HYLES EUPHORBLE. 209 



olive-green ; the ground-colour of that part bordering the transverse band internally 

 more or less whitish; the discoidal spot preceded, as in nicaea and euphoibiae, 

 between the summit and the costa, by a small olive spot. The hindwings black, 

 with a transverse band approaching- the red tint of hippophaes. This band shows, 

 near the abdominal edge, a white rounded spot, &c. This insect has the shape ot 

 euphorbiae, but approaches hippophaes in tint ; the markings are the same as in the 

 former species, of which it is probably only a local variety ; but as we have seen 8 

 exactly similar examples, it may be that the larva differs as much from that of 

 euphorbiae as the latter differs from that of nicaea, although the imagines are only 

 to be distinguished by size. We believe it to be a distinct species, but must 

 await the discovery of the larva to confirm or refute this view. It is found in 

 the south of Italy, the examples described came from M. JBuquet. [Obs. I 

 have a large number of euphorbiae reared in Sicily and Calabria that do not 

 differ from those from the environs of Paris.] (Boisduval). Germany: Frankfort- 

 on-Main (Herrich-Schaffer). Italy : southern Italy (Boisduval), Sicily — Lampedusa 

 (Failla-Tedaldi). 



Erichson (S.E.Z., ii., p. 5) and Keferstein (ibid., p. 116) 

 threw doubt on this aberration, believing the examples to which 

 the name was applied to have been more or less artificially 

 coloured. Staudinger notes it in his Cat., 2nd ed., p. 37, as 

 "an picta," but in the 3rd ed., p. 102, diagnoses it as: "A. 

 ant. multo obscurioribus, al. post, limbo exteriore griseo," whilst 

 Herrich-Schaffer describes and figures (Sys. Beard., ii., p. %%, figs. 7-8) 

 "a 2 example from Koch of Frankfort-on-Main. Pie says that it was 

 bred amongst a large number of normal examples from larvse found 

 at Frankfort on Euphorbia peplus ; Koch believed he had here a 

 natural (not fraudulently darkened) example of esulae, but a 

 comparison of my figure of esulae, which is quite true to nature, 

 and of the examples I have for sale, will readily show the differ- 

 ences ; esulae only differs from euphorbiae in its artificially blackened 

 colour, while the present fine aberration has the same colour as 

 an ordinary not very rose-red euphorbiae, but with the olive-green 

 occupying the entire costa, and extending between the nervures 

 in patches almost to the oblique hinder band ; even more striking 

 than the upperside is the strongly olive-green-mixed underside." 

 Herrich-Schaffer then adds : " Esulae, Bdv., Frr., " n. Btr.," i., 291, 

 H.-S., fig. 1, is, in the numerous examples which I have seen, a 

 fraudulently dark coloured euphorbiae ; and, according to Boisduval, 

 who still holds it to be a local variety, it comes from the south 

 of Italy ; in Sicily and Calabria, however, the true euphorbiae also 

 occurs." Boisduval, remarking on this, reiterates (Hist. Nat., i., 

 p. 163) that he saw 8 in M. Buquet's possession, that he gave 

 40 francs for a pair, and adds that Duponchel was inclined to consider 

 it a hybrid between euphorbiae and hippophaes, an impossible hypo- 

 thesis, as hippophaes is not found in Italy. Bartel, commenting on 

 this evidence, says (Pal. Gross-Schmett., ii., p. 87) that, although 

 this aberration has been artificially imitated, yet there is no doubt 

 of its being a natural aberration. Freyer (S.E.Z., ii., pp. 125-126) 

 conclusively satisfied himself that the original of his figure (from 

 Herr Metzner, of Frankfort -on- Oder ) was undoubtedly natural, 

 and looked nearer hippophaes than euphorbiae. Lederer announced 

 ( Verh. z.-b. Ver., ii., p. 91) that he had two aberrations of this 

 form, without, however, indicating their locality, and later, 

 Romanoff (Memoires, L, p. 70) recorded a male example of ab. 

 esulae from Tiflis, which was not, however, so dark as the 

 examples figured by Freyer and Herrich-Schaffer. Wiskott ob- 



