31G LYCAENA. By Dr. A. Xcitz. 



I)uiiftali(. instead of black, while in ah. punctata Ttitt the margins are spotteil. al). calydonius Lowe has the ground- 

 calydoiniis. ^qJo^j,. darkened and the hlacdv liorders enlarged. — Equally varial^le as the upperside is the under surface. 

 The ground-cqjour beneath may be very dark (especially in certain $$) or remarkably pale; the latter is 

 ^'striata the case in ab. pallida Tidi. The ocelli may be distorted into rays: ab. striata Tuft. Some of the ocelli 

 tiphys. may be united: ab. tiphys Esp. They may be increased in number: ab. luxurians Courv., or they may be 

 ciniius. reduced (ab. privata, unijmncta, impuncta) or all be absent: ab. cinnus Hbn. {= sohni Bilhl) (81 d). More- 

 over, all these variations may be more or less slightly developed or vestigial (ab. semiaurantia, caeruleo- 

 marginata, etc.), or various aberrational characters may be combined in one individual, as for instance in 

 pai-isicnns. ab. parisiensis Gerh., which is an ab. syngrapha with the ocelli as in ab. tiphys, etc. — Egg greenish 

 white, with minute pale reticulation, the meshes being hexagonal. Larva bright blue-green, beneath paler, 

 the dorsal line appearing dark owing to the dorsal vessel, accompanied by chains of yellow spots, a similar 

 but duller row of spots above the abdominal legs. Until June on Hippocrepis, Coronilla, Astragalus. 

 Vicia, etc. Visited by Formica flava, which is attracted by the dorsal gland. Pupa rather slender, 

 smooth, dirty yellowish brown, with dark dorsal line and on the wing-cases pale smears, free on the 

 ground, often under stones. The butterflies occur from June till August, being I'are in some places, 

 exceedingl}' abundant in others; they are everywhere found in pkrticular localities. They have a rapid 

 flight, which is also more sustained than in most other Blues, and go early to sleep, settling for the night 

 with closed wings on stalks of grass or on the top of flowers while it is yet full day-light. This offers the 

 best opportunity for collecting aberrations, since the ocelli of the underside are so clearh' visible that one 

 can pick out without difficulty and put into the cyanide bottle wliat one requires. 



mtircida. L. marcida Led. Scarcely half the size of coridon, the rj above of a similar aeneous gloss, but 



with a narrower border. The underside of the forewing entirely without basal ocelli. The fringes uni- 

 formly white above. - — Persia. 



fllmirias. L. glaucias Led. (81 e). (J above dark iron-grey, aeneous, $ dull dark brown. The underside quite 



different from that of marcida, more like the underside of coridon, with many ocelli; the eye-spots of the 

 forewing mostly unusually large, the basal ocelli being i)resent; on the hind wing a white smenr from the 

 apex of the cell to the outer margin. — Persia (Shakuh), singly, in June. 



(icdoii. L. aedon Christ. (81 e). Above similar to glaucias, iron-grey, dull with a metallic greyish blue 



sheen; ^J above without distinct discocellular spot. Beneath leaden grey, without reddish yellow submar- 

 ginal spots, the forewing with one ocellus near the base in the cell, the ocelli of the discal row large on the forewing, 

 ovate, oblique, the ocelli of the hindwing smaller, reduced in number: the median streak of the hind wing 

 beneath white, commencing at the central lunule. — Persia, in July. 



erschofll. L. erschoffi Led. (81 e). At once recognized by the costal area and basal portion of the median 



vein bearing in the (^ a strong bright violet gloss. ,^ and $ are moreover easily recognized by their 

 undersides: the ocelli of the discal row of the forewing are very heavy and black, and the clear brown 

 ground of the hindwing is traversed by a long white mesial streak. Persia. — A (^ from Askabad in Tur- 

 kestan which is larger and has no discocellular spot on the forewing above and entirely white fringes, has 



tckkeaiift. received the name tekkeana Christ. — The butterflies occur in May, and are the commonest Blues in the 

 neighbourhood of Shakuh according to Christoph. 



admetus. L. admetus Esp. (81 e). (J and $ above dull dark brown, without metallic blue or aeneous gloss; 



the discocellular spot of the forewing and the black veins mostly distinctly contrasting. The hindwing, 

 especially of the $, bears often obsolescent reddish anal spots. Underside somewhat paler brown than 

 upper, with distinct ocelli, but no basal ocelli on the forewing. In South-East Europe, from Hungary and 

 ripartii. (talicia through the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor to Mesopotamia; also in Spain. — • ripartii Frr. (81 f), 

 has on the hindwing below a white mesial streak which extends from the base to the outer margin. More 

 widely distributed than admetus, being found in the Alps, South France, in eastern Europe, Asia Minor, 

 Persia and Turkestan. — Egg at first greenish, later on white. Larva on Onobrychis cristagalli. The 

 butterflies are on the wing in June and July and fly on slopes with sparse vegetation, settling particu- 

 larly on lavender. They are plentiful in most places where they occur. 



mithridalcs. L. mitiiridates Stgr. (81 f). Similar to the preceding species, both sexes being as in admetus dull 



brown above without markings, but the underside is much paler, dull dust-grey, so that the rather small ocelli 

 contrast but little with the ground, especially on the hindwing. — Li Asia Minor, in June and July. 



dolus. L. dolus Hh)i. (= lefebvrei Godt.) (81 f). J above with a light, silky, grey-blue gloss, nearly as in 



coridon, \nit this gloss is restricted to the outer half of the wing, the proximal half being a dirty brown. 

 $ above dark brown with darker veins, resembling almost exactly a (^ of ripartii on the upperside. Under- 

 side rather similar to that of admetus, clearer, with smaller ocelli and without white mesial streak. In 

 ritluta. South France, and Northern and Central Italy. — ab. vittata Oberth. (81 f) are specimens with a whitish 

 meuaUas. mesial streak on the hindwing beneath; from the Ceveimes (Lozere). — menalcas Frr. (= epidolus Frr.) 

 (81 g) is a form from Anterior Asia (or a distinct species?) which has a paler underside, smaller ocelli 



