﻿SOME REMARKS ON THECLA .ESCULl. ^05 



occuvs also in the Midi, where it is precisely similar to the form 

 of our central and northern departments." 



The plates in Godart's work are mediocre. On plate xxi. 

 figs. 3, 4, the white line of the under side is carried from the 

 centre to the apex of the fore wings, and the colouring is very 

 poor — certainly not realizing the description, "tirant sur le 

 gris." Herrich-Schafer follows Godart closely. 



The markings, then, differ conspicuously in the shape and 

 direction of the white line of spots ; bowed in Mscidi ; more 

 upright in Ilicis. But, as I have said, the chevron shape of 

 No. 3 spot is the easiest character by which to distinguish the 

 species in all other, I think, than the extreme Spanish forms. 

 As to the form lUcioides, Gerh. (which Courvoisier {loc. cit.) 

 entirely ignores), the under side of the female examples examined 

 by me suggest .Esculi so much more forcibly than Ilicis that 

 there should be no difficulty in separating them, even though 

 the blotches on the fore wings of the male are suggestive of 

 Ilicis var. cerri. 



The habits of the two butterflies are also different in degree. 

 While Ilicis is widespread over the greater part of France, ^sculi, 

 so far, has only been reported with authority from the southern 

 departments. Mr. Powell {in litt.) writes : " We get both species 

 at Hyeres — Ilicis, in the form of Cerri, about the middle of May, 

 and '^scidi in the cork and ilex woods towards the end of that 

 month "; and he adds, "All specimens I have seen from Spain 

 and Algeria are forms of ^scnli." 



My own specimens, taken at Digne and Le Vernet, in the 

 Eastern Pyrenees, bear out the evidence of Mr. Powell, and I 

 might add that, whereas Ilicis seems to have a penchant for 

 settling on field flowers or stonecrop on walls, /Esculi is more 

 often taken flying over low bushes, or at rest on bramble 

 blossom. 



M. Charles Oberthiir reports the occurrence of T. ilicis 

 throughout France ; and the local catalogues in my possession 

 bear out his observations ; the number of Departments right up 

 to the Channel in which it has not been recorded being few in 

 number. 



The typical T. cesculi, on the other hand, so far has only been 

 notified from the following, nearly all of them in the Midi : — 

 Alpes-Maritimes : Milliere, who classes the species as a 

 constant variety with var. cerri, describes both as less rare 

 than the type ; Col de Castillon (Oberthiir) ; St. Martin- 

 Yesubie ; Vallon des Fleurs, Yallon Obscur, Nice ; first seen 

 June 30th (Bromilow). Aude : Bois de TAlaric, very abundant 

 (Mabille). Basses-Alpes: Digne, in addition to my own captures, 

 reported as common by Mrs. NichoU ; Les Mees, on the left bank 

 of the Durance opposite St. Auban (Donzel). Basses-Pyrenees : 

 throughout (Larralde), though I have a suspicion that this 



