358 ENTOMOLOGICAI, NEWS [Oct., '15 



wrongly identified L. piasus. According to the Oberthiir fig- 

 ure L. piasus is identical with Felder's L. sagittigera. 



I have made a very careful study of Boisduval's descriptions 

 in his Lepidopteres de la Californie and know from personal 

 observation a little of the habits of L. piasus and L. sagittigera. 

 The Oberthiir figure would seem to show a startling misiden- 

 tification, but I find it very difficult to reconcile myself to ac- 

 cept this alone as proof that piasus is the insect which Felder 

 named sagittigera and which Boisduval later described and 

 named rhaea. 



Let us consider Boisduval's descriptions in the Lepidopteres 

 de la California, 1869. In this edition he first gives the descrip- 

 tions of the insects described in his paper of 1852, covering the 

 material collected by M. Lorquin in Central California and par- 

 ticularly in the San Francisco Bay district in the years 1849 to 

 1852. He then describes additional material collected later by 

 M, Lorquin during a series of trips which covered not only his 

 first collecting grounds but also a part of what is now the south- 

 ern part of the State of California. 



Among the re-descriptions of the 1852 material we find: 



38. Lycaena piasus, Boisd. 



(Free translation from the Latin.) 

 Wings above dark blue-violet, pearl-white fringes, female with 

 black margins ; below ashy-white, with numerous ocellated 

 black spots, separated by a white band. 

 (Free translation from the French.) 

 Slightly larger than our Argiolus, which it much resembles at 

 first glance. Flitting in the spring and in summer in the 

 woods. 



39. Lycaena pseudargiolus, Boisd. and Leconte, Iconog. des Lep. de 



I'Amerique septentrionale, PC. 36. 

 (Free translation from the French.) 

 Does not differ from specimens from other parts of the United 

 States. Flitting in numbers in April in the hedges. 



In the second part of this paper, which covers the descrip- 

 tions of the later material outlined above, we find: 



33. Lycaena rhaea, Boisd. 



(Free translation from the Latin.) 

 Wings above sea blue-violet with black margin and white fringe 



