158 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



(2) The "dark "or "suffusa" group, tending to deep, dark, fuscous 

 colours, and passing through the type (lowland European form), var. 

 catena (high latitude form), var. alpina (European mountain form). (3) 

 The " large " or "eastern" group, of large size, otherwise similar to 2, 

 and passing from var. florinda (eastern lowland form), to var. mixta 

 (central Asiatic mountain form). We deal with these groups 

 separately. 



The "pale" or " clara " group. 



a. var. (et ab.) flava, Tutt, "Brit. Butts.," p. 129 (1896).— The usual white 

 spots of the underside of the hindwings of a yellow hue, almost identical with the 

 ground colour of the wings beneath. 



This is a very rare British aberration, but occurs occasionally, 



especially in hot summers, and is also recorded by Oberthiir from the 



Brittany coast at Miel-Pot, between St. Malo and Cancale. It appears 



to be typical, however, of warm mountain valleys in southeastern 



Europe. At Mendel Pass, in the Tyrol, it is quite a racial form, 



most of the specimens having the spots yellow, although some have 



them distinctly white. The form, too, is not infrequent at Simplon. 



/3. var. (et ab.) pallida, Staud., "Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 92 (1901). Comma, Staud., 

 " Hor. Soc. Ent. Boss.," xiv., p. 295 (1879). — Pallidior, preecipue subtus ; alas 

 posteriores subtus ssepius albovenatae. Syria, Taurus ; Western Kurdistan, Pontus 

 (trans.), Sicily, Greece et Sarepta (ab. ?) (" Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 92). 



Staudinger notes (Hor. Soc. Ent. Ross,, xiv., p. 295) that, on July 

 26th, Emil found the first specimen on the Caraman, and that after- 

 wards it was not rare on the high tableland of Jeniheui, on August 

 11th, when a number of fresh specimens were taken. They vary 

 slightly from the German examples by the colour being rather paler 

 brown above, and more yellowish beneath ; besides this, the white row 

 of spots beneath is more obliterated, suffused with yellowish, and in 

 one male almost completely absent. Staudinger adds that Mann had 

 already met with single specimens near Brussa in June and July, and 

 that Lederer took it in July on the Bosz-dagh ; these were paler than 

 German specimens. As Kindermann also took a very pale variety of 

 comma in the Lebanon, Staudinger observes that it is almost certain 

 to occur still further south in Asia Minor. Two Grecian examples 

 ($ and ? ) in the British Museum collection are very pale, but a 

 third Grecian one (apparently belonging to the same set) is of a quite 

 dark colour. Of two in the same collection from the Lebanon, of 

 quite a bright fulvous on the upperside, the $ has forewings with 

 hardly a trace of the usual darker marginal area, which is almost of 

 the same bright tint as the rest of the wing ; the usual upperside 

 spots absent, except a trace of the two pairs of small dots nearer the 

 apex ; the hindwings unicolorous ; whilst the ? has the two pairs of 

 apical spots rather larger. The underside of the hindwings of the $ 

 is very yellow with white spots, that of the $ has a more washed-out 

 appearance with the spots united into a long zigzag mark. 



y. var. dimila, Moore, " Pr. Zool. Soc. Lond.," p. 576 (1874) ; Leech, " Butts. 

 €hina," p. 595, pi. 41, fig. 12 (1893-4) ; Staud., " Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 93 (1901).— 

 Allied to P. comma, s and ? . Upperside : testaceous ; exterior border broadly 

 fuliginous-brown ; apex of forewing brownish-testaceous. Cilia whitish-testaceous; 

 forewing with a series of small yellow apical spots ; male with an oblique silvery- 

 lined black streak below the cell ; hindwing with a yellow spot within the cell, and 

 a curved discal series of four quadrate spots. Underside : forewing pale testaceous ; 

 apical spots as above; hindwing with basal portion greenish -brown ; three promi- 

 nent white subbasal spots disposed above, below, and at end of the cell ; a curved 



