176 THE COLORING OF BUTTERFLIES, 



patches ; and in which the males, always blue, 

 have only a slight trace of pale color on the 

 upper surface of the front wings ; this 

 variety is called Lucia [Fig. 152] ; 

 it appears about the middle of April, 

 and is abundant for a month, when 

 it begins rapidly to decrease, and 

 FIG. i5o.-cyani- by the end of May is seldom seen. 



ris Pseudargiolus, "" 



form violacea, nat. The next blue butterfly to appear 



size ; under sur- 



is one corresponding in all respects 

 to the violacea, or first brood of the south, ex- 

 cepting that all the males are blue. It makes its 

 advent during the first week in 

 May and remains on the wing 

 until late in June. The earliest 

 individuals appear scarcely more 

 than a fortnight later than the 

 first individuals of Lucia, and FIG. 



Pseudargiolus, form 



therefore they cannot be produced 



from them. Yet as it tends in face - 

 some of its variations to become like Lucia, and 

 Lucia also varies in the direction 

 of violacea, it is often absolutely 

 impossible to draw any separat- 

 ing line between a series of the 

 two forms collected in a single 

 s P o t. There is no alternative but 

 face - to suppose that just as the first 



brood of Ajax is dimorphic and consists of an ear- 



