THE COMMON BLUE. 157 



reminds one of the soft silvery appearance of moonlight, 

 whilst Adonis recalls the intense blue of the sky on 

 a hot summer's day." 



Caterpillar like that of Corydon. 



The butterfly is double-brooded, appearing first in 

 May and again in August. It is found on the same 

 soils and in most of the localities with the last, but is, 

 I believe, more confined to the south. 



THE COMMON BLUE. 



(Polyommatus Alexis.} (Plate XIV. fig. 4, Male ; 

 4 a, Female.) 



Colouring : Upper side, male, lilac blue. Female, 

 purplish blue about the centre, brown towards the 

 margins, but the proportions of blue and brown are 

 very variable : sometimes all the wings have a border 

 of orange-red spots, sometimes these are absent from 

 one or both pairs of wings. 



Fringe in both sexes white, uninterrupted by dark 

 bars. 



.Under side, male, marked as in fig. 4, and hardly to 

 be distinguished from under side of male Adonis, except 

 by the ground colour, which is paler and greyer than in 

 Adonis. Female, same pattern as male, but coloured 

 with warmer tints more like male Adonis. 



