Fossil Butterflies: Memoirs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I.Scudder, Samuel Hubbard
Science
Fossil Butterflies: Memoirs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I.
Scudder, Samuel Hubbard
Butterflies, Fossil
distinct from Pontia, no distinctive premarginal spot occurring in
this interspace in any species of Pontia which we have seen. The dusky
premarginal fleckings of the nervures terminating on the outer border,
often enlarging into distinct spots, which are so usual in Pontia,
especially in the upper half of the wing, are also absent from the fossil
species; but in their place the whole outer margin appears to be almost
uniformly, though not heavily, griseous, a little more distinctly so in
the upper than in the lower half of the wing. The spot just beyond the
middle of the medio-submedian interspace, distinct in _P. Protodice_,
but deepest in shade on the lower half of the interspace, and in other
species sometimes wholly confined to it, is seen in the fossil species,
but is far less distinct, confined to the lower half and situated exactly
in the middle. There are indications also of dark markings following the
basal third of the submedian nervure; and apparently the basal half of
the costal edge, as far as the costal nervure, is darker than any part
of the wing, excepting in a sudden and rather broad, distinct break in
its middle. This darker portion is considered by Heer as the femur of one
of the legs, superimposed upon the base of the wing; perhaps, however,
this is due to an accidental folding of the wing at this point, which
seems the more probable, because if we suppose this darker portion to be
turned back, the curve of the costal border would approximate much more
closely to its condition in _P. Protodice_; while its present form is
much straighter, exhibiting only a very slight and regular convexity. As
far as can be judged from the fragment, the form of the other parts of
the wing coincides with that of _P. Protodice_.
As in all species of Pontia there is a slight wrinkling of the membrane
in the interspaces, forming slight channels running from the outer border
inward, nearly to the depth of two interspaces, indicated in the fossil
by dark lines as heavy as the nervures, and caused by their filling
with sedimentary material. The extreme length of the part of the wing
preserved is 24mm. and the greatest width 22.5mm.
The markings lead one to conjecture that the individual was a male.
PAPILIONIDÆ—PAPILIONIDES—PARNASSII.
THAITES HEER, MS.
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