250 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



season we may obtain more specimens. When captured it is 

 easily enough distinguished by the little tails to the hinder 

 wings, and the markings on under side, in which last it much 

 resembles L. argiolus ; but when on the wing I doubt whether 

 the most experienced collector would distinguish it with any 

 certainty either from a slightly worn or dull example of L. icarus 

 (alexis) or from L. cegon, both of which species abound on 

 and near the spot where we found L. argiades. I did not myself 

 see the female before its capture, but my son thought it was 

 L. cegon; and I do not doubt but I should have thought so 

 myself. The male I saw as it flew up lazily (the sky was cloudy 

 at the moment) from among the grass, less than a yard from 

 where I was boxing another insect. I could not distinguish 

 it then from L. icarus ; but I called to my son Arthur to catch 

 it, which he did at once ; and in less than two minutes it was 

 recognised and safely boxed. In our subsequent searches we 

 have captured and examined (and for the most part either pinned 

 for cabinet use or deported to a distance and released) over 

 500 icarus and agon. The spot is one I have gone over constantly 

 for many j'^ears, both collecting insects and in ordinary walks, 

 and should never have thought of taking the trouble to catch 

 anything looking so like a worn or dark icarus or cegon. This, 

 presuming upon one's knowledge of what one's own district 

 contains, is perhaps the reason why many a rare insect is passed 

 over, until some such accident as the eagerness of a beginner to 

 catch everything he sees, turns it ujd, and makes the old collector 

 look rather small. Mr. Frederick Bond's opinion is that poor 

 icarus will now have a bad time of it, when the occurrence of so 

 similar an insect is made known. Doubtless it will be so ; and I 

 hope the result may be to turn up L. argiades in many other 

 localities on our southern coasts. From a large fine specimen of 

 the male icarus, however, I think the male of argiades may easily 

 be distinguished on the wing ; and the female will be probably also 

 found to be of too brown a hue to be mistaken for the ordinary 

 varieties of icarus ; but certainly all the dark lilac varieties of 

 icarus, male (which includes all worn examples), as well as nearly 

 all males of agon, must be caught and examined to make it 

 certain that argiades has not been passed over. Perhaps future 

 experience may show us some peculiarity in flight by which to 

 distinguish tlie species when on the wing, or some information 



