The Scottish Naturalist. 
type. It may occur only once, or very rarely, or it may be not 
unfrequent. A " variety," on the other hand, is a form, which in 
some locality or country has supplanted the type, and which, 
though only a ''local race," might readily be taken (as indeed has 
happened in some cases) for a distinct species. Whilst the 
difference between an aberration and a variety thus seems to be 
sufficiently great, it must not be forgotten that gradations between 
them sometimes occur ; and, moreover, that what is an aberration 
in one country may attain the rank of a variety in another, or 
vice versa, and that even the type of the species might have to be 
considered in some circumstances as no more than an aberration.^ 
In other families of the Lepidoptera, we have in Scotland several 
well marked examples of varieties or local races, e.g. the var. 
Artaxerxes F. of LycxEna Astrarche Bgstr. ; var. suhochracea B. 
White of Zygoena exulans H. & R. ; var. borealis Stdgr. of 
Spilosoma fuliginosa L. ; var. ochracea B. White of aS'. menthastri 
Esp. ; var. scotica B. White of T her a juniper ata L., etc.; and amongst 
the Noctuce there are also some forms which are recognised as 
local races, as, for example, the var. myriccB Gn. of Acronycta 
euphorhioe F. It seems probable, therefore, that some of the 
numerous varieties mentioned by Mr. Tutt are varieties, in the 
Staudingerian sense, or local races, whilst others are merely aber- 
rations. With the large amount of material that Mr. Tutt has, 
and his experience in this family, we may hope that some day he 
will point out which of the named forms are to be looked upon as 
varieties, and which as aberrations. 
More than half of the species have yet to be dealt with by Mr. 
Tutt, but, amongst those already treated of, a number of varieties 
which occur in Scotland are mentioned. Probably many others 
also occur, but as there is no definite statement to that effect we 
will not mention them just now. 
So far as can be gathered from a brief examination of the 
descriptions, the following Scottish varieties are melanochroic or 
melanic, i.e., they are darker (although not necessary suffused 
with black) in colour than the type of the species : — 
Cyniatophora dtiplaris L. f3 ohscura Tutt; Asphalia flavicornis L. 
1 For example, if in a country where a local race had supplanted the more 
widely diffused typical form, the latter occurred occasionally, it must be re- 
garded—strictly speaking — as an aberration only, so far as that country is 
concerned. 
