The British Butterflies Described 



There are several broods in the year, but it is gener- 

 ally more abundant in the autumn. Found everywhere. 



THE LONG-TAILED BLUE (Lyc<ena B*tica),Phte XII., 

 Fig. 9. While there is no doubt this lovely little blue 

 has been repeatedly taken on our shores, the fact re- 

 mains that we must still regard it as an occasional visitor 

 only. It may, and we all hope it will, yet be classed 

 amongst our resident fauna. From what we know of 

 it, it seems to have a more than usually wide range ; it is 

 recorded for Europe, Africa, Western Asia, East Indies, 

 and Australia. The male is a deep blue, with two black 

 spots just above the tails ; the female shows more 

 brown. The under side is quite different from that of 

 any of our native blues, being barred and spotted in 

 white, and two shades of fawn-brown, with two green 

 spots near the tail. A lookout for it may be kept all 

 along our south coast during July and August. 



THE SILVER-STUDDED BLUE (Lyc<ena JEgon), Plate 

 XII., Fig. 10. In all of the group to which this 

 insect belongs, numbering about ten species, the males 

 differ very much in colour, especially on the upper 

 surface, from the females. The males are nearly always 

 blue of various shades, and the females brown and blue 

 in varying proportions. 



In JEgon, the male is a warm violet-blue, the outer 

 margins being bordered with black. The female is 

 brown shot with blue, which becomes more intense near 

 the outer margin of the hind-wings, where there is a 

 row of orange spots touching an outer row of black 

 spots ; but these two rows may be nearly or altogether 



