Calopteryx. 223 



mid-dorsal }"cllo\vish raised line, terminating; in a 

 posterior point ; this line is continued but not raised on 

 the ninth, and sometimes part of the eighth, segment. 

 Wings of a uniform pale yellowish-green, transparent, 

 of about the same width as those of the male. 

 Ptcrostigiiia white, near the tip of the \\"ing. Anal 

 appendages short, flattened, pointed, black. Ovipositor 

 about as long as the ninth segment ; genital valves 

 reaching a little bc}X)nd it. 



Distinction from C virgo. 



The males present no difficult}-, but the females often 

 bear a close resemblance to one another. In C. splendens 

 the pterostigma is nearer the tip of the wings, which 

 ha\'e a greenish tinge (brownish in C. X'irgo usuall}'), 

 and the reticulation is usualh' coarser than in the 

 preceding species. 



Immature Colouring. 



In }^oung specimens, the elliptical blue patch appears 

 as a faint brownish cloud, which gradualh' deepens, and 

 ultimatel}- attains a blue reflection as maturit}' is 

 reached. 



Variation. 



In the British Isles this species does n.ot seem subject 

 to much variation. Mr. McLachlan once exhibited at 

 the Entomological Society of London a female taken in 

 France, in which the left fore-wing was coloured as in 

 the male, the corresponding right wing haxing also a 

 few browni dashes.'^ De Selys ("Revue," p. 141) speaks 



' E. M. AL, i.SOs, p. lOS. 



