THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



81 



district for nests I sallied forth armed with a spade and some gunpowder, and 

 succeeded in taking eight nests of Fespa vulgaris and V. germanica, and in 

 these I found a good series of the desired beetle ; and a friend who tied the 

 nests in a bag and took them to Manchester bred a few more from larvae 

 feeding in them. 



VARIATION IN LEPIDOPTERA. 

 INTERMEDIATE FORMS. 



By C. S. GREGSON. 



Mr. Robson (page 26, Y.N. for February, 1886), in discussing this ques- 

 tion, says he fails to see how he has been so much misunderstood, and that 

 his point expressly was that there were intermediate forms, but that in cer- 

 tain cases where there "were two well marked forms of an insect, whether 

 sexual or otherwise, the absence or rarity of intermediate forms seemed to 

 require explanation. My argument as to sexual variation Mr. Gregson does 

 not notice, yet this is a very important element in the case " ; and further 

 on he says, " I may be mistaken in asserting that where the sexes differ there 

 are no intermediate forms, but I ask Mr. Gregson or any one else to point 

 out a case to the contrary, and I ask further if there are no such intermedi- 

 ates, or if there are but few, why is it so ? " If reference is made to my 

 little paper on the subject, it will be seen that I say " I shall not follow Mr. 

 Robson's interesting paper, but at once write out/' &c. It may be that my 

 hurry or stupidity, or both, has led Mr. Robson to fail to see my point in 

 the second species named ( Papillio merope ). This is an African species, 

 ranging from Bonny and Cape Coast Castle to the Congo in West Africa, 

 and to Natal in South Africa (to my knowledge) and is a yellow and black 

 insect ; the costal stroke broadens out into a black tip, with a little yellow 

 patch in it, and continues on to the hinder angle, narrowing as it goes ; 

 underwing yellow, with three black patches, and a few marginal but very 

 variable yellow spots ; tails long, sometimes the tail has a dark streak down 

 the middle, sometimes the anal blotch is continued down the side of the 

 tail also, at other times the tail is pure yellow — these are always males ; 

 expanse (West Africa) 4§ ins. to 5 ins. (South Africa) 4 ins. to 4£ ins. 

 Papillio hypocoon, on the West coast of Africa, so far as I know (and I have 

 had hundreds from different rivers on that coast at different times) is always a 

 pearly white, with a broad black-brown patch ; upper portion of wing with a 

 small light elongate patch above the disk, then a large pearly white patch 

 across the wing (somewhat ovate), a small white spot near the tip, and two 



