262 



SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



and less shaded, the black borders less intense in 

 tone, disc, spot h.w. bright orange and very 

 conspicuous. 



Hab. Mountains in Armenia. Transcaucasia. 

 Arnasia. Taurus, Persia (Schahku). VI— VIII. 



Larva on Astragalus can cash- u s (R.H.). 



a. libanotica Led. Wien. Mts. 1858. p. 140. 

 Differs from C. aurorina as follows: <? ground 

 colour of wings much duller orange, in consequence 

 of an admixture of black scales : marg. borders 

 sprinkled with yellow scales, not striated except 

 very slightly at apices f.w. Disc, spot f.w. smaller. 



Q usually found in the orange form. Ground 

 colour light orange, shot with, violet. Border of 

 f.w. very broad at its costal end. and more irregular 

 on its internal edge than in C. eclusa. Hab. 

 Mountains in Syria (Lebanon). North Persia. 



b. var. transcaspica Christoph. Differs but little 

 from type. The disc, spot f.w. $ is said to be 

 smaller and lighter. 2 light orange, with seven 

 yellow spots in the black border f.w. Hab. Trans- 

 caspian (June). 



5. C. heldraichi Stgr. Stett. e. Z. 1862. p. 257. 

 (Aurorinae var.) Lg. B. E. p. 63. pi. xiv. fig. 3. 



45 — 50 mm. 



Size and pattern of wings of 3 almost identical 

 with that of C. eclusa. The ground colour is dark 

 orange, thickly mixed with black scales, so as to 

 produce a much more dusky appearance than that 

 seen in var. libanotica, of C. aurorina. Basal 

 patch in h.w. is red. Discoidal spot large and 

 reddish-orange. All the wings have violet or 

 blue reflections, more strongly marked than in any 

 other Colias. 2 much resembles that of var. 

 libanotica. but is somewhat stronger in markings 

 and colouring. A white form occurs. U.S. in both 

 sexes resembles that of C. edum, but is much 

 greener in tint, especially in 2 . Disc, spot f.w. 

 has a white centre which is not seen in C. edusa. 



Hab. Veluchi and other mountains in X. Greece 

 at high elevations. 



Miss M. Fountaine, F.E.S.. of Bath, is the first 

 British collector to take C. heldreicki. She writes 

 to me as follows : " I found it on Mount Chelmos 

 in the last fortnight of June, not lower than 4,000 

 feet and, then, not higher than 5.500 feet, though 

 the last time I was there, quite at the end of June, 

 I saw one specimen on one of the summits above 

 6.000 feet, so that no doubt in July it would occur 

 at the higher elevations. I heard from Herr 

 Kriieper, at the Museum in Athens, that C '. hrfdreich i 

 pccurs much in the same way on the Parnassus 

 and Veluchi, but it seems only to frequent the 

 high mountains. It is doubtful whether it has 

 ever been taken below 4,000 feet. Its flight was 

 not exactly like the other Coliades I have seen. 

 The males flew with great rapidity, but nearly 

 always close to the ground, hovering rapidly over 

 the low scrub on the sides of the mountain, as 

 though hurriedlv searching for something. The 



females were more sluggish, much rarer, and more- 

 difficult to find. I would take in one day from 

 twenty to thirty males easily, but three was the 

 greatest number of females ever together in my 

 collecting-box. Mr. Elwes's courier was collecting 

 with me. and together we must have secured 

 nearly 150 specimens. I alone had seventy-eight. 

 Amongst these were three white females. I also 

 saw one other white female, which I failed to catch.. 

 Considering how exceedingly plentiful was this 

 butterfly in this locality. I do not think the pro- 

 portion of white females as great as that of var. 

 Iwlice to C. edusa, in the south of Europe. I have 

 never seen C. edusa flying in large quantities in 

 one place, as in the case of C. heldreiclii on Mount 

 Chelmos." (M. Fountaine. January 9, 1901.) 



This species is commonly considered a variety 

 of C. aurorina. In company with a few others I 

 have always looked upon it as specifically dis- 

 tinct. I am bound to say, however, that the 

 specimens kindly sent to me by Miss Fountaine 

 taken in 1900, as above mentioned, differ some- 

 what from specimens previously sent to me by Dr. 

 Staudinger, and others, from the Veluchi Moun- 

 tains. The former have less of the violet gloss on 

 the wings, and have the disc, spots of the h.w. 

 smaller and yellower. The costal patches also- 

 are not so decidedly red, but rather yellowish. 

 In fact, the specimens from Mount Chelmos 

 approach more nearly the var. libanotica of C- 

 iin rorina. but of course are smaller. 



C. 'lira. Male. 



ft diva. Female. 



6. C. diva Gr.-Gr. B. & H. p, 190. 

 30—40 mm. (25-29 mm. H. & E.) 

 3 wings deep orange with purple reflections. 

 F.w. marginal band much as in C. edusa, though 



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