MANDUCA ATROPOS. 401 



normal examples. Rothschild and Jordan write (Revision of the 

 Sphi?igidae, p. 21) of the variation of this species : "The forewing is 

 occasionally nearly all black, with the lines obscure and the white or 

 ochraceous scaling in the subapical region obliterate ; on the other hand, 

 there occur individuals with an unusually large ochraceous subapical 

 patch. The discal band of the hindwing is sometimes absent or vesti- 

 gial ; the outer band is also occasionally obsolescent. Seldom are both 

 bands nearly fused into one, more often is the external one so enlarged 

 distad that the yellow marginal spots are reduced to dots. The 

 amount of black on the underside of the wings is not rarely absent 

 or vestigial, the stigma of the hindwing is sometimes wanting. 

 The skull-mark of the thorax is very seldom absent. The black 

 segmental bands of the abdomen below are complete, and never 

 reduced to mesial spots. Some individuals have the underside of 

 the abdomen nearly all black ; in others, especially often in bred 

 ones, the undersurface of the body is fuscous, in which case neither the 

 yellow nor the black bands are clearly defined. On such individuals 

 as the latter, Leech's assertion (see infra) that these black bands 

 are sometimes quite absent from the abdomen of atropos may have 

 been based. We do not find any difference in structure or colour 

 between the Ethiopian and Palaearctic atropos, but the tropical 

 specimens are, on an average, especially in the $ sex, smaller than 

 the northern individuals ; we say expressly on an average, as many 

 Ethiopian examples surpass the medium-sized Palaearctic ones." It 

 may be well here to note that Leech (Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1888, 

 p. 587) unites the eastern medusa, Btl., with M. atropos, whilst Jordan 

 and Rothschild as strongly affirm it a variety of styx, Westwood, 

 which they treat as specifically distinct from M. atropos. Leech 

 writes (loc. cit., p. 587) : " Neither Chinese nor Japanese 

 representatives are to be separated with certainty from A. atropos; 

 however, the more slender abdominal belts and transverse stripe, 

 together with the darker ' skull-mark ' on the thorax, of most of the 

 specimens from China and Japan, afford fairly good varietal 

 characters, and, as these seem to be pretty constant, it will, perhaps, 

 be well that this form be known as var. jnedusa ; I should note that 

 among my European specimens of A. atropos are individuals with 

 the 'skull-mark' quite as dark as in any Japanese or Chinese 

 example." Writing the next year of Chinese examples, he sinks both 

 styx and medusa as synonyms of atropos, and says (Trans. Ent. Soc. 

 Lo?id., 1889, p. 1 18) : " Five specimens from Kiukiang agree with the 

 Japanese examples. Absence of the black bands on the undersurface 

 of the abdomen, by which it is claimed medusa and styx may be 

 separated from atropos, is not a trustworthy character, as, in some 

 European specimens, these bands are not present on the ventral 

 surface, whilst some Chinese and Japanese examples exhibit traces 

 of such bands." In 1898, he maintains (op. cit., 1898, p. 275) this 

 position, and adds that " the characters given by Hampson as dis- 

 tinguishing styx from atropos appear to be of little specific value. 

 Medusa, Btl., from Japan, has no constant character to separate it 

 from the Indian form." As we have already noted, Staudinger 

 and Rebel (Cat., 3rd ed., p. 98) do not distinguish specifically 

 between the three forms, treating styx as a variety of M. atropos, 

 and medusa as a synonym of styx. Needless to say none of 



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