EVEEES AEGIADES. 



71 



is an inhabitant of the mountain region, and is chiefly found at 

 an elevation of 3000ft. and upwards." Dyar, Scudder, and others 

 treat comyntas as distinct from argiades, without, however, assigning 

 any reason, and also look upon amyntula as a species separate from 

 comyntas. Chapman writes (in litt. 25, ix, '08) that " an examination 

 of the ancillary appendages of argiades and alcetas from Europe 

 shows that these are distinguishable without intermediates ; 

 in Japan only argiades appears to occur ; in Western America (Cal- 

 gary, California, etc.), a form (sent under the name of amyntula) is,, 

 perhaps, in these organs rather nearer alcetas than argiades, whilst 

 in Eastern America, specimens labelled comyntas have them decidedly 

 nearer argiades. This form continues south to Texas and Honduras ; 

 in Costa Rica it is argiades rather than alcetas, but varied so as to 

 be possibly distinct, certainly a marked geographical race. Con- 

 sidering there are geographical reasons to explain these slight diffe- 

 rences between comyntas and amyntula, one regards the whole race 

 in America, including portions of Central America as one species, 

 the ancillary appendages not very distinct in the eastern examples 

 from argiades, or in the north-west from alcetas.'' We can quite 

 easily distinguish argiades from alcetas on wing-markings, but 

 cannot do so in the case of many American comyntas, although 

 some of the American specimens in the British Museum coll. 

 are, in this respect, not at all typical. Bethune-Baker (in litt, 

 23, ix, '08) expresses the conviction that comyntas is co-specific 

 with argiades, and notes : " From the underside I do not think I 

 could separate argiades and comyntas at all, though I could generally 

 from the upperside : the genitalia I consider inseparable." Oberthiir 

 writes (in litt., 27, xi, '08) that it appears to him that "comyntas and 

 auiyntula belong to the same species, both being merely American 

 forms of our Palasarctic argiades,'' this opinion being based on many 

 examples from different American provinces. Chapman's view, that 

 we have, in America, a species not really separable from argiades, but 

 exhibiting in its ancillary appendages a range of variation not observed 

 in Asia and Europe, and Bethune-Baker's strongly expressed opinion, 

 leave us no choice except to note the various American forms, about 

 which, however, little is really known. Edwards observes (Can. 

 Ent., viii.j p. 203) that, in West Virginia, comyntas is dimorphic in the 

 2 , most of the sex there being black, others blue with black margins. 

 Scudder adds (Butts. New Engl., ii., p. 917) that the same is the case 

 occasionally on Long Island, but he has not observed it elsewhere. Of 

 its seasonal variation, Scudder observes (op. cit.) that, although the 

 insect is many-brooded, no distinctions have as yet been pointed out in 

 its successive broods, as is the case with European examples. He, 

 however, notes that, in specimens from the west of North America, the 

 whole upper surface of the wings has a hoary aspect, and the dark 

 spots of the underside are remarkably faint ; southern examples, he says, 

 differ in the less depth of the purplish tint of the upper surface of the 

 wings in the $ , the narrower dark bordering of the same, and in the 

 purer and more uniform satin-grey of the underside of the wings in 

 both sexes. Although the spring brood appears, as a rule, in Asia and 

 Europe, to be on the whole smaller than the summer brood, this does 

 not appear to be so in North America,, but Edwards avers (Can. Ent. y 

 viii., p. 203) that, wherever comyntas appears, two sizes of the butterfly 



