1912.1 127 



mate ventral segment, which is excised in a broad curve at apex unlike 

 that of any of the species above tabulated. I am unable to say to 

 what they should be referred. 



L. ripicola, Czwal. This insect does not appear to be rare. I 

 have seen specimens from Tottenham and Woking (Champion) ; near 

 Carlisle (Day) ; and have myself taken it at Merton, Surrey, on the 

 river bank near Putney, and at several places in Hampshire. Fowler's 

 description (Brit. Col. II, 299) of boreale, Hochli., is as applicable to 

 ripicola as to gemimim. L. ripicola stands under various names in 

 British collections. 



L. geminum, Kraatz. Common round London, and probably all 

 over the kingdom. The black forms of both this and elongatum are 

 easily separable from bnmnipes by the sexual characters. 



L. elongatmn, Linn. This insect is common at Slapton Ley, 

 Devon, but appears local and apparently scarce elsewhere. Near 

 Carlisle (Day) ; Lee (Champion). The var. fraudulentum has, I 

 believe, only occiu'red at Slapton Ley. 



Reitter (Fauna G-ermanica, II, 144) suggests that gem.inum is 

 only a race of elongatum. He further states that elongatum is scarce, 

 while geminum is common everywhere in Grermany. 



13, Oppidans Eoad, N.W : 

 May 1th, 1912. 



LYGMNA (AGRIADES) ALEXIUS, Fre. : A GOOD SPECIES. 

 A PRELIMINARY NOTE BY T. A. CHAPMAN, M.D. 



It seems desirable that Lepidopterists should not lose the coming 

 season for the investigation of this interesting species. I therefore 

 give this preliminary notice of its recognition, so that further data 

 about it may be obtained in definite form. There is an aberration of 

 Lyceena {Polyommatus) icarus, known as icarinus, Scriba. This occurs 

 wherever icarus is found, but more or less sporadically. There is, 

 however, a distinct species, for which I accept the name of alexias, 

 as having been given by Freyer to one form of the species, that 

 occurs with icarus, but not apparently in its more northern habitats, 

 and in all probability ought to occur apart from icarus ; but the 

 curious part of its habit is that it appears to be a close mimic of 

 icarus, and except in the loss of the basal spots of fore wing exactly 



