POLYOMMATUS ICARUS. 147 



be almost, if not absolutely, identical witb thetis, ~Eisp.=caerulea, Fuchs, 

 and the name should probably be sunk as a synonym of thetis, Esp. 



s. ab. supraeaerulea, Obth., " Etudes," xx., expl. pi. iv., fig. 46 (1890). 

 Icarus ab., South, " Ent.," xx., pi. ii., fig. 11 (1887). Icarus ? , Tutt, "Brit. 

 Butts.," p. 175 (1896); Wheeler, "Butts. Switz.," p. 35 (1903). Alexis ab., Obth., 

 "Etudes," xx., p. 23 (1896). A methystina, Gillm., "Ent. Wochenbl. (Ins.Borse)," 

 xxv., p. 23 (1908); "Int. Ent. Zeits. Guben," ii., pp. 1, 10 (1908); Trautm., "Int. 

 Ent. Zeits. Gub.," ii., p. 162 (1908); Seitz, " Gross-Schmett.," p. 312 (1909), 

 Piebel, " Berge's Schmett.," 9th ed., p. 70 (1909). — Certain regions produce 

 very blue ? s. Thus, in England, alexis 2 is often of a rather pale, but brilliant, 

 blue, with a very special facies. In Brittany the 2 is sometimes blue, but the tint 

 is darker than in the English race. Algeria, however, appears to offer the most 

 beautiful blue type with a very wide red-spotted border. We have figured a ? , 

 taken at Lambessa, our no. 46 (supraeaerulea). We possess another ? , from 

 lhe same locality, less blue, but having the red marginal band still better 

 developed (Oberthiir). 



This is our " lilac-blue with orange spots " form which we refer to 

 icarus, Rott. (Brit. Butts., p. 175). It has been questioned whether 

 we were "right in selecting this form as the type, although reference to 

 von Eottemburg's original description of the 2 (antea, p. 115) will 

 show that his diagnosis included a pretty wide range of aberrations. 

 Oberthiir called it supraeaerulea in his description of the plate in which 

 the form was figured. Gillmer redescribed it, with reference to 

 Oberthiir's and South's figures, under the name of ametlu/stina as 

 -" Alis supra cceruleis, fascia marginali fulva," noting (Ent. Woch., 

 xxv., p. 23) that, " foe the 2 icarus with entirely blue upperside 

 and red marginal band, a new name must be chosen." [See also Int. 

 Ent. Zeits. Guben, ii., pp. 1, 10.] 



r. ab. mariscolore, Kane, "Ent.," xxvi., p. 243(1893). — The Irish ? offers 

 the most conspicuous divergence from the normal English and Continental type, 

 in which the basal half only is dusted with blue scales (as figured Ent., xx., pi. ii., 

 fig. 8*), the brown of the upperside being widely replaced by a violet, or wholly by 

 the bright, blue of L. bellargus. These forms are not uncommon in Ireland, in 

 Galway, Sligo, Donegal, Antrim, Down, Westmeath, Waterford, etc., and are 

 accompanied by a series (often almost confluent) of very bright orange peacock-eye 

 markings on the outer margins of all wings, so that some specimens (if not too 

 brilliant) would pass muster as the var. ceronus of L. bellargus (as figured Ent., 

 xx., pi. ii., fig. 12), another most interesting testimony to the genetic affinities of 

 this species. This var. ceronus of P. icarus occurs in some abundance at Ballyna- 

 hinch, Connemara, and at Ardrahan and other parts of Galway, as well as in some 

 central and southern localities. The fig. 11+ of South's plate ii. (Ent., xx.) is not 

 of so vivid a tint as some specimens I have taken of this beautiful aberration . 



. I have not heard that this Irish form of the ? has been recorded as a local 

 form from the Continent, and, as it is an important parallel variation to that of L. 

 bellargus and the ab. syngrapha of L. coridon, think it may receive the varietal 

 name of mariscolore (Kane). 



Kane's form is, therefore, the wholly violet-blue 2 of P. icarus with 

 a strongly-developed band of orange lunules, differing only from ab. 

 supraeaerulea, Obth. ( — ametlujstina, Gillm.) in the brighter tint of its 

 ground colour. 



v. ab. pallid ula, n. nom. Pallida, Tutt, " Brit. Butts.," p. 175 (1896); 

 Gillm., "Int. Ent. Zeits. Gub.," ii., p. 11 (1908); Seitz, "Gross-Schmett.," 



* This is not quite accurate. In the figure to which reference is here made, the 

 blue coloration extends to the marginal area, and has only the costal margins 

 of the fore- and hindwings dark; nor is this description of the "normal English 

 and Continental type " at all accurate. 



f This is the supraeaerulea, Obth. — ametliystina, Gillm., as described 

 supra. 



