GOXEPTERYX. 



441 



close to European examples of the species. The chief characteristic of all 

 eastern forms of rhamni appears to be that the subcostal nervure of secon- 

 daries is straight, very conspicuous, and does not become attenuated until it 

 almost reaches the outer margin, whereas in the western representatives of 

 the species this vein tapers off some distance from the outer margin. The 

 deepest-coloured specimens from China are the least angulated, and this is 

 also the case in var. cleohule frcm the Canaries. 



Three female specimens from Wa-shan and Chia-kou-ho, Western China, 

 are of the usual male 7'liamni colour, and a gynandrous example from Wa-shan 

 (Plate XXXV. fig. 4) has the right wings deeper in colour than in typical 

 male maxima. 



If Graeser had been acquainted Avith Butler's maxima he probably would 

 not have described Amurland G. rhamni as var. amurensis. In his remarks 

 on this form, he says : — " Herr Dieckmann has in his collection six males and 

 four females from Thibet, which were received from Mr. Elwes as var. nepa- 

 lensis, Doubleday. The males from Thibet have the same yellow colour as 

 rhamni males, whereas the Amurland specimens have a much more intense 

 yellow, the central area of primaries warmer in tone, and showing up distinct 

 from the paler margins, and exhibiting in this respect some resemblance to 

 deopatra and aspasia ; the red discal spots are large, and brighter than in 

 the specimens from Thibet referred to above, and in shape the wings are 

 nearer those of deopatra than nepalensis." 



Staudinger (Rom. sur Lep. vi. p. 145) states that he possesses a male 

 specimen of nepalensis from Simla that is almost identical with amurensis, and 

 that of four males which were taken by Dorries in the Sutschan mountains 

 one almost exactly agrees with typical rhamni, the only difference being that 

 the orange discal spots are slightly larger and more brightly coloured. Also, 

 he adds, fi-om Central China, " I received under the name of var. nepalensis 

 a specimen which comes very close to var. amurensis." 



The following forms of Gonepteryx, viz. farinosa, Zeller ; deopatra, Linn. ; 

 deohule, Hixhner ; maderensis, Felder; and antonia, Butler, are, I believe, 

 aU referable to one species, ?. e. G. rhamni. 



The most extreme form in intensity of colour is that known as deolule 

 from the Canary Isles ; this has the primaries entirely orange, with the 

 exception of an extremely narrow yellow border on outer margin ; the extre- 



3 N 



