154 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



white, the ocelli being described by Gillmer (in litt.) as " pure white," 

 although his original description does not say so. Adkin's description 

 (op. cit., p. 165) does not agree with the figure, for he says, "the usual 

 spots absent, their place being occupied by their blackish rings," "black- 

 ish" being evidently a lapsus calami for "whitish." Adkin, unfortunately, 

 is not now in possession of the specimen, nor can we discover who has it- 



e. ab. nif/roocellata, n. ab. Icarus ab., Adkin., " Proc. Sth. Lond. Ent. Soc," 

 1890-1, p. 126 (1892).— The ocellated spots on the underside without the white 

 outside rings, leaving only the black pupils. 



Adkin exhibited, at the meeting of the South London Entomo- 

 logical Society, held on July 9th, 1898, a specimen with the underside 

 of a smoky-grey colour, the white rings of the ocelli being absent. 

 In the British Museum coll. are two specimens with almost white 

 undersides in which the spots are pure black without surrounding 

 rings. Yerbury's ab. livida, from Granada (antea p. 136) which has a 

 rather dark underside, is also without white rings to the spots. 



<-. ab. senripersica, Tutt. "Brit. Butts.," p. 175 (1896); Wheeler, "Butts. 

 Switz.," p. 36(1903); Gillm., "Ent. Zeits. Gub.," xviii., no. 1, p. 2 (1904);. 

 "Int. Ent. Zeits. Gub.," ii., p. 178, in part (1908); iv., p. 4 (1910). Subtus- 

 minuspunctata, Obth., "Etudes," etc., xx., p. 23, pi. iv., fig. 41 (1896). — With the 

 spots on the hinclwings more or less obsolete (Tutt). 



This is almost identical with Oberthur's form noted as having 

 "the hind wings beneath much less spotted with black than in the 

 normal form ; the spotting on the hindwings sometimes not perfectly 

 symmetrical." The type of this form, labelled as such in our collection, 

 was captured at " Sligo, 1891." It has on the left hindwing, the 

 upper basal spot (ocellated), and traces (with a lens) of white scales in 

 the position of 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the submedian series, no trace of any 

 other of this or the basal series; on the right hindwing, the first basal 

 spot is white (no black centre), and traces of spots 1, 2, 8, 4, and 6, 

 are indicated by white scales. It is for all intents and purposes, so 

 far as black-centred ocellated submedian and basal spots are concerned,, 

 of the postico-obsoleta form, yet the spots mentioned are not quite 

 absent. There is a similar specimen of Grum-Grshimailo's from 

 Sarafschan in the British Museum coll. We had supposed the name 

 would have been sufficient to cover the whole range of obsoletelv- 

 marked hindwing examples, but this appears to be no longer so, and 

 it is suggested that the absolutely obsoletely-marked examples on the 

 hindwing require separate treatment ! Gillmer is inclined to argue 

 that such intermediate forms as these should not be named, but only 

 the extreme forms, because there are so many different combinations 

 of absent spots possible, but it is to be noted that, in nature, the 

 number of combinations found are usually very few, and the study of 

 the direction in which obsolescence or loss takes place very important. 

 Whilst leaving it, therefore, for individuals to use or leave any name- 

 that we may have proposed in their own work, we still maintain that 

 cause has not been shown against giving a, collective name for a 

 genera] but variable aberrative phase. 



?/. ab. subobsoleta, n. ab. Icarus ab.. Courv., "Mitt. Schw. Ent. Gesell.," 

 xi., p. 24, sect, b (1903) ; Gillm., " Ent. Zeits. (nib.." xviii., no. 1, p. 2 (1904) ; 

 Fount., ■■ Ent.," xxxvii., p 157 (1904). Semipenica, Gillm., " Int. Ent. Zeits. 

 Gub.," ii., p. 17s, in part (1908). — With some of the ocellated spots in the Bub- 

 median (and basal) row absent on the brewings or hindwings, or both fore- and 

 hindwincs. 



