134 Laeertidas. 



reticulated pattern. The lower parts, with the exception of the throat, 

 which is usually bluish or lilac, vary, in the males, from bright yellow 

 to orange or red,* with black dots or small round black spots ; in the 

 females they are pale yellow or pale orange, usually uniform, some- 

 times with scattered black dots ; an aberrant female from. Limpsfield, 

 Surrey, has large irregular blackish grey blotches on the throat and 

 belly.f 



To conclude this account of the coloration, notes are added on the 

 npper parts of a few individuals, which depart from the more normal 

 described above. 



a. (Female from Scotland.) Four light dorsal streaks separated by 

 black streaks of equal width ; two black streaks on the temple, con- 

 tinued on the neck, and fusing to a broad band, with a series of small 

 light spots, on the body. 



b. (Female from St. Peter, Carniola.) Nape normal; back with 

 irregular black spots and a dorso-lateral series of very large ocellar 

 spots, 8 in number, suggestive of L. agilis ; another series of large 

 ocelli, continuation of the upper labial streak, lower down on the side. 

 Belly and lower surface of limbs and tail much spotted with black. 



c. (Male from Moscow.) Brown, without spots, with a somewhat 

 darker broad lateral band. Belly with few black spots. Females 

 from the Alps and Jura, with effaced markings, have been named var. 

 pallida by Fatio, and olive specimens without any markings constitute 

 the var. carniolica of Werner. Uniform pale brown females, from 

 Silesia, have been recorded by Milde (1. c). 



d. (Males from Bournemouth and Bloxworth.) With 8 longi- 

 tudinal series of ocelli, which may show a tendency to arrange 

 themselves in cross-bars. 



e. (Male from Brussels, preserved in the Brussels Museum.) 

 Purplish ^ey above (in spirit) without stripes but with small rusty 

 red spots ; belly pinkish, spotted with rusty red. 



/. Black or blackish specimens have long been known. Although 



* In L. muralis, when the belly is orange or red, the lower surface of the head 

 is also of the same colour. 



t Many authors, from Milne Edwards downwards, speak of the lower parts 

 as bluish or greenish white or even green. I believe, with Fatio, that this 

 statement is in most cases based upon an examination of specimens that have 

 been preserved in spirit, as it is the rule for the yellow or orange to turn to 

 greenish or green under the influence of this fluid. This does not apply to 

 Leydig's allusion to female specimens from Germany, in which the lower parts 

 are simply whitish, and to males with bluish pearl-coloured belly. Such 

 specimens I have never seen, either in England, in France, in Belgium or in 

 Germany. Young specimens, however, may have the belly of a bluish grey. 



