KUMICIA PHL^EAS. 371 



whilst Mrs. Nicholl records " black specimens of eleus, July 9th, 1898, 

 at Blagaj, in Bulgaria. Chapman has attempted (antea, p. 338) to meet 

 this difficulty by showing that eleus has been used in two senses, first, 

 aberrational (the darkest form of jjldaeas); secondly, variational or racial 

 (as the dark southern race), but it is quite clear that, although this is 

 so, Fabricius, originally, merely described a suffused example from 

 Germany as eleus, and the usage of the name in a varietal or racial 

 sense is due to recent writers, and one is unable now to unravel from 

 the records of eleus, those that refer to (1) slightly suffused and 

 tailed forms, (2) slightly suffused and untailed, (3) much suffused, 

 tailed, and (4) much suffused, and untailed, forms. If such a 

 racial name has any standing, it certainly should be Zeller's aestivus 

 (see infra). 'Throughout southern France, northern Italy, Spain, the 

 Balkan peninsula, Asia Minor, and Syria, as well as along the whole 

 of the north of Africa, from Egypt to the Canaries, the summer brood 

 varies in degree from practically typical to almost black, the specimens, 

 however, as a whole, being markedly suffused, compared with the spring- 

 forms, and some districts producing a markedly larger proportion of 

 dark specimens than others. In 1865, Lucas noted (Ann. Soc. Ent. 

 France, p. 499) that "the examples from the south, and even from the 

 centre, of France, have the upperside of the forewings more browned, 

 whilst, in the ? s, the hollowing of the outer border of the hindwings 

 is very pronounced, forming, in a way, two small tails." It is remark- 

 able, however, how bright are the spring (March-May) forms along the 

 French and Italian Riviera — Albenga, Cannes, Auribeau, Agay, Hyeres, 

 and even at Draguignan and Digne — the examples being quite as 

 pale as our own spring examples and with even smaller dots, and 

 the costa being quite free from any suspicion of shading or suffusion ; 

 they are very different from the April and May specimens taken in the 

 Italian lake district, at Locarno, where the ground colour is much 

 redder, the spots extended into the juncta form, and united with the 

 outer marginal band by black nervures, the costa also slightly suffused, 

 yet, in the Riviera, the summer brood is especially dark, suffused 

 examples from the end of June onwards largely replacing the pale 

 typical forms of the spring. Even as far north as Fontainebleau 

 there is some suffusion in the August brood, whilst at St. Michel-de- 

 Maurienne the suffusion is most pronounced ; very dark too, and well- 

 tailed, are the specimens from Arcachon, much more so than those 

 from St. Jean-de-Luz in the same district. In Piedmont there is con- 

 siderable admixture of forms in the summer broods, some of the 

 August specimens at Susa being almost typical, others quite dark, and 

 but few particularly well tailed, whilst at Torre Pellice and Bobbie 

 the $ s are well suffused and tailed, and most of the ? s are almost 

 typical, the darkest $ in our collection from this part of Piedmont 

 coming from Crissolo, at the foot of Mont Viso. Forbes, comparing 

 specimens captured from mid-August to mid- September, 1876, in 

 the Italian lake district (Beilagio, Pallanza, etc.), with others from 

 England, says (Ent. Mo. Mag., xiii., p. 243) that " the Italian 

 specimens have the markings less distinct, the copper-colour 

 redder, the spots smaller, the costal margin of the primaries 

 darker, and the marginal band broader than any English examples 

 examined. The underside of the primaries, too, is redder, leaving 

 the circumscription of the eyes and the veins of the wings paler." 



