422 BRITISH LEPIDOPTEEA. 



base. Teeth of central area mostly 1-pointed. Ventral rasp : A patch 

 of 30-40 large teeth and many small ones. The toothed area widens 

 towards the apex. 3. Wall of penis contains elongated horn-like 

 teeth. 



Pierce considers {Brit. Nat., 1889, p. 55) that the genital organs 

 are distinct in all our British Anthrocerid species. He says that the 

 essential parts of these organs consist of the following parts : (1) 

 Superior or outer appendages (sup. app.). (2) Inferior or inner 

 appendages (inf. app.). (3) Penis collar, a scaly organ, covered 

 with file-like teeth. (4) Penis. An examination of these organs led 

 Pierce to make the following table in illustration of his observa- 

 tions : — 



A. Inf. app. produced beyond the flap. 



b. Inf. app. very long and slender ; collar with large teeth = A. filipendulae. 

 bb. Inf. app. shorter, stouter than preceding ; collar small, teeth very 



small = A. exulans. 

 bbb. Inf. app. shorter than preceding ; collar larger ; teeth much larger 

 than in A. exulans, not so large as in A. filipendulae = A. meliloti. 

 AA. Inf. app. not produced beyond the flap. 



c. Inf. app. very stout, slightly curved at the tip ; collar small, with a few 



small hooks drawn out = A. purpuralis (minos). 

 cc. Inf. app. shorter, rounder; collar broad, large hooks = A. trifolii, A. 

 lonicerae. 



The most closely allied species of those examined, so far as relates 

 to the genital organs, he considers to be A. trifolii and A. lonicerae. 

 The hooks on A. lonicerae are, however, larger and bolder than those 

 of A. trifolii, and hence have a very different appearance, which, 

 however, is difficult to describe in words. This will, perhaps, explain 

 the reason why Fletcher has more readily been able to obtain pairings 

 between these species than any others. At the same time the facts 

 brought forward in this table explain the failure of this experimenter to 

 cross A. viciae [meliloti) with A. trifolii, and Pierce, particularly referring 

 to these species, states that he considers the form of the sexual organs 

 in A. viciae [meliloti) sufficiently specialised to prevent any successful 

 crossing between it and its allies (Brit. Nat., 1892, p. 80). 



It may be here mentioned that male Burnets will pair with three 

 or four females successively, and effectually fertilise their eggs. 



Gynandromorphous specimens appear to be rare in this genus. 

 Schultz mentions a specimen of A. romeo var. nevadensis, the left side 5 , 

 the right $ , that is in the collection of Dr. Staudinger. He further 

 mentions a specimen of A. trifolii, with ? left wings of the form ab. 

 conflnens and <y right wings of the ab. orobi, but adds nothing as to 

 the condition of the sexual organs. 



With very few exceptions, the fore-wings of the Anthrocerids are of 

 a metallic green or purplish-blue colour, with bright scarlet or crimson 

 spots. The two main directions in which the normal red colour is 

 modified in these insects is in the direction of yellow and brown. In a 

 few species, the spots are white in certain forms only, and then only in 

 part, as in A. ephialtes, in which the hind- wings and basal spot of 

 the fore-wings are often yellow, the other spots of the fore-wings being 

 white. The change from red to yellow occurs in many, probably in 

 all Anthrocerid species. It has been noticed in Anthrocera peucedani 

 ab. aeacus, A. ephialtes abs. trigonellae and coronillae, A. carniolica ab. 

 flaveola, A.fausta ab. lugdunensis, A. filipendulae ab. flava, A. hippocre- 

 jndis ab. flava, A. trifolii ab. lutescens, A. lonicerae ab. citrina, A. 



