NOTES ON EVEKES ARGIADES. 79 



they on the wing at the same time ? If so, can we get specimens taken 

 together to compare their genitalia ? 



I ■would appeal to your readers to help us to elucidate the matter. 



At present I am not satisfied that we have proof enough to treat 

 them as distinct species. 



Notes on Everes argiades, and its ab. alcetas, Hb. 

 ( = coretas, Ochs.). 



By J. W. TUTT, F.E.S. 



In September last, the Hon. N. C. Rothschild published {F!nt., 

 p. 199), a translation of a short paper by Mr. C. Obeithiir (La Feiiille des 

 Jeimes Xatiiralisti's, 4th ser., 1906, p. 149), tending to show that Lu-eres 

 argiades and its ab. coretas are separate species. This paper, however, 

 is only one of a series recentl}'^ published on the subji ct, viz., Jachoutov, 

 "Rev. Ent. Rnsse," iv., p. 96 (1904); Brown, "Bull.'Soc. Ent. 

 France," p. 11 (1905); Oberthiir, "La Feniiledes Jeunes Naturalisfces," 

 4th ser., p. 119 (1906); Rebel, "Verb. z.-b. Ges. Wien," Iviii., p. 32 

 (190.S). As this is one of the species which has shortly to be dealt with 

 in 'I'/ie Natural Histanj of British Lepidnptera, these papers have 

 naturally interested me. 



We may premise by paying that this species appears to be 

 one of the most widely-di>tributed in the world, covering even 

 a larger area than that which we have recently worked out {Nat. 

 Hist. Brit. Butts., ii., nos. 18-23) for Cela^trina ar(jiiilas. It 

 occurs throughout Europe, Asia and North America, extending 

 into the Oriental Tropical region in India and the East Indies. 

 In all parts of its range it shows considerable variation — sexual, 

 seasonal, etc. — which has been deilt Avith by Scudder (in America), 

 de Niceville (in India), and others. In Europe, the ordinary 

 summer brood is known as an/iades, Pall., the spring brood as puly- 

 sperchoi, Bergs., but one may safely assert tha,t all spring examples are 

 not p(di/spi'rrJton, Bergs. A number of other aberr.itional and racial 

 forms have been dealt with, and have received distinctive names. Really 

 poh/spi-rrhnn is a special form, with well-marked orange spot^ on the 

 underside, but no silvery kernels, the 5 blue with dark outer margins 

 only, not a ? blue-tinted on dark ground. One suspects that most 

 of the poli/sperchnn recorded as such do not correspond with Berg- 

 strasser's insect. 



The American and Eastern Asiatic examples are generally strongly 

 marked on the underside, so are the Indian, although de Niceville 

 states that, in India, some examples have the usually well-developed 

 orange markings of the outer margin of the underside of the hindwings 

 near the tail obsolescent, whilst he has not seen any in which they 

 have been absolutely absent. When, however, we enter Europe, this 

 part'cular form with no orange on the underside of the hindwings arises, 

 apparently, in some places ns a rare aberration m Ixitli broods, in others 

 as a common aberration in both broods, whilst in yet others it seems to 

 supplant the type. This form is generally known as coretas, Ochs. One 

 suspects that, if lepidopterists searched the literature of these things for 

 themselves, instead of following the chance references of a so-called 

 standard synonymic list, which, in the nature of thiniis must always be 

 characterised rather by its omissions than what it contains, the former 

 would be known as alcetas, Hb., described in 1806 as having " the 



