NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 331 



received from young people who have no special knowledge of 

 Entomology, — some of them children. We have on foot a move- 

 ment to interest the children in all the schools of New Mexico in 

 natural history, and at the same time make them useful workers in the 

 cause of science. It is just as easy to be scientific in this sense as to 

 collect unintelligently, and a thousand times more delightful. To 

 prove my point, I will by letter suggest a course of study to any 

 collector who will follow it and report results after six months. He 

 should state where he will reside, what he is collecting, and how much 

 time he has to collect in. — T. D. A. Cockerell ; Mesilla, New Mexico, 

 U.S.A., Sept. 6th. 



The Geographical Varieties of Parnassius apollo. — Why should 

 not the different geographical varieties of this fine butterfly receive 

 cognomens ? This degree of variation ranks next in importance to 

 the type, and is by far more worthy of distinctive recognition than 

 either a seasonal variety or an aberration, for it is practically an in- 

 cipient species, which the other forms have not so much right to be 

 called. Taking the prevailing form found in the Alps as the type, we 

 have in the Pyrenees a well-marked geographical variety, consisting in 

 the lighter colouring of the male and the darker colouring of the 

 female, the sexual dimorphism thus being very pronounced, which is 

 due to the disappearance and development of the black scales respec- 

 tively. The male is especially distinguished by the almost total sup- 

 pression of the dusky patch near the angle of the inner margin of the 

 posterior wings, and in the almost total absence of the submarginal 

 wave-like bands, particularly in the posterior pair. In this latter 

 particular it is the antithesis of the form found in Scandinavia which 

 possesses this wavy band of dusky scales very pronounced. The form 

 occurring in the Alps seems to be intermediate between the two, and it 

 possesses aberrations bearing a resemblance to them both. On the 

 other hand, the Pyrenean form possesses occasional aberrations ap- 

 proaching the alpine type. The specimens from Siberia are larger, 

 according to various authorities, but I do not know in what other 

 particulars they differ from the type. In this connection I may 

 remark that the specimens of this insect which I have taken in the 

 Jura are larger than the type from the Alps, and seem to be an 

 approach towards the Siberian form. I beg to suggest that the three 

 geographical varieties which I have defined be respectively called 

 l)\jrenaica, scandinavica, and siberica. It is very possible that the form 

 found in the Caucasus is worthy of a varietal cognomen, but I have 

 not seen any specimens from this region. All the specimens of 

 P. apollo from the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Jura may be divided 

 into two sets according to their tints, in one of which it is of a delicate 

 cream colour, although in the majority of specimens it is white. 

 Altitude does not appear to have anything to do with it. I should 

 like to suggest the name pulchella for the cream-coloured form. — 

 W. Harcourt-Bath. 



Melit^a didyma var. alpina. — This melanistic variety appears to 

 possess a wide area of distribution in the mountain ranges of Europe, 

 for, in addition to the Alps, I have encountered it in the Pyrenees, 



