THE SILVER-STUDDED BLUE. I 59 



fore wings there is one at the end of the cliscal cell and a series 

 of seven beyond ; the hind wings have from three to five spots 

 before the discal spot, and a curved series of seven beyond ; 

 there is a black-edged orange band on all the wings, and 

 beyond this on the hind wings there is a series of metallic blue 

 centred spots ; hence the English name of the butterfly, given 

 to it by Moses Harris, which is certainly more suitable than 

 Petiver's " Lead Argus." 



In a general way the male is rather larger than the female, 

 but this is not invariably the case. The colour of the male 

 varies in shade, and very occasionally, perhaps, is of a lilac 

 tint ; the border varies in width, and is sometimes reduced to 

 a mere line. In the female the orange marks may be of a 

 brownish or yellowish tint, and now and then there may be a 

 series of wedge-shaped blue spots above these marks on the hind 

 wings. On the under side there is a good deal of modification 

 of the black spots as regards size and shape, and occasionally 

 there is at least one extra spot on the fore wings placed between 

 the discal spot and the base of the wing ; white markings some- 

 times appear on the fore wings between the outer series of 

 black spots and the orange band, and with this there is 

 generally a white band in a similar position on the hind wings. 

 Female specimens with splashes of the male colour on one or 

 more of the wings have been obtained, and, more rarely, 

 examples entirely male on one side and female on the other 

 have been recorded. 



Frohawk states that the egg both in colour and texture, 

 resembles white porcelain ; " all the depths produce a deep 

 purplish-grey shade. The ova are deposited singly, and adhere 

 firmly to the receptacle." 



Caterpillars hatched out from eggs, laid the previous summer, 

 on April 1st to 3rd. They were reared on gorse {Ulex enropceus), 

 pupated towards the end of June, and the first butterfly, a 

 male, appeared on July 10th. 



