•230 BEDFORD BLUE BUTTERFLY 



they are very distinctly marked, and frequently many 

 of them are obsolete, or entirely obliterated. 



The caterpillar is pubescent, of a greenish-yellow, 

 deepest on the back ; the head and legs black. It 

 is found on the Buckthorn and Holly. 



The butterfly, which appears twice in the year, 

 viz. in May, and near the end of July or in August, 

 is plentiful in many parts of England. It is of fre- 

 quent occurrence in Kent, Somersetshire, Hamp- 

 shire, and Devonshire ; also near London, and in 

 Norfolk and Suffolk. It is rather scarce in the 

 north, although it is found not unfrequently near 

 Newcastle, in places where hollies abound ; and also 

 in Castle Eden Dean. 



BEDFORD BLUE BUTTERFLY. 



Polyommatus Alsus. 



FLATE XXXI. Fig. 3. 



Pap. Alsus, Donovan, ix. pi. 322. fig. ] — Lewin, pi. 39. f.3, 4. 

 — Bedford Blue, Leach. — Small Blue Butterfly, Haworth. 



Tins is the smallest of British Butterflies, the 

 wings sometimes not exceeding 10 line3 between 

 the tips, and seldom surpassing an inch. The sur- 

 face is brown, with a silky gloss, one of the sexes 

 slightly tinged with blue, especially at the base of 



