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XIII. An unrecognised European Lycaena, identijied as 

 Agriades thersites {Boisd. MSS.) Cantener. By 

 T. A. Chapman, M.U. 



[Read June 5th, 1912.] 



Plates LXXXI— LXXXV. 



Nearly two years ago Mr. P. P. Graves (of Con- 

 stantinople) sent me some specimens of a blue butterfly 

 taken by him in Syria on the Cedar Mountains, asking 

 me to determine it. It was somewhat puzzling and I 

 finally decided to declare it a new species under the 

 name of Agriades gravest, with description and figures 

 in the Ent. Mo. Mag., p. 159 (1912). 



In investigating gravesi, I came across some Asiatic 

 (Tianshan and Amasia) specimens supposed to be icarus 

 ab. icarinus, but found that they were not a Polyommatus, 

 which icarus is, but an Agriades. 



Whether Tutt's division of certain Plebeiid butterflies 

 between these two genera be accepted or not, it is certain 

 that the most typical species of each group have very 

 decided structural differences from those of the other. 



What were these Asiatic Agriades passing as forms of 

 a Polyommatus ? A new species possibly, with which I 

 could do little or nothing, having no great supply of 

 material and that of somewhat vague origin. It was 

 clearly related to gravesi, but by no means certainly the 

 same species. It finally, as it ought to have done sooner, 

 occurred to me to examine European icarinus, and I found 

 at once that they agreed with these Asiatic examples. 

 There were of course genuine icarinus, i. e. icarinus that 

 were forms of icarus, also. No English specimen of the 

 new species has so far come before me and I believe 

 there are none, all English icarinus are varieties of 

 icarus. 



I think it is probably the case that icarinus, the 

 aberration of icar^ts, is as scarce on the Continent as it 

 is in England and that the great majority of specimens 

 that are accepted as that aberration are in reality 



trans, ent. SOC. LOND. 1912. — part IV. (FEB.) 



