50 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



forewings the eye-spots are edged internally with chevrons of a dark grey, which 

 sometimes form a continuous blackish band. All the spots on the underside of 

 both wings are very large. These characters are, apart from the dull tint of the 

 upperside and the dark grey colouring of the underside, similar to those of var. 

 rezniceki, Bartel, which is distinguished by the discoidal mark of the forewings 

 and the large size of the eye-spots on the hindwings above, and the large spotting 

 beneath ; but while rezniceki is whiter beneath than the type, the variety of Var is 

 much greyer. As is the case with rezniceki, the eye-spots on the upperside of the 

 hindwings are often edged internally with a little fulvous (ab. suavis, Schultz). 

 The variety which I have just described shows a tendency to the increase of the 

 black pigment, and the presence on the underside of the s s of additional black 

 spots is frequent ; of the 92 c? s which I possess, apart from one ab. biarcuata 

 and one ab. radiata, 12 specimens have these additional spots, one of these speci- 

 mens has no fewer than 11 of them. In the ? s I do not find any special characters 

 so accentuated as in the c? s, but of these I only possess 12 ; the only thing that 

 strikes me is the darker coloration of the underside and the less marked difference 

 in tint between the fore- and hindwing than is the case in other races. In any 

 case, the characters of the s s seem to me so distinctive and so constant as to 

 indicate that we have to do with a variety which deserves to be distinguished. In 

 remembrance of the entomologist who first studied it, I name it "var. constantly 

 gen. prsecox." As Mr. Wheeler supposes, it is very probable that, in the localities 

 where this variety flies, A. coridon may have three broods in the year. Further, 

 if, in Switzerland, it has only one, it has two at Mentone, as I am informed by 

 M. Balestre. 105 <? s and 15 ? s captured April 6th-19th, 1906 ; April llth-19th, 

 1908, at Pardigon, Var (Reverdin). 



This is an excellent general description of the Rivieran form as we 

 know it, except that, in the particular that Reverdin seizes as 

 diagnostic, viz., the dark grey colour of the underside, our meridionalis 

 comprises individuals from the same locality which are dark grey like 

 constantly and others pale like rezniceki. Reverdin further notes that 

 he captured his specimens at Pardigon, on the shore of the Bay of 

 Cavalaire, and the railway-bank near the station of La Croix. He states 

 {teste Oberthur) that Constant found the same form at St. Tropez, about 

 12 kilometres from Pardigon, and that it was taken by Powell in the ForOt 

 du Dom. It is also said to be the form obtained by Wheeler between 

 Cavalaire and le Canadel, May 6th, 1909. As to the racial value of 

 constant! apart from rezniceki, Blachier observes (in lift.) that " Bartel 

 describes the underside of the latter as tolerably pale, the forewings 

 whitish or greyish-white, the hindwings pale grey," further, that the 

 rezniceki that he himself took at Chiavari, May 22nd, 1903, as also 

 those sent by Bartel and Bang-Haas under this name to Reverdin and 

 Rehfous had the underside greyish-white in the forewings, and pale 

 yellowish-grey in the hindwings, whilst the specimens captured by 

 Reverdin at Pardigon have the underside dark grey or bluish -grey ; 

 sometimes the forewings of the latter are paler than the hindwings, 

 but the undersides of certain specimens have all the wings uniformly 

 dark grey ; the grey lunules preceding the antemarginal points of the 

 underside of the forewings beneath are well marked in blackish -grey. 

 As to these being different races, it really appears strange that, in the 

 same district, at the same time, two distinct races should appear. I 

 may add that the spring examples that Reverdin has from Mentone 

 and Nice are of the rezniceki form." So far as Blachier distinguishes 

 constant i, the difference is reduced to the tint of the ground colour and 

 the dark marginal lunules of the underside. In these two respects 

 constant/ may be said to agree absolutely with 52 out of 60 meridionalis, 

 but differs from 8 which agree with rezniceki in ground colour, but 

 with constanti in the blackish-grey chevrons and absence of orange* 



