THE LYCiENID^ OF NORTH KENT. 259 



of the position I have taken up when we consider that Mr. South 

 decidedly beHeves these insects to be " not pure." 



Mr. South says that I ignore the "blue-black form" of the 

 male altogether. I did so purposely, because I did not care to 

 discuss the matter, holding a different opinion to Mr. South 

 with regard to it. I have never taken this form, and never 

 remember having seen it ; but I have carefully read Mr. South's 

 description, and from this I should say it most probably is not 

 a case of atavism or recurrence to a primitive type in a direct 

 form, for the following reason : if itarus, as we both maintain, 

 is the primitive form of this particular group, then the blue- 

 black form could not very well be a recurrent form. Typical 

 male icarus are a paler blue than hcllargus, and hence, while I 

 hold that the pale varieties are decided cases of atavism, I 

 believe the blue-black form to be only a sport, or rather a case 

 of the male having a tendency to partake of the coloration of 

 the female. 



Mr. Sabine (Entom. 222) throws doubt on my statement as 

 I had not seen his specimens ; but Mr. South's descriptions are 

 exceedingly good. Many entomologists must have read these 

 descriptions and understand our argument without having seen 

 Mr. Sabine's insects. I have taken the form occasionally for 

 years ; sixteen years ago (1871) I took my first. At the South 

 London Nat. Hist. Society's Meeting on Thursday, August 25th, 

 Mr. Sabine exhibited his specimens when I was present. His 

 pale form is identical with the form I wrote about, and with the 

 specimens I still have in my cabinet (labelled June, '75). There 

 can be no doubt now on that score. 



I am perfectly aware that icarus flies with hellargus, and 

 I have to offer an apology to the readers of the ' Entomologist ' 

 for the statement under question. It was the result of dealing 

 with two distinct matters at one time. I had Mr. Sabine's 

 statement (p. 182) "that unions between corydon and bellargus 

 have been most decidedly possible, and any number of them, 

 too," running in my mind; hence the unfortunate error. 



This year has, as Mr. Sabine says, been an exceptional year. 

 I was collecting on the chalk-hills near Cuxton on August 15th, 

 and saw many corydon (worn), but no bellargus ,- but on the 19th 

 six male corydon (worn), five females in much better condition, 

 and just two dozen freshly-emerged male bellargus, but no 



