LYC^ENA CORYDON. 195 



wings is a small black dot between each pair of nervures. 

 The upper surface of the female (Fig. 221) is a dull, 

 smoky brown, with a sprinkling of sky-blue scales near 

 the base of the wings. There is a small, dark, discoidal 

 spot on the fore-wings, and a marginal row of red spots 

 with black centres and black circumferences on the hind- 

 wings : the red spots, though present, are very indistinct 

 on the fore-wings. The under-surface (Fig. 219) is pale 

 brown, with the marginal row of red spots as on the 

 upper surface. Besides these there are about nine white- 

 edged black spots on each fore-wing and about a dozen 

 on each hind-wing. The hind-wings also bear a white 

 discoidal spot and the characteristic white dash. 



L. corydon, Fabr. (Chalk-hill Blue) (Figs. 222 to 227), 

 after L. arion is one of the largest of our Blues. The 

 male also is one of the handsomest, the blue of its wings 

 reminding one of the silvery moonlight on a clear, frosty 

 night. It is a chalk-loving insect, and though not entirely 

 confined to that kind of country, must usually there be 

 sought. Its chief home is in the south of England, 

 where in some districts it is plentiful. Roughly speaking, 

 it has been found in most of the counties south of a line 

 joining the Wash to the Bristol Channel, as well as in 

 Glamorganshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, 

 and Lincolnshire. 



The eggs are laid on several plants of the order Legu- 

 minoscz, such as the Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), 

 Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), and Clover, or 

 Trefoil (Trifolium). The larvae are full-fed about the 

 middle of June or earlier, and the butterflies are on the 

 wing in June, or even before, and continue into July 

 and August. 



The larva (Figs. 222 and 223) very closely resembles 

 that of L. bellargus, the only difference, as mentioned 



o 2 



