, that I 

 am quite unable to detect the least difference between them. 

 Entomologists more experienced in separating closely allied 

 species of Rliopalocera, may not have the same difficulty. 

 Other specimens in the North Devon series show a tendency 

 towards the aurelia type on the upper surfaces of their wings, 

 and the undersides of others very closely resemble the colora- 

 tion and markings of M . parthenie. 



As regards the geographical distribution of these three 

 insects, it may be stated that athalia has a much wider range 

 than either of the others. It is distributed throughout the 

 countries of Europe, even to the Arctic regions, and is also 

 found in Asia Minor, in the mountainous parts of Armenia, 

 and in Siberia ; still it only occurs in certain localities in 

 those countries. As a British insect, for instance, it is only 

 to be found in certain places in South England and South 

 Ireland. There is no record of its having been observed in 

 the North of England or in Scotland, though why it should 

 be absent therefrom, seeing that it is an inhabitant of regions 

 very much farther north, is a question which does not appear 

 easy to answer in a satisfactory manner. 



Aurelia and parthenie both occur in Switzerland, but 

 from this country their course of distribution diverges. The 

 first named, that is, aurelia, is found as far north as Lapland, 

 and east into Asia as far as Armenia. Parthenie, on the 

 other hand, is confined to mountainous districts in South- 

 West Germany, France, Piedmont in Italy, Central Spain, 

 and Andalusia, Thus one spreads north and east, and the 

 other south and west. 



