EUMORPHA ELPENOR. 63 



there is considerable variation among the European examples, 

 e.g., Bartel notes (Palaeark. Gross-Schmett., ii., p. 119) "that speci- 

 mens vary greatly in size, examples smaller than Theretra porcellus 

 being by no means rare. An extremely interesting aberration was 

 bred many years ago at Osnabriick from an ordinary coloured 

 larva. This was at one time in Heydenreich's collection, but is now 

 in that of Wiskott. The rose colour of the forewing is entirely 

 wanting, being replaced by an uniform chocolate-brown. The 

 specimen figured and described by Esper (Schmett. Eur., pi. 

 xlv., fig. 1, p. 33) may belong to a similar aberration. It was bred at 

 Frankfort-on-the-Main, and has, besides a considerable alteration 

 of colour and markings, also much shorter wings than normal 

 E. elpenor. This latter condition is perhaps attributable to 

 crippling. The reddish, violet-tinged stripes of the forewings are, 

 in this aberration, bluish-black, and the rest of the surface of 

 the wing is red-brown, excepting the grey outer margin; the outer half 

 of the hindwings corresponds in tint with the dark colour of the fore- 

 wino-s. A further aberration is cited (Iris, viii., p. 170) by Karl Uffeln 

 of Rietberg. This is normal as far as to the fourth abdominal 

 segment which, however, is black and gives the specimen a 

 peculiar appearance. Two albinistic forms, closely resembling one 

 another, were described (Ent. Zeit. Guben, 1897, no. 9, p. 91) 

 as follows : ' The general impression is quite that of very bleached 

 specimens of Eumorpha elpenor. In place of the deep green of the 

 type, they have a light orange-yellow colour with scarcely perceptible 

 trace of green, while in place of the ordinary dark rose colour 

 they are pale yellowish-grey.' On the forewings of an aberrant speci- 

 men which is described by Schultz (III. Woch. fiir Ent., ii., p. 702), 

 the red transverse stripes and margin are much less intense in 

 colour than in typical specimens. The normally red parts are 

 silvery-violet, and stand out on the olive-green ground-colour 

 much less prominently than usual. A further aberration is 

 mentioned (loc. cit., p. 706) in which the red of the hindwings is 

 entirely wanting, being replaced by a dirty-white colour, and the 

 right forewing is partially albinistic. Unfortunately the specimen 

 is a complete cripple. Examples from the Amur region vary some- 

 what amongst themselves, but agree almost entirely with European. 

 The same applies also to specimens of E. elpenor from China. 

 Specimens from Corea are less dark-coloured and more like the 

 European than those from Japan." Bartel adds that " specimens 

 from southern and eastern Asia have received several names. 

 Thus Butler has erected two separate species on different sexes * of the 

 Indian specimens, but these cannot even be adduced as separate 

 varieties, as transitions from one form to the other are present, 

 and the two show no characteristic distinctions at all." Herz 

 describes a very small male from the banks of the river Wittim 

 in northwest Siberia (Iris, xi., p. 250). Bishopp records an 

 aberration, bred in 1870, which, instead of being of the usual 

 olive-green and pink tints, is of an uniform grey, with just a 

 little olive-green on the body ; on June 23rd, the same lepidopterist 



* This is not so (see postea, p. 65), where it is stated that both sexes occur 

 in each of the two forms. 



