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Show 420 ON A NEW VARIETY OF LACERTA VIRIDIS. [June 17, The coloration is quite peculiar, and suffices to distinguish this Lizard from any of its allies. The young is above brownish-olive, the sides ornate with ocelli with large bluish-white centre and narrow black margin ; there is an upper series of eleven ocelli, from the outer posterior corner of the parietal to above the hind limb ; between this and the light under surfaces there is another series of ocelli, which, less regular and formed of the fusion of two ocelli, form short vertical bars. The upper lip is alternately barred black and white. The lower surfaces are of a pale greenish-white, without any of the spots which are so characteristic of the adult; but it must be borne in mind that in the young of L. agilis the spots are likewise absent or only very slightly indicated. Now, if we compare this coloration with that of the young of the other species, we see at once that it differs most from L. viridis, the young of which has constantly light longitudinal lines on the body, which frequently persist in the adult female ; the difference from the young of L. pater and L. ocellata is less, but still great, for in those forms the ocelli are much larger and scattered over the whole of the body ; nearest we find L. schreiberi, which has a very similar arrangement of yellow spots along the sides of the body. In the adult, the upper surface of the body and limbs is bright grass-green, sometimes fading to brown on the hind part of the body, with deep black spots, which may be larger and roundish, or smaller, closer, or with lighter centre resembling the markings of a Leopard ; sometimes an unspotted zone along each side of the back; in the smaller male specimen, there is besides a series of small ocelli with pure white centres along each side of the back, the remains of the upper series of ocelli of the young. The upper surface of the head is olive, black-spotted, passing to blue on the sides, which latter colour covers the throat in the female as well as in the male. The belly is yellow, more or less greenish, with roundish black spots, more profusely scattered in the male than in the female. The tail is olive, darker above, with a median series of black spots, which are more or less confluent into a longitudinal band. Four specimens were submitted to me by Dr. Gadow, who obtained them in the Serra de Monchique, Algarve, about 2000 feet above the sea, in sunny dense shrubs, amongst brambles near a little stream. The largest, a female, measures 278 millim., in which the tail enters for 192. The only certain reference to this form I can find in the works of previous writers, is in O. Boettger's list of Reptiles collected by v. Maltzan in South Portugal \ where a short description is given from specimens likewise obtained in Monchique. Boettger gives it simply as L. viridis, remarking that it approaches nearest var. punctata, of Duges (this is evidently meant for var. b. of that author), which is, however, a totally different thing. But I should not be astonished that this new form remains concealed under the references of several authors to L. viridis and L. agilis in the south of the Pyre- 1 Zeitschr. f. Ges. Naturw. Iii. 1879, p. 505. |