BRITISH CHRYSIDID^. 161 



found almost every where in the height of summer in sunny 

 situations ; they are extremely active. 



Sect. I. Abdomen more or less dentate at the apex. 

 Sp. 1. Chr. ignita. 



Linn. F. S. 1665. S. N. 947. 1. 



Fab. S. E. 358. 6. Sp. I. 455. 8. Mant. 283. 9. 



Ent. Sijsl. II. 241. 10. Piez. 173. 14. 

 Olivier, Ency. Met. Ins. II. 673. 11. 

 Latr. Hist. XIII. 2^S. 4. Noiw. Diet. VII, 71. 

 Le Pelet. Ann. du Museum, VII. 126. 12. 

 Cuvier, Tableau Elementaire, 502. 1. 

 Panz. F. G. 5. 22. 

 Spin. I. 64. 6. 



Rossi, F. E. II. 119. 842. in 8vo. 

 Donovan, Brit. Insects, Vol. I. pi. 7. 

 Schrank, F. B. II. 2. 344. 2195. 



Var. 1. — {Alcione-) Head, thorax, and legs, 



(except the tarsi, which are black,) of a beau- . 



tiful metallic blue or green, occasionally and W,--,..^^ 



variously splashed with a golden refulgence ; ^^ ^^ 



sometimes dull blue : abdomen of rich reful- 

 gent metallic crimson, red, or purple, sometimes obscure, the 

 apex terminated by four teeth ; the two central ones distant 

 from each other and nearer the lateral ones, their apices describ- 

 ing a curve : headj thorax, and abdomen, very coarsely and 

 deeply punctured, the margin of the second and entire third seg- 

 ment being less deeply so ; an elevated longitudinal smooth line 

 running down the centre of the abdomen, frequently obsolete upon 

 the third segment. (Length, varying from 3 — 7 lines ; expansion 

 of wings, from 5| — 10-| lines ; from the inspection of twenty 

 individuals.) 



Var. 2. (^Asterope.) Colour and sculpture 

 nearly the same as in the former, but the ter- 

 minal teeth of the abdomen are at equal \ ^ ^ 

 distances, their apices describing a decided l'~v^v» 

 curve. The colour is generally somewhat 

 less vivid, and the apical portion of the second segment, and the 

 entire third, is a little more punctured, but in general habit it 

 much resembles it. (Length from 4 — 51 lines, from the inspection 

 of seventeen individuals.) 



