300 



SCIENCE- G OS SI P. 



1. N". fusea Brem. and Grey, p. 9. Stgr. Oat. 

 1901, p. 69 ; Cat. 187L p. 7. Therlafusra (non hujus 

 geiigen AmUypodia), E.H. p. 192 (T.fusca) ditpar 

 Brem. Lep. Ost. Sib. p. 24, t. 3, f. 4. 



35 — 40 mm. 



3 has all the wings dull brown, strongly shot 

 with purple over their entire area, except the costae 

 and on. margs., which are narrowly blackish-brown. 

 The neuration is dark brown, and the spots on the 

 u.s faintly appear above on the f.w. ; otherwi.'^e 

 there are no markings. U.S. brownish-grey, with 

 darker basal and submarginal spots, also whitish 

 bunches and rings. 9 larger than S, all the 

 wings more rounded than in (?, dull brown with- 

 out any appreciable violet reflections, and without 

 markings ; but, as in S , some of the spots of the 

 U.S. are seen above. Fringes white, with faintly 

 marked brown spots. U.s. as in (J, but the 

 ground colour is whiter and the spots are much 

 larger. 



?lAB. Amur. (Chab. Pokr. Ask. Baran. Uss. 

 Bureja), Corea, N. China. Vim — VII. 



a. ab. 5 lasurea Graes Berl. e. z. 1S8S, p. 74. 

 fetgr. Eom. Mau. vi. p. 72. In this form the $ 

 exhibits the blue or violet colouring of the $. 

 Hab. Corea and Japan. 



Genus 23. THECLA Fab. Ulis. Mag. Inselb. 

 VI., p. 286. 1807. 



Small butterflies of a brown colour above, the 

 U.S. being lighter and with more or less white 

 markings in form of narrow streaks; hence the 

 Eaglish name " hair-streak." Otherwise with 

 black spots arranged in submai'ginal or central 

 rows. The colour of the wings above is never 

 purple, blue, or green, as in some of the allied 

 genera. The h.w. sometimes have a slender 

 filiform " tail," but in other species this is absent, ' 

 and even in many of those species in which it 

 occurs it is not a constant character. F.w. short 

 and triangular in outline, with the subcostal 

 nervure three-branched. Eyes hairy, but not so 

 very markedly. 



If we accept the grouping of this genus as it 

 stands in the present edition of Staudinger's 

 Catalogue, we can, I think, for the sake of con- 

 venience, divide it into several sections founded on 

 the markings of the u.s. In the following table 

 the species will be taken nearly in the order in 

 which they are placed in that catalogue. 



A. F.w. without any submarginal spots, h.w. 

 with white streaks or chains of coalescent white 

 spots. 



o. With a distinct sexual patch on f.w. of S ■ 

 — T. s/nrn, T. grandh, T. w-nlbiivi, T. exhuia. 



/3. Without sex mark in S.— T. prwmklcs, 

 T. prwii, T. iliois, T. aoariac. 



B. F.w. without any marginal spots. F.w. and 

 h.w. without any white spots or streaks, but with a 

 single row of black spots. — T. herzi. 



0. F.w. with at least one submarginal row Of 

 black spots. 



a. Pattern of wings arranged in ocellated 

 spots as in Lyoaena. — T. ledereri. 



&. Pattern of wings showing narrow white 

 streaks. — T. limidata, T. sassanides, T. myiiale. 

 y. Pattern of wings showmg numerous 

 white spots arranged in chains, and replacing 

 the streaks seen in the species of the last sec- 

 tion. H.w. with a marginal row of orange 

 spots as in Lycaena. — T. thymniis, T. teug- 

 sfroomi and vars. ; T. sinensis and vars. 

 If I may be allowed the remark, I would here 

 express my opinion that the new arrangement of 

 the genus Tkecla is without any advantage. I am 

 unable to understand the zoological grounds on 

 which T. thy7knus, T. teugstrocmi, and T. sinensis 

 have been removed from the genus Lycaena in 

 which they previously stood. In my judgment it 

 would have been much better to have kept to the 

 old treatment of the genus Thecla as it stood in 

 the last edition of the catalogue. It seems to me 

 to be quite clear that the present arrangement can 

 only lead to further subdivision, which is 'very 

 undesirable. The zoological term "genus" should 

 be limited so as to include broad common charac- 

 ters. For the sake, however, of my readers, I feel 

 it necessary to follow Staudinger's Catalogue, both 

 here and in other places. 



The species of this genus chiefly frequent shrubby 

 places, or open spaces in woods. They are fond of 

 flying round bushes, often alighting on flowers and 

 leaves. Their flight is quick and jerky, like that of 

 most Lycaenidae, which is very different from the 

 graceful flight of the Papilionidae or Nymphalidae. 

 Where they appear they are nearly always to be 

 seen in some numbers, occasionally in considerable 

 abundance. The butterflies of this genus do not 

 occur, as a rule, at any great elevation. 



1. T. spini Schiff. S.V. p. 186 (1776). Lg. 

 B.E. p. 76, pi. xvii. fig. 2. Stgr. Cat. 1901, p. 69. 

 lynceus Esper. 



29—34 mm. 



$ dark brown, without markings above, except- 

 ing some slightly defined orange spots at an. ang. 

 of h.w. and sometimes an orange spot about the 

 centre of on. marg. " Tail " short and with a white 

 tip. There is asmooth oval spot near costa of f.w. 

 $ somewhat larger, f.w. without sub-costal patch. 

 H.w. with better-defined orange spots near anal 

 angle, and tail somewhat longer than in $ . U.s. 

 greyish-brown, with a row of white streaks ex- 

 tending across both wings, more linear in some 

 specimens than in others, and having a tendency 

 towards a W-shape near an. ang. H.w. Along ou. 

 marg. there is a row of orange spots decreasing in 

 size towards costa. At an. ang. there is a large 

 spot of light blue, which at once distinguishes this 

 siDecies from any other European Tkecla. 



Hab. Locally abundant throughout Central and 



