PLEBEIUS ARGUS. 201 



Expanse of wings — s one inch two lines, ? one inch three lines. Iburi, Hokkaido, 

 July. Coll. M. Fenton (Butler). 



Under this name there are, in the Brit. Mus. coll., one $ and two 

 2 s labelled "Leech coll., Oiwake, 1885," and one $ "Leech coll., 

 Gensan, Corea, June 1886 (Leech)." These are small, almost typical- 

 looking European mountain examples, the^ hardly differentiable from 

 those captured at Bergiin, Trafoi, etc., but a little more purplish- a 

 little less violet-blue ; the discoidal lunule on all wings distinct ; the 

 2 s almost without orange markings, almost as in the European 

 mountain forms. One $ and two 2 s in Brit. Mus. coll., labelled 

 " Nikko, July 2nd, 1904 (Elwes)," and placed as mierargus, evidently 

 belong here (see p. 200). 



r. var. coreana, n. var. — <S . Of a deep purple-blue, with well-defined marginal 

 border to the forewings, extending in some specimens in more, in others in less, 

 conspicuously dark lines along the nervures ; the hind wings with a weak band 

 sometimes absorbing, more often not, the hind marginal spots, but continued 

 broadly along the costa ; the nervures also dark ; the discoidals of all four wings 

 traceable, but usually weak ; the fringes white, basally shaded with grey, but on 

 the hindwings with dark neurational marks extending halfway through, that is to 

 the end of the grey area. The underside bluish-white, particularly blue at the 

 base, the discoidal, basal, and submedian row of, spots well-defined, with white 

 rings (whiter than the ground colour); the marginal spots on all four wings well- 

 developed, the orange well-marked, especially on hindwings, and of good tone, the 

 metallic kernels either absent or ill-developed. The ? s fuscous-brown, the fore- 

 wings almost unicolorous, with a fine white margin along the outer half of the costa, 

 with hardly a trace of orange on the forewings, and then only as a faint band 

 parallel to the hindmargin ; the hindwings equally dusky or with bright orange 

 lunule s marking off the marginal spots of the ground colour; in one, these marginal 

 spots are externally edged with white. The underside brown ; the spots well- 

 and clearly margined with white, the orange bands of all four wings not brighter 

 than those of the 3 s ; the pale subterminal band well-developed on hindwings 

 only ; the green metallic scales fairly developed in the Corean, but almost absent 

 in the Japanese, examples in the Brit. Mus. coll. (One of the Corean examples has 

 the ground colour of the underside of the forewings much suffused.) Fringes on 

 the upperside much darker than in the <? , in some quite dark grey, with white tips 

 only, in others whiter on the outer half, and more nearly resembling those of the J . 

 Four <? s, three ? s, Japan, Pryer coll.; nine S s, three ? s, Gensan, Corea. 

 Leech coll. Also " one c? , one ? , Assuma Yama, Japan, July 92 (Sansom)." 



In the Brit. Mus. coll. there are, placed erroneously over the name 

 var. mierargus, four $ s and three $ s of coreana labelled " Japan, Pryer 

 coll." These are as large as the Spanish bejarensis, and very similar 

 thereto, the $ s with similar dark marginal borders and white fringes ; 

 $ s with only the faintest traces of orange on the upperside, so as to be 

 almost unicolorous, fringes fuscous, except the white apices. There 

 are also nine $ s and three 2 s labelled " Gensan, June 1886, Leech." 

 These are even larger than the first-named examples ; the orange 

 lunules of the hindwings better developed, the fringes of one $ hardly 

 so dark. Another $ with similar label, but " July 1886 " instead of 

 " June 1886," has whitish fringes throughout. These are no doubt 

 the examples to which Leech refers (Butts. China, etc., ii., p. 301) in 

 the statement " Corean specimens are usually much above the average 

 size." This appears to be the race to which Oberthiir refers (Etudes, 

 xx., p. 29), when he states that, " in Japan, the type is larger than in 

 Europe," which is by no means the case with all Japanese argus, e.g., 

 vars. micrargm and pseudaegon. 



v. var. corsiea, Bellier, "Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr.," p. 615(1862); Tutt, "Brit. 

 Butts.," p. 183 (1896); Stand., "Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 78(1901); Lamb., "Pap. 



