/ ' Siefx j 



l7o THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The Small Blue (Zizera minima). 



The butterfly on Plate 115 is sometimes referred to as the 

 " Bedford Blue" and also as the " Little Blue." 



Both sexes are blackish, or sooty-brown ; the male is pow- 

 dered, more or less, with silvery-blue scales. The under side 

 is greyish-white with a tinge of blue at the base of each wing, 

 but chiefly on the hind pair ; the spots are black encircled with 

 white. As will be seen on turning to the plate, there is varia- 

 tion in size. Fig. 5 represents a giant race occurring in some 

 localities, and the particular specimen depicted was taken, with 

 many others, on the coast near Lymington, Hants ; it seems to 

 be referable to var. alsoides, Gerhard. Variation on the under 

 side is usually in the direction of complete absence of spots, but 

 Mr. Joy has recorded a specimen with the spots on the hind 

 wings extended into streaks of considerable but varying length. 



Figures of the early stages will be found on Plate 114. 



The egg is pale greenish in colour, netted with whitish ; it is 

 laid in June on the calyx of a flower-bud, generally low down, 

 of the kidney-vetch (Anthyllts vidneraria). 



According to Buckler, caterpillars hatched on June 21 from 

 eggs laid between the 16th and 18th of that month, and at 

 once commenced to feed on the flowers of the kidney-vetch, 

 and made their way to the seed, for which they evinced a 

 marked preference. When full grown, the caterpillar is 

 brownish, sometimes tinged with pink. The fine bristles are 

 dark brown ; there is a darker line along the middle of the 

 back, and a line of dark marks on each side. The head is 

 black and shining. 



The chrysalis is described by Buckler as " dirty whitish-grey, 

 approaching to drab, palest on the back of the abdomen, 

 greyish on the head and thorax, both of which are marked with 

 a black dorsal stripe, which is a little interrupted ; on either 



