THE MAZARINE BLUE. 177 



side is a subdorsal row of short slanting black dashes. The 

 pale ground colour is sprinkled with some very minute black 

 specks. The head, thorax, and abdomen are hairy with 

 bristly whitish, hairs." Although the caterpillars feed up rather 

 quickly and are full grown and apparently ready to assume the 

 chrysalis state, they do not effect the change until the following 

 May or June. 



The butterfly emerges in about three weeks, so it will be 

 seen that this species continues the caterpillar existence for 

 something over ten months. 



On the Continent there are two broods of the butterfly, and 

 in England there appears to be a partial second flight in some 

 years, as, for instance, in 1901, when captures in August were re- 

 ported from Herts, Kent, Surrey, and Wilts. Its haunts are warm 

 and sunny grassy hollows and slopes, and it is often common 

 in such places on the chalk hills in the south) from the end of 

 May to the end of June. According to Barrett it is scarce in 

 the Eastern Counties ; widely distributed but local in the Mid- 

 land and Western Counties, even to Devon, and in Wales, 

 where chalk or limestone is found ; also in extremely restricted 

 localities in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, and Durham, 

 and in various places in Scotland, extending as far north as 

 Aberdeen. In Ireland it is much more plentiful, especially on 

 the limestone of the west and on the coast hills near Belfast, 

 and even frequents the sandhills of the Dublin coast. 



It is widely spread over Europe, except the Polar parts, and, 

 apparently, the south of Portugal and Spain ; its range extends 

 eastward to Amurland, Mongolia, and China. 



The Mazarine Blue (Nomiades setniargus). 



The male is dull purplish-blue, narrowly bordered with black- 

 ish on the outer margin ; the female is dark brown. On the 

 underside both sexes are pale greyish-brown, with a bluish 



