CUPIDO MINIMUS. 105 



Original description. — Papilio minimus, Schaeff., liatisb., t. 165, 

 f. 1-2. The smallest of the known butterflies. The wings above are 

 quite uniform blackish-brown ; underneath, grey, with a band of 

 black spots as in the foregoing species (argiolus) ; that this is not the 

 same as argiolus of Linne, is evident from the black-brown colour of 

 the wings on the upper surface, in distinction to this, the colour of the 

 previous species (argiolus) is blue, with a black border. Not uncommon 

 with us in roads near woods (Fuessly). 



Imago. — 19mm. -24mm. Ground-colour, dark fuscous, sometimes 

 inclining to blackish. $ sprinkled with light blue scales at base and 

 towards the disc of the wings ; 2 uniform blackish-fuscous. The 

 underside bluish-grey, with well-defined discoidal and submarginal 

 transverse row of black dots ringed with white ; hindwings also with 

 discoidal, basal and submarginal row of dots similarly ringed. 



Sexual dimorphism. — The J is generally to be distinguished from 

 the 2 by the scattering of bluish scales, towards the bases of the wings, 

 on the upperside; the 2 being entirely blackish-fuscous. Theandroconia 

 have particularly concave edges and less elongated bases than have 

 those of Cyaniris semiargus, so that they are very much rounded, in 

 fact, sometimes circular ; length, without stem, O054mm., width, 

 O04mm. ; there are about 12 rows of dots across each (Aurivillius). 

 Pierce describes (in litt.) the scales of the $ as follows: — "(1) The 

 transparent scales '0035in. x 0015in., pinky, deeper at the apex, generally 

 an elegantly-shaped scale, widest at the apex, sometimes with three 

 very evenly rounded lobes, the central one being slightly longer. (2) 

 Darker scales, *003in. x *001in., two- and three-pointed, wider at the 

 apex. (3) Underside scales four-pointed. (4) Androconia, -0015in.x 

 •OOlin., nearly round, each with twelve rows of about eleven spots, 

 joined by a fine connecting-line. The 2 scales are : — (1) Dark scales, 

 bluntly four-pointed. (2) Some slightly wider and much shorter 

 scales, with uneven apex, one side as a rule being longer than the 

 other. (3) Underside scales bluntly four-pointed. [The transparent 

 scales on the upperside are, of course, absent in the 2 .] 



Variation. — The variation of this species is less striking than that 

 of most of its allies, yet it shows a considerable range in tint, size, and 

 the spotting of the underside. The 2 s are much darker than the 3 s, 

 which are sometimes quite plentifully sprinkled with blue scales ; the 

 ground colour varies from pale grey to black, in both sexes it usually 

 inclines to greyish-fuscous, the 2 less suggestively grey than the S > 

 whilst, in others, the greyish tint decreases, until, in the most extreme 

 forms, the colour is quite black ; some $ s are very distinctly brown. 

 Of individuals of unusual ground colour, Dale records an " albino " 

 taken at Winchester, and Goldthwaite a xanthic example taken at 

 West Horsley {Proc. Sth. Lond. Ent. Soc, 1886, p. 51). Not only is 

 there considerable difference in the quantity of blue scales in the $ , 

 but also in their tint, some being green rather than blue ( = ab. 

 viridescens, n. ab.), whilst, of the latter, some are distinctly violet-blue 

 ( = ab. violascens, n. ab.), others bright pale blue ( = ab. caerulescens, n. 

 ab.) ; the most violet -blue $ s observed come from Spain (Leech 

 coll.), Airolo (Godman), Bergiin (Zeller). In Britain, the colour 

 of the upperside of the $ appears to be subject to local variation, 

 the suffusion of blue being particularly strong in examples from 

 the north and west of Ireland (Ent. Bee, ii., p. 299). Bankes says 



