LYCAENA ARION. 343 



the hollies and low bushes like C. argiolus" Merrin observes that on 

 the Cotswolds the insect may be said to sail along ; when it rests on a 

 tall culm of grass, holding itself upright, it is fairly conspicuous, but 

 towards dusk it often settles down like the other " blues," head down- 

 wards, to rest for the night. 



Boisduval speaks of it as inhabiting dry places ; Duponchel says 

 the same, and adds that all his correspondents are in complete accord 

 with him in this matter, and certainly the majority of its localities are 

 of this kind ; but, on the other hand, it has, like other " blues," at least 

 an occasional predilection for water, as most lepidopterists who know 

 the Swiss mountains can testify. Wheeler, for instance, remarks on 

 its fondness for settling within splashing distance of the smaller 

 mountain torrents, and Kowland-Brown relates (Ent. Bee, ix., p. 25) 

 how he found it between Montreux and Les Avants at the runnels by 

 the roadside in company with Plebeius argus, P. argyrognomon, Hirsutiua 

 damon, Agriades coridon, and A. thetis. Instances might easily be 

 multiplied, but the insect may then be said to be out visiting, rather 

 than in its regular home corner. Stephens says that it haunts 

 bramble-blossoms in rocky situations in North Wales, and Jager (Ent., 

 xxv., p. 15) alludes to the same peculiarity, observing that at Biedenkopf 

 it is to be found on sunny slopes, resorts to bramble-blossoms, flies 

 quickly like Colias hyale, and is soon lost to view. Wheeler remarks 

 on the same habit at Gondo and Isella. 



Decadence of Lycjena arion in England. — Lewin (1795) reports 

 the insect as "rare" on the wing in the middle of July, on high chalky 

 lands, having been taken on the Dover Cliffs, Marlborough Downs, hills 

 near Bath, and at Clifden in Bucks (Hist, of Brit. Ins.,j>. 78). Donovan 

 (1797) simply notes it as scarce, apparently no more common in any 

 other part of Europe (Nat. Hist. Brit. i?zs.,vi.,p. 11). Haworth (1803) 

 speaks of it as "very scarce, but taken in Bedfordshire by Dr. Abbott." 

 Curtis (1824) repeats Lewin's localities, and adds, "Mr. Dale took one 

 near Bedford and another at Monk's Wood last year, where several 

 were captured. Mr. Griesbach told me it was abundant near Winchester 

 many years since." Stephens (1828) observes that it is an insect of 

 great rarity, found on commons and in pastures in the beginning of 

 July, taken near Bedford (Abbott) in the "Mouse's Pasture" in 1819 

 (Dale), also near the signal-house on Dover Cliffs, and on bramble 

 blossoms in rocky situations in N. Wales ; several specimens taken in 

 Kent in 1828, seemingly near Deal ; also reported near Winchester in 

 plenty, as well as Lewin's localities (Illus. Brit. Ent., i., pp. 87-8). 

 Between 1826 and 1857 many records occur in the Zoologist, and as 

 collectors increased, the species was noted from various parts of the 

 country, e.g., in Somerset Quekett reports taking 40 specimens at 

 Langport, near Taunton, June 15th, 1833, whilst on June 15th, 1834, 

 he captured 20, and Dale took 19. Newman adds that " subsequently 

 Quekett visited the same locality on several occasions, and always 

 with the same success." In Northampton Bree reports (Zool. 1853, 

 p. 3,350) that the species was discovered about 1838 in Barnwell Wold, 

 but very restricted in its habitat, and that of recent years many entomo- 

 logists have come from different parts of the country, that Wolley, of 

 Trinity College, Cambridge, took 50 to 60 specimens on one occasion, 

 although the weather was unfavourable ; whilst Bond, who also 

 remarks on the very local character of the insect in the Wold, captured 



