312 



LYCAENA. Bij Dr. A. Seitz. 



1 



su2)erba. 



dagmara. 



adlnides. 



candalus. 



icarus. 



seplen- 



trionalis. 



sibirica. 



rufina. 

 pcrsica. 



scmipersica. 



kash- 



fjarensis. 



lucia. 



yarkan- 



dcnsis. 



[usca. 



caeru- 



hscens. 



carrulea. 



amethystina 



amocna. 



pallida. 



angulata. 



dura. 



which is phiced below the centre of the costal margin; at the apex of the cell there is a white triangular 

 smear, towards which another is directed from the middle of the outer margin. Distal margin beneath 

 white, with minute black dots, before it a russet-red lunate line. — This species is widely distributed, 

 being in Kashmir the commonest Blue and going up to 15 500 ft. in the Pamir. In the north of its area 

 it flies on pastures in high situations, in June and July; in the south it appears to occur everywhere and 

 throughout the year. 



L. superba Sigr. (= magnifica Gr.-Grsh.) (80 f). A very easily recognized insect, as the brillant blue 

 colour of the upperside of the (J is restricted to the costal and basal areas of the forewing, forming also 

 streaks along the main veins; the hindwing is dark grey and has only when the sun shines upon it a 

 light, grey sheen, which is mainly caused by the hairs. The underside has large ocelli with large pupils, 

 which are partly elongate-ovate. $ above brown, with yellowish red spots anteriorly, at once recognized 

 by the underside. — In the Pamir, caught in June at GOOO ft. 



L. dagmara Gr.-Grsli. (80 f). The (^ strongly recalls the preceding form, but is considerably smaller; 

 the blue colour is restricted to the basal half of both wings, and is not extended along the costa to the 

 apex as in superba. The $ is paler, only the hindwing shows distinct russet-yellow marginal lunules, of 

 which there are also traces in the (^. The ocelli of the underside are much less enlarged and prominent in 

 both sexes, those of the hindwing being especially very much smaller and delicate. — In Turkestan, 

 Bokhara, in June, at 5—10 000 ft. 



L. actinides Stgr. (80 f). Above very similar to icarus, the (^ of the same violet-blue, the $ black- 

 brown with russet-red marginal spots. The underside quite different, bearing a white median streak from 

 the base of the hindwing to the centre of the distal margin; in the disc of the hindwing sparse and 

 inconspicuous ocelli. The margin of the (J often without any spots. — In the Pamir, at 4000 ft , in June 

 and July, on steppes locally plentiful. The species has a quiet flight and flies only short distances, so 

 that Grum-Grshimailo was able to obtain over 50 specimens in two hours in the overgrown dry bed of 

 a brook. 



L. candalus H.-Schaff. (= cornelia Frr.) (80 f, erroneously spelt caudalus). This small butterfly 

 looks like a tiny icarus on both sides and in both sexes. The very light underside has extremely small 

 ocelli and very thin dull russet-yellow marginal spots, which are variable in size. The median streak 

 which runs from the discocellular spot towards the centre of the outer margin on the hindwing beneath is 

 usually distinct, wedge-shaped and pure white. The forewing above has a thin but distinct discocellular 

 spot, which is always absent in icarus. — In Anterior Asia, the Taurus Mts., Mesopotamia, Turkestan, 

 Asia Minor and Syria; from May until July in valleys and on the lower hills (Staudinger). 



L. icarus Bott. (= alexis Scop, thetis E.sp.) (80 f, only the uppersides). (^ above bright violet-blue, 

 almost hyacinth-blue; $ black-brown with reddish yellow marginal spots. Beneath the ground-colour is 

 dust-grey in the (J and brown-grey in the $, the base being dusted with blue: the ocelli are numerous 

 and the marginal area bears orange-spots. Throughout Europe, North Africa and North Asia, ex- 

 tending from Finmark to the Sahara and from the Canaries to the coasts of the Pacific, in Asin south- 

 ward to Kashmir and Baluchistan; absent from Japan. The species varies geographically so very little 

 that the names proposed for geographical races can hardly be maintained. — In the high North of Europe 

 (Scandinavia) the (^^J have on the underside a purer ground-colour, with which the ocelli and especially 

 their white borders are said to contrast more strongly; this is septenirionalis Fuchs. — sibirica Fuchs is 

 larger and particularly more broad-winged; the ocelli of the underside are more diffuse. From Siberia. — 

 In the extreme south, in Mauretania and Sicily, the $$ are said to have a paler upperside and an especi- 

 ally broad and continuous red submarginal band: ab. rufina Oberth. (SO g). — In Anterior Asia occurs 

 persica Bien. (= turanica BiUiI) (80 g), in which the underside is \ery pale, with the ocelli but little 

 contrasting and the russet-yellow submarginal spots almost entirely obsolete. — Similar specimens occur 

 occasionally here and there also in the West but with the characters of persica less marked or only 

 indicated; this is ab. scmipersica Tuit. — Itasligarensis Moore (80 g), with which the Syrian lucia Culot 

 appears to be identical has a deeper blue on the upperside of the (^, the $ being thinly dusted with 

 dispersed blue scales. The underside of both sexes with very thin ocelli. From Turkestan. — ■ yarkan- 

 densis Moore, with the $ above very densely dusted with blue, but otherwise like the preceding form, 

 came from the neighbourhood of Yarkand. — The number of named aberrations is enormous especially in 

 the $. In ab. fusca Gillm. the red-yellow submarginal spots are absent above, ab. caerulescens Wheel.. 

 has the base of the wings dusted with blue above. In ab. caerulea Fuchs (= glauca Maas., casanensis 

 Krulik.) (80 g) the blue on the upperside of the $$ almost extends to the red-yellow submarginal spots. 

 In ab. ametliystina Gillm. it extends even beyond them. In ab. amoena Schultz the red submarginal spots 

 are modified into rays. ab. pallida Tuit has a paler upperside, often with pale whitish spots. In ab. 

 angulata Tutt such spots form an elbowed row before the red-yellow lunules. In ab. clara Tuit the blue 

 of the J is much lighter, almost as in beUargus, and has a very strong gloss, the red-yellow submarginal 



