RUMICIA PHLiEAS. 



361 



forewings is in the " Webb " collection. Scudder records that 

 Maynard (Butts. New Engl., v., fig. 52a) figures an American example 

 of this form, of which Maynard observes (op. cit., p. 41) that, "in 

 some examples, the band on the forewings is quite narrow, and there 

 are only two spots, these being in the central cell ; in these examples 

 the spots on the underside are often normal." The aberration, how- 

 ever, must be exceedingly rare. 



y. ab. unipunctata, n. ab. Phlaeas ab., Nussey, " Proc. Sth. Lond. Ent. Soc," 

 p. 44 (1893) ; " Ent. Rec," iii., p. 215 (1893).— A still more extreme form in the 

 direction of obliteration, only the median spot on the forewing being present. 



This is a still rarer form of the type with obliterated markings, all 

 the black spots of the forewings being absent except the discoidal one. 

 It is recorded (Ent. Rec, iii., p. 215) that Nussey exhibited at the South 

 London Entomological Society, held on August 25th, 1892, an example 

 with only the central spot on the forewings present. 



8. ab. impunctata, n. ab. — Without any spots on the forewings, the whole area 

 of the wing, from the outer marginal band to the base, and from costa to inner 

 margin, being of an uniform copper colour. 



Barrett notes that in the " Capper" collection is a specimen devoid 

 of spots. 



e. ab. remota, n. ab. Phlaeas ab., Obth., "Etudes," etc., pi. v., fig. 75, p. 13 

 (1896). — This is described by Oberthur as ' punctis nigris remotis.' The six black 

 submarginal spots undergo a displacement towards the margin, and, at the same time, 

 maybe reduced to four points ; the example reproduced in fig. 75 is an English example 

 from the collection of Howard- Vaughan. A ? from the Sheppard collection is an 

 exaggeration of this form ; except the two cellular spots, which remain normal, the 

 other spots of the upper wings are only indicated by single blackish scales. 



The essential character of this form is less the small size of the sub- 

 marginal row of dots than their movement towards the outer margin. 

 We have not often met with extreme forms of this species, the best being 

 examples captured in Fontainebleau Forest, June 28th, 1897, in which 

 the spots are small, and well out towards the margin, as described by 

 Oberthur, and one taken at Cannes, in April, 1898. One notes also 

 the same peculiarity in some of the Locarno examples taken May and 

 June, 1902, whilst others, captured at the same time and place, have the 

 spots also placed quite close to the outer marginal band, but, instead of 

 being small, they are somewhat elongated and form an excellent 

 combination of the remota-juncta characters. From Malta, too, we 

 have examples, taken in March, 1897, in which the dots are small and 

 far out towards the margin. 



f. ab. parvipuncta, Strand, "Nyt. Mag. f . Natur.," xl., p. 163 (1902).— With 

 very small and widely separated spots in the transverse row, sometimes only 

 indicated by indistinct points (Strand). 



This aberration almost falls within the limits of ab. remota, but the 

 spots are not moved towards the margin, and it differs from ab. 

 obliterata in that none of the spots are actually absent. Strand 

 named this form from six Scandinavian examples, taken in the 

 Suldal, in August, 1901, which he described as " having very small, 

 widely separated, spots in the transverse row, sometimes only indicated 

 as indistinct points." Schoyen also notes the form as occurring 

 in Finmark. We have a very good example taken in Fontainebleau 

 Forest in mid-August, 1899. Some of the specimens from the Cannes 

 district, taken in March and April, and from the Locarno district 



