PTYCHOPODA. By L. B. Prout. 131 



ciliation short and even; hindtibia with a pair of well-developed spurs. Aroole, as in filicata, sometimes 

 open at its extremity. Pt. intermedia was discovered in Asia Minor, the first specimens being taken at light 

 at the end of June and beginning of July; its range also extends to Syria and Mesopotoraia. 



Pt. cotnpleta Stgr. is perhaps merely the N. African form of intermedia. At any rate Herr Pijngeler completa. 

 has sent for my inspection a pair from Gafsa, Tunis, bred by Chretien in October 1909, under the name of 

 "intermedia e Mauretania" and they show no very essential differences; the structure seems identical. The 

 dark band is somewhat wider, the median line being placed distally to the discal spot; the colour of the 

 band is also somewhat more reddish," as in brightly-coloured forms of rusticata, from which it still differs in 

 the course of the median line; the discal dots are rather smaller, especially on hindwing; the distal margins 

 also seem slightly more irregular, but the forewing is by no means narrow or pointed as in figuraria, neither 

 has the band the characteristic form of that species. Staudinger indicates as a further distinction from 

 intermedia, that the basal part of the forewing is almost as strongly darkened as the band itself; the difference, 

 however, is not very marked in the specimens before me. The dark base of the hindwing characterizes botli. 

 The egg is oval, truncate at the ends, with very irregular, angular longitudinal ribs, the depressions between 

 them deep, crossed by smaller irregular ribs; greenish yellow. The larva, which Homberg reared from the 

 egg on Polygonum aviculare, is short, thick, tapering in both directions from the G'*" abdominal, strongly 

 carinated laterally, segmental incisions well marked; the head is small, reddish brown; the skin is very 

 rugose and granulated, deeply folded transversely; ground-colour dirty grey, washed with greenish yellow, 

 paler from the 6*'' abdominal; dorsal line httle paler, indistinct except at both ends, blackish edged, expanding 

 into yellowish spots on the middle segments; some X-shaped markings at the incisions of the 2""^— 5"' 

 abdominal; some elongate black lateral spots connected with the X-markings; lateral carina slightly pale; 

 ventral region tinged with greenish, also rather paler, a medio-ventral line and on the P' — S"' abdominals 

 some indistinct open lozenges. Pupa not elongate nor particularly glossy, greenish fulvous with abdomen 

 reddish fulvous; cremaster with 8 hooks. Imago in June and September, Algeria and Tunis. According to 

 Staudinger a form or closely allied species also occurs in Aragon and Andalusia. 



Pt. rusticata Schiff. (4f) differs from the allies in the position of the dark band, which is placed rusticata. 

 more distally, so that the discal spot stands about in its centre ; the basal area is irregularly darkened, the 

 dark colour being very obliquely edged, or almost confined to the costal half of the area ; there is no separate 

 postmedian line, probably the distal edge of the band represents it; the clouding proximally to the sub- 

 terminal line is very variable in intensity, occasionally quite obsolete, leaving the entire distal area uniformly 

 whitish. Hindwing without appreciable dark band, though sometimes the (rather narrow) area between the 

 median and postmedian lines is slightly darker than the rest of the wing. Under surface similarly though 

 less distinctly marked, the forewing more or less uniformly infuscated from the band to the base, cf antennal 

 ciliation short and even. A singular problem presents itself in regard to the cf tibial armature. There Qxist 

 two separate structural forms, which would have equal right with asellaria and alyssumata to be regarded as 

 distinct species, but for an observation made many years ago by Dr. Speyer, who was too careful a student 

 of leg-structure to have been deceived in this matter. The form and length of the hindtibia is always the 

 same, somewhat shorter than the femur, slightly thickening at its end and without hair-pencil; the difference 

 consists in the presence or absence of the spurs. In general this is absotutely constant in particular localities, 

 but Speyer found remarkable variation in a series from Mayence, in part bred ab ono ; of captured specimens 

 2 had both spurs, 1 a single spur and 1 had none; of the bred, 2 had both spurs, 1 had none; the single 

 spur in the 1-spurred example was shorter than the normal. The spurless form should be regarded as the 

 type of rusticata, as this is the only form known from Vienna, whence the species was first described. 

 Most of the specimens from Austria and Hungary and from some parts of Germany, so far as my information 

 extends, belong here; so likewise one from Uralsk (coll. PiJNGELER) and the forms from Greece, Sicily and 

 Spain. Those from Greece and Spain perhaps represent local races; according to Staudinger the former are 

 of the reddish tone which he proposes, irrespective of spurring, to call var. vulpinaria. — mustelata Rhr. is mustelaia. 

 an aberration occurring in Spain, with the central band considerably reduced, occupying only the costal half 

 of the central area; but perhaps the name can be extended so as to embrace all the Sponish forms, as a 

 tendency towards reduction of markings is in general observable in them, even when not so far developed 

 as in Rambur's figure and a specimen before me from Cuenga. — vulpinaria H.-Sch. is the correct name for vulpinaria. 

 the two-spurred form, altough it is oftener used (following Staudinger) for all the reddish examples. If it be 

 really necessary to separate the reddish vulpinaria (as they occur commonly in Sardinia, Croatia and 

 Dalmatia and in Asia Minor) from- the dark, a new name will be required for the latter. Dark vulpinaria 

 occur in S. England (where the spurless rusticata is entirely unknown), France, Holland, Kreuznach and the 

 Rheingau, Valais, the Tyrol, Trieste and occasionally with the redder examples in Dalmatia. Exact information 

 is still wanting from many localities. According to Staudinger the species extends to N. Africa and through 

 Central Asia as far as Lake Issyk Kul. The larvae of the different forms have not been separated. The 



