POLYOMMATUS ICARUS. 173 



emergence, some of the 3 s being practically typical. The Sardinian 

 and Corsican forms are quite typical in the $ s, the $ s being of the 

 celina form, which occurs also aberrationally in the hot summer all 

 over Europe. Our fine western and northern race, clara, probably the 

 largest and most beautiful of all, also occurs aberrationally in most 

 parts of central Europe. The following details of these forms may, 

 however, prove interesting : — 



a. var. celina, Aust., " Pet. Nouv. Ent.," ii., p. 293 (1879) ; Obth., " Etudes," 

 vi., p. 50 (1881); Staud., "Iris," v., p. 280 (1892); Buhl, "Pal. Gross-Schmett.," 

 pp. 269, 761 (1893-5) ; Kbl. and Eghfr., " Ann. Nat. Hofmus.," ix., p. 32 (1894); 

 Staud., "Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 85 (1901); Lamb., "Pap. Belg.," p. 231 (1902); 

 Fletcher, "Ent.," xxxvii., pp. 316-7 (1904) ; Elwes, " Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond.," 

 p. 379 (1905); Fountne., " Ent.," xxxix., p. 108 (1906) ; Verity, " Bull. Soc. Ent. 

 It.," xl., p. 115 (1908). Icarus var., Zell., "Isis," pp. 150 et seq. (1847)). 

 .? Rufina, Fletcher, "Ent.," xxxvii., p. 317 (1904); Seitz, "Gross-Schmett.," p. 

 312, pi. 80, g (1909). $ Flavocinctata, Bowl.-Brown, " Ent.," xlii., p. 300 (1909). 

 — 20mm. -23mm. Brilliant sky-blue, with a very wide black margin ; the fringes 

 white ; an interneural, marginal series of very large black dots on the hindwing. 

 The underside with almost the same arrangement of spots as in P. icarus, 

 but its ground colour, of a pale brown, is darker than that of the latter species ; 

 the fulvous antemarginal lunules equally well marked on all the wings ; the base 

 of the hindwings not dusted with blue or green. The body is blackish-blue above, 

 white below; the palpi white, except the terminal joint, which is black; the 

 antennse black, ringed with white, the club black above, fulvous below. This 

 pretty Lycsenid appears to be intermediate between eros and icarus, and was dis- 

 covered by me in September last at Sidi-Bel- Abbes in Algeria. Four & s (the ? 

 is unknown to me) (Austaut). 



We have examined a very long series in the British Museum col- 

 lection, and it appears to us that celina is, in some ways, a very 

 characteristic form, occurring in Morocco, Algeria, and Sicily, in the 

 summer broods, but appearing more rarely in the early spring, when the 

 $ s are much more typical in size, colour and appearance, although 

 these again have quite distinct meridionalis facies. In this form {celina), 

 the $ s vary greatly in size, and not only have a tendency to develop 

 interneural spots on the outer margin of the hindwings, but they have 

 an unusually strongly dark marginal band on all the wings, which, 

 when united with the interneural spots, sometimes becomes very con- 

 spicuous. The undersides of the $ s are rather dark grey, the $ s 

 grey, or (particularly in the summer brood) grey-brown, the spots 

 strongly developed, and the orange well-marked. The ? s are charac- 

 terised by the strength of the orange lunules on all the wings on 

 both the under- and upperside, often uniting into a continuous 

 band. The very early (March) $ s sometimes are, sometimes are 

 not, of this form ; the early (March) $ s are strongly tinged with 

 blue, the May examples are much less so, and both the blue-tinted 

 and purely brown forms are found, whilst the hot summer examples 

 are always of the brown celina type. It is remarkable to find $ s 

 labelled " Lambessa, 12. v. '82 (Elwes) " and " Philippeville, 16. v. '82 

 (Elwes)" quite typical P. icarus. The September $ s are of both 

 forms ; of two labelled " Sebdou, Sept., 1880," one is of the celina, 

 and one of almost typical, form. The Corsican $ s are not referable 

 to celina, being much nearer the type, but the $ s are almost identical 

 with those from Mauretania, although the Corsican 2 has been 

 named flavocinctata, by Rowland-Brown [Ent., xlii., p. 300). A single 

 2 from Madeira in the British Museum coll. is of the spring 

 form, i.e., tinged with blue ; $ s labelled " Tangier, iii., '85," have 



