308 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



comes first, and, even when it is present, which is very rarely the case,, 

 it is very small and somewhat indistinct ; next goes the lower, and 

 then the upper half of the inner-marginal spot, and then the subcostal, 

 though the latter is exceptionally absent when the upper part of the 

 innerrnarginal is present ; then the spot next above the innermarginal 

 disappears, then that next below the subcostal ; if only one is left, it 

 is generally the fifth from the costa. Normally there is only one 

 basal spot on the forewing, but. the absence of this is not unusual, 

 while on the other hand, two, and even three, are far from rare. On 

 the hindwing three is the normal number, but in almost any long 

 series anything from none to four may be expected, and the presence 

 of a fifth is far from rare. The double marginal row of spots varies 

 much in intensity and distinctnese, and is occasionally reduced to a 

 single row, as in var. ruhli. Both the discrete, and glomerata forms 

 are found but not to any noticeable degree, and the latter is commoner 

 than the former. We have already referred to the frequency of 

 elongation or enlargement of the spots on the upperside of the fore- 

 wing; this is most usually in the form of long pear-shaped spots, often 

 without any great increase in the width (ab. imperially), but sometimes 

 also the spots become greatly widened (ab. fasciata), without being 

 necessarily elongated to any great extent. In the case of extreme 

 elongation of these spots the basal spots are frequently present on the- 

 upperside, and a usual form of aberration is the junction of the upper 

 half of the inner-marginal spot with the lower basal (ab. covjuncta, 

 n.ab.), which gives the insect a very richly marked appearance. 

 Enlargement of the eye-spots on the underside, especially in the fore- 

 wings, is common, and in some southern localities is racial (e </.,. 

 var. ligmica) ; very rarely the submedian series is joined to the marginal 

 almost in figures of eight (ab. coalescem). Any considerable enlarge- 

 ment of the submedian series on the hindwing is much more uncommon, 

 but is occasionally met with. The full series of these spots is never, 

 in our experience, present on the upperside of the hindwing, even in 

 vars. nar'una and amurensis, whilst on the underside it is the most 

 constant of the markings, except in var. taUienluica, where it is 

 obsolescent. The extent and tint of the blue basal suffusion on the 

 underside hindwing varies considerably, especially in the Oriental 

 specimens (var. cyanecula), in which it sometimes covers almost the 

 whole hindwing, but the difference between these and ordinary 

 European specimens is not greater than in examples of Glaucopsyche 

 cyllarus in the Rhone Valley. In exceptional cases the suffusion in 

 Alpine specimens {e.g. in the Laquinthal and the Gondo Gorge) extends 

 even somewhat beyond the submedian series of spots, but it is of a 

 darker blue than in var. cyanecula, and quite without the greenish tint 

 usually displayed by the latter. There is considerable variation also 

 in the fringes, which are generally white on the upperside and 

 chequered for the inner half on the underside, but they are occasionally 

 as dark as the outer-margin in melanistic specimens. They are- 

 generally narrow and inconspicuous, except when, as sometimes 

 happens, a specially white fringe contrasts with an unusually dark 

 border. 



In England the Cornish race differs considerably in the general 

 appearance of a series, and, indeed, in the large majority of individuals,, 

 from those from other parts of the country. It is distinctly paler, and 



