STRYMON PRUNI. 



199 



tion of two 2 s of this form, under the M.S. Dame of ab. fulvo-fasciata, 

 taken at Mecklenburg, July 5th, 1904. His description reads : 



The upperside of the forewings possesses, generally, some orange spots, near 

 the tornus, in typical females ; but, in the two above-named specimens, a complete 

 broad orange fascia runs from the dorsum to the cell 7, and gradually extends 

 towards the median and basal areas. Also, in the hindwings, the generally orange 

 marginal spots of typical females, form, in these specimens, a continuous orange 

 marginal fascia, 3mm. broad, which also runs from the tornus nearly to the apex. The 

 ochreous-brown underside is of an exceptionally bright colour, but otherwise quite 

 normal. 



In a later note, Gillmer refers one of these specimens to jrtor sets, the other 

 to fulvior. To the British lepidopterist the first look at the underside 

 of this species is interesting, and, if comparison be made with the allied 

 species, so that the origin of the black spotting is thoroughly appreciated, 

 the interest becomes still greater. The underside has a ground colour 

 of a brown tint, but, in some, there is more than a distinct suspicion of 

 yellow therein. The chief characters of the underside of the wings, 

 however, are — (1) The orange fulvous transverse border. (2) The 

 presence of the black spots on either side of the marginal band. 

 The development in excess or the reverse of these two characters give 

 the most marked variational features of the underside. The former, 

 which has in it usually a strong tint of orange, in some specimens, 

 however, distinctly inclines to yellow, and one notes, in the examples 

 in the British Museum collection, the following special characters : 



1. Forewings with no trace of orange in marginal border — one c? . 



2. Forewings with ill-defined suffusion of orange on marginal border — two S s. 



3. Forewings with suffused orange marginal border, and one black spot ringed 

 with white — three c? s, one ? . 



4. As in 3, but with two, or three, or four black spots ringed with white — 

 many of both sexes. 



5. As in 3, but with five black spots ringed with white — three S s, three ? s. 



Many of these most highly-developed specimens have the orange- 

 fulvous developed into a complete band. In the hindwings, there is 

 usually a complete row of seven black spots on the inner edge of the 

 orange-fulvous band, varying, however, in size. In one $ example 

 (no. 1 above), none of these are present. This specimen is a most 

 obsoletely marked example, devoid of all the usual markings on the 

 underside of the forewings, except the white transverse line, without 

 the inner row of black dots on the hindwings, and with only two 

 of the black marginal dots = ab. paupera, n. ab. The number of 

 black marginal lunules varies in different examples from seven to 

 two, those nearest the anal angle being the largest and best 

 developed ; the second from the anal angle contains the blue scales. 

 Buhl says that " the brown underside of pruni is especially notable 

 because of the black spots edged with ' blue ' on the inside, situated on 

 the margin of the yellowish-red outer border, and by the 'bluish- 

 white' stripe (not ' white ' as in ilicis) which is edged with a very fine 

 black line on the inside, and which extends transversely across all the 

 four wings. The black outer marginal line of the forewings, similar 

 in both sexes ; on the hindwings broad, pronounced, and extending 

 from the inner to the costal margin." To us, the line and edging to 

 the spots look almost pure white, not blue. As a rule, the white 

 transverse line does not show any noticeable variation. There is, 

 however, a marvellous underside aberration in the British Museum 



