432 LYC^NIDJG. 



Genus POLYOMMATUS. 



Polyommatus, Latr. Hist. Nat, Crust. Ins. xiv, 1805, p. 116 ; Moore, 

 Lep. Cei/l. i, 1881, p. 93 ; de N. Butt. 2nd. iii, 1890, p. 203. 



Type, P. bceticus, Linn., from Europe. 



liange. Nearly the whole of Europe, Asia and Africa; through- 

 out our limits ; extending through the Malayan Subregion to 

 Australia and the Hawaiian Islands. 



J $ . Pore wing : costa very slightly arched, nearly straight ; 

 apex well-marked but not acute ; termen convex ; tornus obtuse ; 

 dorsuin straight ; cell not quite half length of wing ; veins 6 and 7 

 closely approximate almost from a point ; middle and lower disco- 

 cellulars attenuate ; vein 8 absent, vein 9 from middle of vein 7, 

 veins 10 and 11 from apical half of subcostal; vein 12 bent 

 towards vein 11, very close, touching but not anastomosed; 

 vein 12 long, terminates on costa opposite apex of cell. Hind 

 wing : costa slightly arched ; apex rounded ; termen rather 

 straight especially in the $ , in the <3 slightly convex ; tornus 

 well-marked, angulate, dorsum rather long; cell very short, not 

 nearly half length of wing ; middle and lower d'iscocellulars 

 attenuate ; veins 3 and 4 from lower apex of cell, vein 7 from only 

 a little before upper apex of cell ; vein 8 strongly arched at base, 

 terminating on costal margin well before apex of wing. Antennae 

 short, not quite half length of tore wing, club long and gradual, 

 pointed at apex ; eyes hairy ; palpi porrect or subporrect, fringed 

 anteriorly ; third joint rather short, bare, aciculate ; body com- 

 paratively robust. d" Sex-mark : fore and hind wings thickly 

 overlaid with hair-like scales that give a frosted appearance to the 

 upperside ; underside fore wing : a patch of specialized scales at 

 bases of interspaces 2 and 3. 



772. Polyommatus b03ticus, Linn. (Papilio) Syst. Nat. ed. xii, i, 

 1767, p. 789 : Godart, Encycl. Meth. ix, 1823, p. 653 ; Moore, Lep. 

 Ceyl. \, 1881, p. 93 ; Distant, Rhop. Malay. 1884, p. 214, fig. 64, 

 neuration fore wing, & p. 230, pi. 20, figs. 1, 8, $ J ; de N. Butt. 

 Ind. iii, 1890, p. 204, pi. 27, tig. 190 d . 



<3 . Upperside : violet-blue, the wings covered with white scale- 

 like hairs over the ordinary scaling, which gives them a frosted 

 appearance. Fore wing : costa very narrowly, termen evenly and 

 more broadly brown. Hind wing : costa and apex broadly, 

 termen very narrowly brown ; interspaces 1 and 2 with more or 

 less rounded subterminal black spots, each surrounded by an 

 obscure ring of bluish of a shade lighter than the ground-colour. 

 Cilia of both fore and hind wings silvery white, with a brown line 

 along their bases that stops short before the tornal angle of the 

 hind wing ; tail black tipped with white. Underside : pale greyish 

 or brownish ochraceous. Fore wing: transversely crossed "by the 

 following more or less parallel pale brown fasciae : four across the 



