OBSERVATIONS ON POLYOMMATUS ASTRARCHE. 269 



I hope to satisfy myself upon the precise reasons of the companionship 

 next spring. 



The foodplant, in nature, wherever I have found the larva, has 

 always been rock-rose. In captivity, the larvae feed well on any 

 species of Helianthemum, any species of Pelargonium., any species of 

 (Teranium, and upon Erodium. They specially delight in half-decayed 

 leaves of the common zonal pelargoniums of the greenhouse. If 

 removed from any one foodplant to another, they feed without any 

 hesitation upon the substitute. 



When searching for larvfe, care is needed not to disturb the plants 

 as they drop very readily and are bad to find. Large larvte at the 

 beginning of the spring are generally useless to take, as they generally 

 produce seven or eight cocoons of one of the larger species of 

 Microi/aster. Lastly, leaves eaten as above described and the yellow 

 showing a decidedly greenish tinge, always have a larva beneath. 



The larvffi I have had at various times, and have either kept, or 

 sent to various friends, have pupated in various ways. Some I 

 sent to one friend, pupated in moss but failed to emerge, owing, I think, 

 to the dampness of the moss. In nature, the bare rock or sand is 

 what they are near as pupae. Others, a friend got, spun up in the usual 

 Lycfenid style upon a muslin sleeve and emerged safely. Some we 

 kept, pupated loosely on the surface of the ground and yielded their 

 imagines safely. Most, however, pupate on the leaves and stem-bases in 

 the style of P. icariis. The pupte are of the usual family type. 



In Durham, the species emerges during the first week in July and 

 continues on the wing for a month. In Scotland, the second week 

 in July is the usual time and it continues flying for eight weeks. 

 When flying, its flight is difficult to follow and it flies only in the 

 bright sunshine. It prefers thistles and knapweed when seeking food. 

 It is very pugnacious, and may often be seen battling with P. icariis 

 Sbud Epinephelejmiira. It rests at about 7.30 p.m. In Durham, it 

 rests on plantain heads and grass stems with P. icarus and, less 

 commonly, on the flowers of geraniums, but, in Scotland, I have found 

 it resting on plantain heads, the flowers and stems of Campanula 

 glomerata and upon the bare ground. When resting with /'. 

 icarus it can be easily distinguished by the superior length of its 

 wings. Anyone wishing to know the use of the eye-spots on the 

 underside of the wings, should see a few imagines at rest on the heads 

 of Plantaffo lancenlata between 8 p.m. and dusk. 



An analysis of three days' captures, in three diflerent localities, is 

 interesting. At the much persecuted haunts of P. astrarche at the 

 Black Hall Rocks, I got 36 insects. These worked out as follows : — 

 There were 23 ab. salmacis and 13 type astrarche. At another locality, 

 many miles northward on the Durham coast, where it is popularly 

 supposed to be extinct, but still lingers in plenty at isolated spots, I 

 got 35. These were of the following types : — 26 ab. salmacis, 5 ab. 

 arta.rerxes, 3 ab. vedrae, n. ab., and 1 type astrarche. A day's take in 

 Scotland consisted of 45 specimens, 44 of these were ab. artaxerxes, 

 and 1 ab. salmacis. 



In conclusion, I may say I obtained on various dates this year one or 

 two curious specimens. One (ab. salmacis) had the white dot fully 

 2.5 mm. in diameter, another was powdered freely with coppery 

 scales, and a third had the black discal dot partially enclosed by a 

 white horseshoe. 



