PLEBEIUS ARGUS. 17& 



as well as a $ from Armenia, that have particularly wide borders, the- 

 black colour prolonged along the nervures, and closely resembling the 

 widest-margined Simplon specimens. The extreme form in this 

 direction appears to be ab. obscura, Grand. In most of the examples 

 in which the marginal border to the forewings is particularly narrow, 

 that on the hindwing is reduced to a series of interneural spots. 

 Blachier notes (in litt.) that certain $ s from near Geneva show an 

 antemarginal row of very large black dots on the upperside of the 

 hindwings ; these spring from the black line that precedes the fringe, 

 some examples having as many as five dots ; they are also present in 

 the alpine examples, but absorbed in the wide black border. Rebel 

 states that the specimens from Sofia and Slivno have narrower black 

 borders to the forewings, and clearly- displayed black marginal spots, 

 on the hindwings, showing, he says, in this respect, a transition to the- 

 var. bella, H.-Sch., of Asia Minor, the general colouring, especially of 

 the underside, otherwise resembling that of Central European examples ; 

 Rebel, of course, is here using bella erroneously for our orientalis. 

 Lowe notes the $ s taken in early May on the Sacro Monte as beings 

 rich in colour, very deeply bordered with black, throwing into relief 

 the white fringes ; the undersides with the base well-powdered with 

 blue. In British specimens there is also considerable difference, the 

 marginal borders of var. cretaceus being sometimes practically obsolete,, 

 even on the forewings, and a trace of pale greyish spots occupying its 

 position. Fowler states that, at Wimborne, the $ s vary from deep 

 purple to light blue, and that one $ , taken in 1888, had dark 

 iridescent blotches upon the centre of the upperside of the forewings. 

 Occasionally the $ s with spotted borders to the hindwings have a 

 tinge of fulvous above the spots. This is, of course, the special feature 

 of var. bella, H.-Sch., an aberration of var. orientals, but it is a form 

 of variation that is particularly widely distributed, e.g., Hodgson 

 is reported (Proc. Sth. Loud. Ent. Soc, 1907, p. 89) as exhibiting a 

 £ from North Lancashire with the orange scaling on the upperside of 

 the hindwings in the same position as in that of the normal $ s. He 

 informs us (in litt.) that he has three $ s from North Lancashire so 

 tinged, two with two spots, and one with one spot, all symmetrical in 

 both hindwings ; also that Grosvenor had a similar orange-scaled J 

 from Surrey. Reverdin notes (in litt.) the capture of a male at 

 Schallberg, on July 8th, 1907, which has very distinct tawny lunules 

 on the upperside of the hindwings, and which he has named rufo- 

 lunidata, in the Bull. Soc. Lep. Geneve, to be shortly published. It 

 appears, unfortunately, to be a synonym of bella, H.-Sch. He also notes 

 two other $ s from the Alps, in which these lunules are to be detected 

 with a lens, and says that Oberthiir has also found £ argus with similar 

 tawny lunules in the Pyrenees-Orientales, but it appears to be 

 particularly well-developed in some of the Spanish races. It is an 

 especial feature of some of the specimens of the var. casaicns (from 

 Casayo), described and figured by Chapman (Trans. Ent. Soc. bond.,. 

 1907, p. 158, pi. v., figs. 16-17), and we find it present also in 

 specimens of hj/pochiona (from Canales), branuelasensix (from Braiiuelas)> 

 and vigensis (from Vigo) (see infra). According to Lampa (Ent.. 

 Tids., vi., p. 13), specimens showing this peculiarity are found in 

 Scandinavia, Finland, and Denmark, but one suspects that Lampa 

 is not referring here to true bella, but merely to the spotted 



