ARIATA MEDON. 253 



— Lar^e examples with very little red on the upperside and considerably lighter 

 underside (Riihl). 



This name was given by Riihl to the large form found in the 

 Andalusian mountains, and is therefore the same as that more 

 adequately described by Oberthiir, under the name nevadensis, as 

 differing from Hiibner's figure of aliens, 988 (not the uniformly brown 

 upperside) by its noticeably larger size and the creamy yellow tinged 

 with pink of the underside of the S • The ? , he adds, has the under- 

 side of the wings reddish-brown, and a border of red spots on the four 

 wings. He records it as flying in July in the Sierra Nevada and the 

 Sierra d'Alfakar, and also as occurring at Yernet in the Pyrenees. In the 

 southern Spanish Sierras it occurs in both broods ; there is a short 

 series of spring specimens in the Brit. Mus. coll., corresponding 

 entirely with Oberthiir's description ; it is therefore not confined to 

 the July brood. 



s. var. agestis, Schiff., " Schmett. Wien.," p. 148 (1776). Astrarche, Brgstr., 

 "Nomen.," iii., p. 4, pi. xlix., figs. 7, 8 (1780). [Included under the names 

 medon, agestis, astrarche, in the synonymy of the species pp. 227-8 ; but not the form 

 figured as agestis by Hiibner, Eur. Schmett., i., pi. lxii., figs. 303-306, nor as medon 

 by Esper, Schmett. Eur., i., pt. 2, pi. lv., fig. 7.] Light flame-blue (the J ) or 

 coffee-brown (the ? ), with complete border of spots ( Schiff ermiiller). 



What Schiffermiiller took to be the J of this species is unknown, 

 and it is quite possible that he only supposed the J to be blue on the 

 analogy of other related species ; but with regard to the 2 the testimony 

 of Ochsenheimer seems quite conclusive ; he had seen the specimens 

 named by Schiffermuller, and was certain that they were this species, 

 being himself fully aware that the $ is brown. The first figure under 

 this name is that of Hiibner (Eur. Schmett., i., pi. lxii., figs. 303-306) 

 which does not, however, represent the same form of the species, there 

 being no orange on the forewmg in the $ , and very little in the $ , 

 and only a few lunules on the hindwing in either sex, whereas 

 Schiffermuller describes it as " ganz randfleckiger." Bergstrasser, 

 under the name astrarche, figures the £ only, and in this the narrow 

 orange band reaches the costa. The original description of agestis also 

 applies to the 2 only, and the corresponding $ has generally a 

 macular band of lunules on the hindwing failing towards the costa, 

 and a similar band of squarish spots on the forewing extending from 

 half to three-quarters of the way towards the costa. This is by far the 

 commonest form in Central Europe, except at altitudes at which the 

 vars. semi-allous or alpina prevail. It is also frequent in Southern 

 Europe in the first brood, either mixed with var. ornata or as the 

 dominant form. It is also by no means uncommon in the later broods, 

 especially in the $ , even when the 2 takes the aestiva or even the 

 calida form. It is frequently referred to in entomological literature as the 

 "typical " form, as being the best known and the most widely spread; 

 those writers who regard either ayestis, Schiff., or astrarche, Bergst., as 

 the specific name, will also naturally regard this as the typical form 

 in the technical sense of the Avord. 



7]. var. gallica, Obth., " Lep. Comp.," iv., p. 252 (1910). — Intermediate 

 between agestis, Hb., and calida, Bell. ; the border of orange-red spots above is of 

 a very vivid colour ; in the d the spots are smaller than in the 2 ; they do not 

 always reach the costa of the forewings, but very often in the s , and always in 

 the $ , the border of red spots begins close to the costa of the forewings, and 

 continues to the inner margin of the hindwings. The underside of the $ is grey, 

 of the ? reddish-brown. Environs of Paris, Brittany, Poitou, and certain parts 

 of the Pyrenees (Oberthiir). 



