Superfamily II : RURALIDES. 



Family : ruraluxe. 



Subfamily: LYCENiNiE. 



Tribe : everidi. 



We have already, in the preceding volume, dealt with two tribes 

 of the subfamily Lycaeninae, viz., the Lampididi and Celastrinidi. 

 Although it might be advisable, on some phylogenetic grounds, to 

 deal next with the main tribe of " blues," the Plebeiidi, there are 

 others that make it at least convenient to follow with the Everidi. 



The oldest plural name used for the members of this group of 

 small, and often delicately- tailed, "blues" is Hiibner's Everae (Verz., 

 p. 69) , hence our tribal name Everidi. As at present constituted, we 

 restrict the name to three very limited Palgearctic genera, Everes (type 

 argiades), Cupido (type minimus), Tongeia (type fischeri), which show, 

 in many respects, very close alliance, together with Bothria (type 

 chennellii), Binghamia (type parrhasius), and possibly some others out- 

 side the Palaearctic region. Staudinger includes (Cat., 3rd ed., p. 77) 

 these Everid genera in his heterogeneous group, Lycaena — comprising 

 almost the whole of the Palsearctic "blues," whilst Meyrick includes 

 them, with many other discordant elements, in his genus Chryso- 

 phanus. 



Absence of sufficient material of the early stages makes it difficult 

 to work out the characters of this tribe at all satisfactorily. The 

 general features, however, of the egg, larva, and pupa, suggest that 

 Everes and Cupido are closely allied, and this is abundantly supported 

 by the genitalic characters. Moore's treatment of the Cupido group, 

 however, seems to be at fault. He instituted the genus Zizera for 

 certain small Indian Lycamids, which he considered closely allied to 

 our Palasarctic minimus, fixing, indeed, the latter as the type of the 

 genus. To this, however, Chapman takes objection, and observes that 

 not only has minimus nothing really in common with the Indian 

 species with which he groups it, but that the Indian section is Celas- 

 trinidin its affinities, and not Everid, as is minimus. He says (in litt.)\ 

 " Taking malm as a type of the eastern species with which Moore was 

 dealing, we find that these belong to the Celastrinid section of the 

 Lycaenids, whilst minimus belongs to the Everids. The ' maha ' group 

 disagrees with ' minimus ' in having the costal and subcostal nervures 

 of the forewing just touching and not anastomosing, and this is a 

 character that unquestionably has its value in classifying these 

 species, and indicates a difference of affinity. Everes presents the same 

 characters as minimus, but has not been associated with Zizera by any 

 systematists so far as I know ; Zizera (i.e., maha, etc.) has, however, 

 been rightly regarded by de Niceville and others as closely related to 

 Celastrina, in which these two nervures are quite separate. The $ 

 ancillary appendages show, at once, however, that Everes (argiades) and 

 Cupido (minimus) are closely related, whilst Cupido (minimus) and Zizera 

 (maha) have nothing in common, butthat the latter (maha, etc.) is of the 



