ANTHROCERA TRIFOLII. 485 



marked difference in the colour of the red in the two forms, but 

 there is distinctly less variation of the ground colour in A. palustris 

 than in A. trifolii. In the former there is also a more marked 

 sexual dimorphism, the $ being dark blue-green, the ? of a bright 

 bronzy-green, the forms rarely overlapping in the sexes. We should 

 agree that there is a distinct tendency for the males of A. trifolii 

 to have a broader hind-marginal band to the hind-wings than we 

 find in those of A. palustris. We have an otherwise typical female of the 

 latter from Upton St. Leonards, in which the marginal band is reduced 

 to a slender marginal line. In Britain, A. trifolii-{minor) is generally less 

 than A. lonicerae, the latter being, on an average, rather above the size 

 of A. palustris. Boisduval says that the French A. trifolii (probably the 

 southern form) is a quarter less than A. lonicerae, to which the species 

 is very similar, but with less lanceolate (more rounded at apex) fore- 

 wings. He remarks also on the central pair of spots being almost 

 always united. He further notes that near the apical spot, at its side, 

 there is sometimes a small red point. Duponchel simply repeats the 

 same characters. 



Variation. — The races of this species have been already dealt with 

 and incidentally the variation in size to which it is subject. In its 

 spotting it is one of the most variable of the Anthrocerids, and confluent 

 forms are more common in this than any other of the " spotted " species. 

 We have already noticed that this confluence takes place usually by 

 1 + 2, 3 + 4 and 5, forming three spots, and then by 1 + 2 being 

 joined to 3 + 4, and 3 + 4 to 5, by longitudinal streaks. This must 

 be looked upon as the normal line of development. A rarer form of 

 blotching consists of 1, 2 + 4 and 3 + 5. In Britain, France and 

 Germany, the extremes of blotching are, on the one hand, the dis- 

 tinctly five-spotted form, on the other hand, the ab. minoicles, Selys, 

 or its extreme form, as figured by Christy, in which the whole of the 

 area, except a narrow inner and outer marginal edge, has become red 

 = ab. extrema, n. ab. The other aberrations all fall between these two 

 extremes, and form a continuous link (with the exception of the rare 

 ab. trivittata, Speyer). Even in the ab. trivittata, however, Speyer 

 says that there is a tendency for red scales to be developed on the 

 otherwise dark dividing nervures. It remains, however, a remarkable 

 fact that we have the two most divergent types of Anthrocerid mark- 

 ings in the blotched forms of this species. Of 100 specimens, taken 

 at random in one district, Speyer found 20 per cent. = ab. orobi 

 (5 spots distinct, or 1 + 2, 3, 4, 5), 60 per cent. = trifolii (with 

 3 spots), 10 per cent. = ab. basalis + ab. glycirrhizae (i + 2 + 3 + 4, 

 5, and 1 + 2, 3 + 4 -f 5), 5 per cent. == ab. minoides (all spots united), 

 5 per cent, being unclassified. Occasionally one or more of the spots 

 is absent = ab. obsoleta, n. ab. Such a specimen (with 4 absent) is 

 figured by Christy (Entom., xxix., p. 341). We have one example, taken 

 at Upton St. Leonards in 1888, with 3 on the left fore-wing absent on the 

 upper, but present as a small point on the under, side. In colour, too, 

 there is considerable variation, yellow, and intermediate (orange-red) 

 aberrations being perhaps more frequently met with in this than any 

 other British' species. A specimen with orange spots and orange hind- 

 wings is noted (Ent. Record, vi., p. 135), and we have several that might 

 be termed dull orange-red in colour. South notices a specimen of the 

 ab. orobi, taken in Middlesex, in which spot 4 on (? both) the fore-wings 



