28 british butterflies. 



Male and female aberrations. 



a. ab. minor, CklL, "Ent.," xxii., p. 176 (1889); Tutt, " Brit. Butts.," p. 167 

 (1896); CklL, "Ent. Kec," ix., p. 331 (1897); Lamb., "Pap. Belg.," p. 240 

 (1902); Bartel, "Ent. Zeits. ' Guben," xviii., p. 115 (1904); Lamb., "Cat. 

 Lep. Belg.," p. 428 (1907). Corydon ab., Gush, "Ent.," xx., 265 (1887); Tutt, 

 " Ent.," xx., p. 323 (1887); Briggs, " Proc. Sth. Lond. Ent. Soc," p. 80 (1887); 

 Ashby, "Proc. Sth. Lond. Ent. Soc," p. 108 (1898); Wheeler, "Ent. Kec.," 

 xvi., p. 16 (1904); Pickett, "Proc. Sth. Lond. Ent. Soc," p. 114 (1902).— 

 While collecting with a friend on the chalk downs between Lewes and Glynde, we 

 met with a great profusion of both <$ and ? specimens of this butterfly of 

 unusually dwarfed size. Most of the specimens were less in size than Lycaena 

 icarus. They appeared to be confined to a small spot just by the rifle-butts, for, 

 although we saw hundreds on the downs outside this particular spot, they were 

 all of the normal size (Gush, Ent., xx., p. 265). 



This form was named by Cockerell in 1889, without description, but 

 with reference to Ent., xx., p. 265, on which the above note appears. 

 These small specimens used to be, and still are, in both sexes, exceed- 

 ingly abundant on the piece of coast near the South Foreland light- 

 house on the Dover side. Just here, the foodplant grows very sparsely 

 on the exposed cliffs, and we suggested (Ent., xx., p. 323) that 

 insufficient or not sufficiently nutritious food in the larval stage was 

 probably the cause of the frequency of dwarf examples in this 

 restricted area. Wheeler suggests that the same cause probably 

 accounts for the very diminutive size of all the specimens taken and 

 seen by him on a steep shaly slope of the Dent du Midi between 

 Champery and Barmaz, and mentioned in the Ent. Bee, xvi., p. 16. 

 But they occur occasionally in many places with the type, possibly the 

 result of the larvae being badly placed, not only in most British 

 localities, but also on the Continent. Cruttwell notes the species in 

 countless thousands at Watlington, in August, 1902, all very small, 

 some under an inch, and sometimes so inert that they allowed them- 

 selves to be trodden upon. Some very small examples were taken at 

 Clelles during the first few days of August, 1906. Edgell records a 

 $ only 25mm. in expanse, from the Lewes district, Ashby a very tiny 

 one at Riddlesdown, Pickett many from the Dover district, and we 

 have already made many other references (see antea pp. 15-16) to the 

 occurrence of small examples of this species. 



|8. ab. pallida, Tutt, " Brit. Butts.," p. 167 (1896); Wheel., "Butts. Switz.," 

 p. 32 (1903); Bartel, "Ent. Zeits. Gub.," xviii., p. 115 (1904); Seitz, " Gross- 

 Schmett.," i., p. 315 (1909); Rebel, " Berge's Schmett.," 9th ed., p. 72 (1909). 

 Corydon ab. b., Meyer-Dur, " Schmett. Schweiz," p. 86 (1852). — Underside 

 white in <? , pale ochreous in $ (Tutt). 



There is considerable difference in the colour of the underside of the 

 wings, and we have already dealt at length with the different forms 

 including pallida (see antea p. 16). Meyer-Dur observes that, in the 

 specimens from the Valais and the Bernese Oberland, " the underside 

 is much paler (i.e., than in examples from Wittenburg), not light 

 brown on the hindwing like the North German examples, but quite 

 pale like the South European albicans and osmar." Wheeler says 

 that this is in accordance with his experience, almost all Swiss 

 specimens that he has seen having pale undersides in the J , 

 though not so pale as in the Spanish albicans: the ? s, however, 

 often have the underside very brown, though pale ones are not 

 uncommon. 



