278 BRITISH BUTTEEFLIES. 



Hyrcania, ? Asia Minor," and, together with Lederer and Christoph, 

 distributed the Persian examples among European collections under 

 this name. In 1901, he maintained (Cat., 3rd. ed., p. 89), the 

 error, but included the Asia Minor examples without a query, giving 

 " bellis — Asia Minor mountains, Hyrcania," as localities. The examples 

 of this race bear no similarity whatever either on the upper- or under- 

 side of either sex, to bellis, Frr. (which Staudinger re-named parnassia), 

 and, in their most extreme forms, approach, in the spotting of the 

 underside, an almost perfect Plebeiid pattern. The differences, as 

 exhibited in the British Museum series, need no further elaboration 

 than our description already gives. The race is particularly characterised 

 by its large size, wide-margin to wings (<^), blue-tinged $ s (with one 

 or two faint orange spots), and particularly well-defined underside 

 spotting. It differs from intermedia in that the latter has a narrower 

 margin (^), although both have about the same average size, both 

 have strongly blue-tinged $ s, although intermedia is much more 

 strongly marked with orange, and the underside of the latter has the 

 spotting far less completely expressed. 



y. var. helena, Stand., " Stett. Ent. Ztg.," p. 265 (18G2); Mill., "Icon.," 

 p. 326, pi. xxxix.,figs. 1-3(1863); Staid., " Hor. Soc. Ent. Ross.," vi., p. 55 

 (1870); '• Cat.," 2nd ed., p. 14 (1871); Lang, "Butts. Eur.," p. 130(1884): Kane, 

 " Eur. Butts.," p. 49 (1885); Riihl, "Pal. Gross-Schmett.," i., p. 297 (1895); Tutt, 

 " Brit. Butts.," p. 164 (1896); Staud., " Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 89 (1901); Rebel, " Berl. 

 Ent. Zeits.," xlvii., p. 91 (1902); 1., p. 293 (1905); Fountaine, " Ent. Rec," xiv., 

 pp. 32, 66 (1902). Parnassia, Fountaine, "Ent. Rec," xiv., p. m (1902).— Five 

 pairs in good condition from the Taygetos mountains, in the southern part of Pelopo- 

 nesus, captured at the commencement of June, at an altitude of 6000ft. -7000ft., by 

 Kruper. Lycaena helena closely approaches L. semiargus, Rott. (acis, S. V.), 

 which, by the bye, also occurs in Greece. It also comes near L. antiochena, Led., 

 which, however, is unknown to me in nature. The eyes are haired as in L. semi- 

 argus'f; nor is there any difference in the shape of the antennal clubs and legs of 

 this insect. The upperside of the wings of the S are of exactly the same colour, 

 dull dark blue, with blackish outer margin and black nervures ; the black discoidal 

 lunule is, however, entirely absent in two examples, and only faintly indicated in 

 the others. On the underside of the hindwings there are, on the outer edge, in 

 cells 16, 2, and 3, an orange-yellow band, defined outwardly and inwardly by black 

 spots, of which the inner row is continued in cells 4, 5, and 6, as black spots edged 

 with white; in the forewings, also, in cells 1, 2, and 3, are pale-orange, black- 

 margined, ocellated spots. Otherwise we find the same spotting as in semiargus, 

 also the same blue gloss at the base and inner margin o£ the hindwings. The ? 

 of L. helena is black-brown on the upperside, a trifle paler than that of L. semi- 

 argus ; only one ? shows at the base of the forewings a few blue atoms ; one is at 

 once struck by the four broad, almost united, marginal orange spots in cells U>, 2, 

 and 3, of the hindwings, as well as by the pair of very similar, but pale, spots in 

 cells 1 and 2 of the forewings, but which, in two specimens, are almost absent ; on 

 the underside, which differs from that of the <5 only by the brown-grey colour, the 

 orange is present in an enhanced form, and gives the impression of a band on the 

 hindwings; in one specimen, internally, the orange is not at all bordered by black 

 spots, which are also missing from cells 4 and 5, whilst outwardly, in the orange, 

 there is only a pair of small black dots. Although the var. bellis of Freyer appears 

 to connect semiargus with helena, the general impression made by the latter, makes 

 one believe it to be a distinct species. The orange in bellis only appears in short, 

 widely-separated, spots, which never create the impression of being band-like ; 



f In the Wien. Ent. Mouats., 1857, p. 28, Lederer classifies L. semiargus (acis) 

 with the species having naked eyes, but an ordinary magnifying glass has been 

 sufficient to prove, in all specimens examined, the presence of a distinct, dense, 

 cover of hairs (Staudinger). 



* These are, of course, not the true var. bellis, Frr., but var. intermedia, 

 Tutt. 



