VOL. XII. LONDON, ONT., FEBRUARY, 1880. No. 2
1. Nephele.—Kirby, Faun. Bor. Amer., 1837, described this speciesas follows: “Wings brown; primaries both above and below with a palersubmarginal broad band including two eyelets; the upper ones surroundedby a paler atmosphere, with a black iris and white pupil; on the underside the atmosphere of the eyelets is most distinct and forms a kind ofglory round them,” etc. Nothing is said of the sex, but apparently this isthe description of a female. The wings of the male are blackish-brown,usually of uniform shade throughout—that is, in the typical male, correspondingto the female of Kirby. But there is a frequent departure fromthis type in the direction of Alope, the “pale atmosphere” about theocelli appearing in the male, and in both sexes gradually widening andbecoming less obscure till it culminates in a clear yellow band. Whenthis is reached we have Alope, Fabr. So that Nephele intergrades completelywith Alope. But this is not everywhere and always. Themetropolis of the typical Nephele is in Canada and northern New England,that of Alope in the States south of New York. There is a line runningabout with the southern boundary of New York, or it may be, in Pennsylvania,below which Alope holds sole possession, and no tendency isdiscoverable towards Nephele. In the extreme northern area, if there isany departure from typical Nephele, it is the exception, not the rule.
Mr. Scudder, in his essay on The Distribution of Insects in NewHampshire, 1874, says of Alope: “This insect is tolerably abundant,sometimes very common, in the southern half of New England. Themost northern localities … are Norway, Me., Thornton andShelburne, N. H., and Sudbury, Vt.” Thornton is just south of theWhite Mountains, and Shelburne is close by the mountains on the north-east.Of Nephele he says: “It is found over the whole northern half ofN. E. in great abundance. The only locality in which I have met with itis in Massachusetts, in the elevated region about Williamstown,” &c.[22]This place is in the north-west corner of the State, next the Vermont line,and the elevated region spoken of is a continuation of the Green Mountains.So it appears that Nephele comes down to the Massachusetts lineand Alope flies as far as the White Mountains. In the intervening districtthe intergrades fly just as in New York.
I made application to Canadian lepidopterists for information aboutthe occurrence of Alope, and soon ascertained by examples sent me thatNephele with a pale atmosphere, but not at all indicative of a band, passedby the name of Alope. Thereupon I sent a typical Alope to Mr. WilliamMurray, of Hamilton, who kindly offered to make inquiry of his acquaintancesin different sections of Ontario. He replies, 31st Dec, 1879: “Inow send you my information. Of all my correspondents not one hasever seen an Alope that has been taken in Canada, but Nephele has beentaken by all. I begin to think that Alope is not to be found in Canadaat any point.”
Mr. H. H. Lyman writes from Montreal: “In July, 1876, I spent acouple of days at a farm near Freligsburg. P. Q., one mile north of theVermont border, and found Nephele very common. Most of the specimenstaken showed a yellow ring about the eye-spots on primaries, but oneof them shows on upper side a somewhat faint, but quite discernible,patch corr