Article beginning on page 328.
Psyche 5:328-329, 1888.

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THE ARGYNNIDES OF NORTH AMERICA..
BY J. J. RIVERS, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.
In the February numero of PSYCHE
appeared a reprint from the Transactions of the entomological society of London,
upon the North American Argynnides by
Henry John Elwes.
Those who have
had the pleasure of studying Mr. El-
wes's treatment of the genus Parnas-
sius (Proc. zool. soc. Lond. 1886),
must have a high and respectful opinion
of any other matter upon yhich he un-
dertakes to write.
Mr. Elwes calls this
later paper a uRevision" but, it appears to me more like a timely consideration
preparatory to a revision. The difficul- ties in the way of a revision, allow me
to say, have not yet been surmounted ;
the absence of knowledge of the meta-
morphoses of so many forms prevents a
proper understanding of a true relation
of one form to the other.
The compar-
ative work of the cabinets is frequently of no value through the meagre material
and unauthenticated types, observers
have to deal with, causing different con- clusions even among associates equally
able to judge. We must remember, too,
that the observers are but ordinary mor- tals and that nature has thought it a fit and proper thing to place upon the
workers in this Western world, a prob-
lem that will exhaust the love and en-
ergy of the next two generations of
lepidopterists, to solve. The insects
often differ but slightly from each other, and the variation is frequently not so
much in the insects as in the eyes of the investigators. There are some persons
who can scarcely see any variation in
forms which to another person appears
entirely unlike. In the absence of biolo- gic information how are we to be certain of the extent of variation of a species
unless each is bred under careful obser- vation ?
This is the method now being car-
ried out principally by Mr. W. H. Ed-
wards, the final results being given in
accurately drawn figures of all the con- ditions and changes appertaining to the
natural history of each species.
It was
getting at the life history of Colias
eurytheme, that furnished the facts that revealed its relation to its seasonal
varieties, which before this, had borne
specific names; and it appears to me
that a like course is the only safe one, if we would know with what we are
dealing. Every person who describes
an insect supposes that without doubt
he is giving the characters of an unde-
scribed new form, and no author ever
dreams that his work is only provis-
ional, yet with additional knowledge
upon the subject, that is what it fre-
quently proves to be. There is, however, no prevention of this and when the true
information is reached these false spec- ies simply drop into synonymical line.




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March-April 1890.1 PSYCHE. 329
Most of us think that we can pen a
readable description of an insect, for-
getting that the proportion of persons
so capable, is very small.
Dr. Behr,
H. Edwards, W. H. Edwards and H.
Streckei- besides Boisduval have all
dealt with the Pacific forms. Part of
their work represents first impresions
only, while some of it partakes of the
form of digested considerations. Now
comes Mr. Elwes who has redigested the
investigations of those who have pre-
ceded him the conclusions being a gen-
eral merging of forms and great i-educ-
tion of species, and all that can be said in favor of this newer treatment is, that it possibly tends in the right direction. Mr. Elwes remarked that he found spe-
cies difficult to decide about, but that Mr. Edwards got over the difficulty by
naming them all separately.
What else
could he do in an empirical provisional
arrangement but to make his skeleton
and clothe it as he could obtain the ma- terials wherewith to make it perfect?
No ! Edwards has got over no difficul-
ties in that way, but he surmounts them
by zeal mixed with a deal of honest
hard work. Mr. Elwes is inclined to
consider A. adiante a variety of either
zerene or modcola I on the contrary
feel constrained to look upon it as hav- ing little relation with either of those forms. Neither zerene nor monticola
have yet been seen in the habitat of
adiante so that as far as we know,
adiante is strictly a local form, species or variety, though if they were to occur in company that would prove no unity
of species ; I take zerene, ZiZiana, and ~u$estris in company (this rufestris
being montivaga Behi'), the locality be- ing of a similar nature, in Napa Co. to
that which produces adiante in San
Mateo Co. But Mr. Elwes thinks there
is no affirmity between adiante and sem- iramis. When speaking to Dr. Behr
about semiramis he remarked that in
all probability it was a southern form of adiante. This is a case showing the
uncertainty of eye sight. I look upon
them as true and distinct and, moreover, I see nothing but the silver to connect
semiyamis with cobs but on the con-
trary I see much in it that reminds me
of another and altogether different type. Take examples of the Arizonian noko-
mis male and of a$hrodite male, of
semiramis male and of adiante male
and female, and examine them from
above and you will perceive they all
possess the same tone of yellow brown
and that the hind wings of all have
the same style of interrupted bands of
black ; the peculiar yellowish brown
that softly fades toward the hinder part of the hind wings, is unlike any tint
seen on any other butterfly found in
California except adiante and semira-
mis. I shall, for the present at least,
keep adiante free from all alliances, and the other species, though the richly em- blazoned underside of the hind wings is
a point of some weight, yet in the midst of so much uncertainty it were better to still inscribe on its label as usual, Argyn- nis semiramis, W. H. E. than the
other which was suggested in Mr.
Elwes's paper.,




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