300 LYCAENA. By Dr. A. ScHz. 



nearly always a strongly glittering Islue-green dusting at the base of the wings, which is usually absent from 



argyrognomon; but we must add that also the inverse occurs, the blue basal dusting being absent from 



argus in exceptional cases and strongly marked in argyrogyiomon. As a rule argus L., moreover, is somewhat 



smaller than argyrognomon, Imt the size varies considerably according to the altitude of the locality and 



valesiana. the various broods. — ab. valesiana M.-Diirr is frequently found among specimens from the Yalais (but 



not exclusively and not constantly) ; it is distinguished by a yellowish grey underside and very small ocelli. 



Corsica, ab. Corsica Bell., on the other hand, is a form which flies regularly in the mountains of Corsica and 



differs in the ocelli of the underside bearing pupils of the ground-colour and having larger borders, which 



almost form pale rings on a grey-brown ground. This form occurs as an exception everywhere, having 



been obtained by Stai^'des even in Norway. $$ which are nearly as blue above as the (^.^ are not very 



coerulescens. rare in certain localities, especially among the summer-broad, this is ali. coerulescens Peters (= pseudo- 



hypochiona. callarga Neustetter). — A constant form is hypochiona Bbr. (78 d, ground-colour too dull), from the most 



southern very sunny districts of Europe (Ionian Islands, Greece, Andalusia); underside rather pale, the 



black eye-dots small and placed in large pale halos, before the margin a row of l)right red spots. Similar 



individuals are occasionally also found in other districts, e. g. at Digne and according to Jones even in 



insularis. England. — A very large form is insularis Leech (78 d), from the north-island of Japan; its underside 



resembles hypochiona in its light pure ground-colour, but bears abundant and prominent black spots. 



bclla. Above the marginal spots of the hindwing are especially very distinct. — Also bella H.-Sch. (78 d, e) is 



placed by Staudinger and Rebel as a variety of argus; it is a small form, which resembles hypocliiona 



beneath, but is very dark above, with very thin red-yellow submarginal spots on the upperside of the 



hindwing, which are unfortunately not visible in our figure 78 d, the hindwing beneath bearing paler 



ihnricnsis. marginal spots; from the shores of the Black Sea, Armenia and Persia. — Perhaps also iburiensis Bltr. 



belongs here; it is unknown to me in nature and was described from one specimen from Hokkaido; it 



appears to he a kind of albino of insularis. — Very small specimens, as they are found especially in 



alpina. Yalais, are alpina Berce; exceptionally large specimens were obtained by Chapman at Bejar in Spain and 



hcjarensis. j^j^j^j^^j l^y j-^jj^ bejarensis. — The form micrargus Btlr. from Tokio, which is quite unknown to me, is said 



llttt/l tl I If lirO , *'' •11111 'l IIP* I'l l'j_ 



to have the lilac colour of argia, with the black margm dentate and the frniges very bright white; 

 beneath in colour like pylaon, the spots as in argus, but without the metallic scales on the anal spots. — - 

 psendaegon. pseudaegon Btlr., from the north-island, is smaller than argus, with the black margin narrower, the white 

 hinges thinner, and the black distal marginal spots of the hindwing above smaller. $ very feebly dusted 

 with steel-blue at the base, underside more extended green than in true argus and its ocelli smaller. 

 nnipunrla. Likewise unknown to me. • — Sometimes there occurs a basal dot on the underside; this is ab. unipuncta 

 coendeo- ]\jQngigy. j^ ^^ij coeruleocuneata Ebert there appear blue wedge-shaped submarginal spots on the upperside 

 of the hindwing. — Larva very variable, usually light green with dark dorsal spots, sometimes however 

 grey or dark brown with pale spots. In June and the autumn on various plants, such as Coronilla, Tri- 

 folium, Colutea, and Genista, said to occur also on Erica, Ornithopus, Fragaria, Thymus and other plants. 

 Near or upon the larva there is a guard of ants, usually specimens of Formica cinerea Mayr. The larva 

 as well as the chrysalis are found in the' nests of this ant. Pupa elongate, green with red dorsal line; 

 abdomen above yellowish green. The butterflies are on the wing in May and again from July onwards, 

 but are said to have only one brood in the north. They are common everywhere, especially on sandy 

 soil, which also its ant prefers, but is said to noticeably decrease recently in numbers in some districts 

 (e. g. in England). The form alpina I found in large numbers in Yalais below Zermatt towards evening 

 in stony localities where they were at rest in small bushes ; I counted 38 sleeping specimens in a small thorn- 

 bush, all having the small size of the form of that neighbourhood. 



arg ijrofino- L. argyrognomon Bgsfr. (= argus Schiff.)^). The differences between this species and the preceding 



mon. have been mentioned above. As widely distributed and as variable as argus; the species flies in many 



districts but singly and that is the reason why quite a number of forms have been based an single 



lutea. specimens. An albinotic $ with the ground-colour light yellow has received the name ab. lutea Car. 



callarge. The $$ which are blue above and occur everywhere among ordinary specimens are ab. callarge Stgr. (78 e). 



— The species is distributed all over Europe with the exception of the highest North and the Nortli- 



West (Netherlands, England); it is also absent from North Africa, but extends through the whole of 



North and Central Asia , Siberia, Tibet and China to the Pacific Ocean; but it does not go southwards 



across the Indian boundary. Since argyrognomon appears in two broods in the southern districts 



') In order to avoid new changes we have accepted for this species the name argyrognomon Bgstr. 

 employed in the Catalogue of Staudinger a- Rebel. But is was recommended to us from a very competent side 

 to mention in this place that the name is illustrated by a figure (Nomenkl. Taf. 40) whose original, a ?, was 

 certainly not a normal specimen. Whether the impossible blue tint and the other deviations from the normal in 

 the figure were due to the faultiness of the design, or to abnormal characters in the original specimen, it is 

 to-day impossible to decide. In any case a figure so non-typical should not be the base for a change in nomen- 

 clature. From a practical point of view the simplest solution would be arrived at, if the names aegon Schi/f. 

 ( = argus L.) and argus Schiff. were employed for the two species. 



