POLYOMMATUS ICARUS. 133 



light yellow-grey. Lang states (Ent., xxxiii., p. 106) that the Corsican 

 examples, taken in July, have a light underside and a very bright 

 anternarginal orange band on the hindwings, whilst Wheeler notes 

 (Ent. Bee, xxi., p. 281) that, in the Apennines (at Assisi), the underside 

 of the $ s is sandy-brown in colour, the orange being particularly 

 well-marked and forming a continuous band on the underside of both 

 fore- and hindwings in the $ s, the ground colour of which is a rich 

 coffee- brown. Graves observes (Ent. Bee, xviii., p. 150) that, in Syrian 

 examples, the reddish band on the underside is always pronounced. This 

 so-called reddish band consists of the coloured lunules surmounting the 

 grey marginal lunules, which are, in their turn, again surmounted with 

 pale grey or dark grey chevrons, the latter of various shapes, sometimes 

 -conical or pointed, at others arched or rounded. The usual fulvous 

 lunules vary in tint, sometimes, in their richest forms, being bright 

 vermilion in colour (ab. rufescensj, orange-red (ab. aurescensj, orange- 

 yellow (ab. latescens), pale yellow (ab. fiavescens), or grey (sujfesceiis), 

 differing only, in intensity, from those of the upperside. The basal area 

 of the underside of the wings in both sexes is often scaled with blue, 

 sometimes the blue scaling extends to the discoidal area of the wing ( = 

 ab. subcaenilescem), at others there is no blue at all (ab. sinecaerulescens); 

 the 2 s have much less blue scaling than the J s, and in the summer 

 ■examples, particularly, there is frequently none at all. The variation 

 in the size of the spots on the underside is sometimes very marked ; 

 those specimens that have the spots below the normal size but all present 

 have been called parvipuncta, Courv., and those with them Larger than 

 usual crassipuncta, Courv. The position of the spots is also interesting ; 

 usually thesubmedian row of spots is well curved or angulatecl towards 

 the costa and placed about midway between the discoidal and chevrons 

 of the marginal series ; occasionally the submedian spots are pushed 

 back on all the w T ings until almost touching the chevrons ( = ab. discrete) 

 although their change in position may be restricted to the forewings 

 (ab. anticodiscreta) or hindwings { — ab. posticodixereta) ; at other times 

 the spots of the submedian and basal series are brought up quite 

 closely to the discoidal lunule ( = ab. glomerate), although, again, the 

 displacement may be restricted to the forewings (ab. anticoglomerata) 

 or hindwings (ab. posticoglomerata). The variation in the number and 

 arrangement of the spots on the underside is very great. On the fore- 

 wings there are normally — two basal spots, the discoidal lunule, seven 

 submedian spots, the two lowest ones in the same interneural space 

 and usually united, whilst occasionally an 8th is present, on the costa, 

 ( = ab. addenda, n.ab.), sometimes this takes the form of a little streak, 

 finally there is a series of marginal spots surmounted by orange or 

 yellow lunules and these in turn by grey or blackish chevrons. The 

 form with extra spots between the submedian series and discoidal 

 lunules has been named excessa by Gillmer. On the hindwings 

 there are four basal spots in an antero-posterior straight line, 

 a median series consisting of eight spots of which the two lowest 

 are united, whilst the series of marginal lunules is similar to that of 

 the forewings but with the fulvous usually more strongly developed 

 both in quantity and intensity. The modification of these spots has 

 attracted a great deal of attention ; the basal spots may vary from to 5 

 or even more, the form with being figured by Esper and named, 140 

 years ago, icarinus by Scharfenberg, that with one spot was figured and 



