ABSTRACT
Motto: Long ago, Linneus described a common species of butterfly, adding the laconic note 'in pratis Westmaniae'. Time passes and in the laudable pursuit of accuracy, new investigators name the various southern and Alpine races of this common species, so that soon there is not a spot left in Europe where one finds the nominal race and not a local subspecies. Where is the type, the model, the original? Then, at last, a grave entomologist discusses in a detailed paper the whole complex of named races and accepts as the representative of the typical one the almost 200-year-old, faded Scandinavian specimen collected by Linneus, and this identification sets everything right (V. Nabokov, The Eye).
