87 



but seems to prevail in New York, New England, and Quebec, at 

 least in the region about Montreal. I call this Mar o^ina^a. It has 

 passed sometimes as Lucia, sometimes as Violacea, but by sepa- 

 rating it we shall get a clearer idea of the species. Of course, 

 these three forms, distinct as they are generally, all vary, and one 

 approaches the other, or glides into the other, by intermediate 

 examples, but I should say that forty-nine out of fifty individuals, 

 no matter where found, would range under one of these names. 

 They all belong to the same species. Liicia without the black 

 patch is Marginata^ and Marginata, without the black and heavy 

 border, is Violacea. They are three phases of the winter form of 

 the species, and whether we call them trimorphic forms, or three 

 varieties, makes no difference in the result. At any rate the two 

 extremes, Lucia and Violacea, differ materially. 



In W. Va., Violacea is the sole representative of these forms, 

 there being no examples so far known approaching Lucia, and 

 very {e\v indeed approaching Marginata, even by a slight deepen- 

 ing of color in the marginal band. And it has acquired a melanic 

 male not before observed. Mr. Morrison took the same melanic 

 male together with both Violacea and Neglecta in south Colorado. 



In many seasons, the blue males swarm in my neighborhood, 

 and assemblies of scores and hundreds may be met with along 

 the water courses, early in April, or in the last days of March. 

 The first generation vastly outnumbers its apparent second one, 

 which is made up of Pseitdargiolus, flying in May, and Neglecta, in 

 June, and is now very abundant. Sometimes, with the early but- 

 terflies, a few individuals are taken which combine the features of 

 both Violacea and Pseudargiolus, the males having the upper sur- 

 face colored as in the latter, but the under marked like the 

 other, and often more emphatically than in the type. I have 

 such a mixed example from south Colorado also. 



Precisely at what line Lucia and Marginata are suppressed, or 

 where the melanic form comes in, I am not able to state. Dr. J no. 

 Hamilton, of Allegheny, and Rev. W. J. Holland, of Pitts- 

 burgh, both assure me that the black male has never been 

 seen by them in Pennsylvania. To the west, Dr. H. S. Jewett, at 

 Dayton, Ohio, has never seen the black male, though blue Violacea 

 flies there. Mr. H. K. Morrison tells me that in western North 

 Carolina both the black and blue forms are found. Mr. E. M. 

 Aaron, now of Philadelphia, but formerly of eastern Tennessee, 

 says that all the West Virginia forms of the species are found in 

 Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. Abbot, in the Insects of 

 Georgia, figured Pseudccrgiolus ■&.•=> Argiolus {pi Europe) and its larva 

 and chrysalis. 



The typical Pseugdariolus is large, sometimes expanding 1.4 

 inch, and from that down to one inch. Neglecta expands from 

 .8 to I inch. As a rule, the disk of forewing in Pseudargiolus ? is 

 whiter than in Neglecta, and the under side of both sexes is 



