374 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



no trace of copper at all on the forewings, but, on the hindwings, the 

 terminal band is deep red, and the tails long for the species ; in most 

 of the specimens from tbis place the tails are prominent. Two 

 examples from the Taurus mountains scarcely differ one whit from our 

 English ones." Swinton says that, " at Jerusalem, the dusky Mediter- 

 ranean form of phlaeas occurs, with the tails of the hindwings more or 

 less long." 



The suffused or melanochroic forms of this species may be grouped 

 as follows : — 



1. The ground colour slightly suffused along the costa, the inner margin, and 

 the outer portions of the nervures (sometimes extending inwards,, almost to the 

 base) ; hindwings without tails = ab. initia, n. ab. 



la. As in 1, but the hindwings markedly tailed = ab. initia-caudata, n. ab. 



2. The ground colour of forewings suffused, leaving the discal area still 

 fulvous; hindwings with fulvous marginal border, but not markedly tailed = ab. 

 suffusa, Tutt. 



2a. As in 2, but the hindwings markedly tailed = ab. eleus, Fab. 



2b. The fulvous colour confined to a narrow, longitudinal stripe of the forewing 

 extending from base to outer margin, and including the discal spots ; hindwings 

 markedly tailed = ab. turcicus, Gerh. 



3. The ground colour of forewings entirely suffused with blackish-brown, 

 including the discal area, through which the fulvous tint shows only feebly; hind- 

 wings with fulvous marginal border, not markedly tailed = ab. fuscata, n. ab. 



3a. As in 3, but the hindwings markedly tailed = ab. fuscata-caudata, n. ab. 



Dealing with these in more detail we find much interesting in- 

 formation, difficult, however, sometimes to refer to its own particular 

 form. Our notes on the melanic aberrations read as follows : 



a. and /3. abs. initia, n. ab., initia-caudata, n. ab. — The costa slightly suffused, 

 the nervures darkened, the inner margin towards the base with brown suffusion. 

 The ab. initia without, the ab. initia-caudata with, tails to the hindwings. 



Both these forms are fairly common in the summer brood of this 

 species, in Britain as well as in central Europe. They form the first 

 step in the direction of the more markedly suffused forms, the suffusion 

 first showing itself faintly along the costa, along the nervures, and along 

 the inner margin towards the base of the forewings. Where the darker 

 forms occur in the south as frequent aberrations, these also occur and 

 look almost typical by comparison, so slight is the suffusion. 



y. ab. suffusa, Tutt, "Brit. Butts.," p. 153 (1896); Speis., "Berl. Ent. Zeit.," 

 p. 135 (1902); Wheeler, "Butts. Switz.," p. 18 (1903) Transient, Fuchs, 

 " Jahr. Nass. Ver. f. Nat.," p. 120 (1899). — The ground colour coppery-red, suffused 

 with black, the markings as in the type. Throughout central and southern Europe, 

 etc., chiefly in the examples of the summer and autumnal broods. 



This is the form in which the coppery-red ground colour is very 

 appreciably present, but, instead of maintaining its usual brightness, 

 the colour is distinctly suffused with darker scales. Like eleus, it is 

 brighter in the discal area of the forewings than elsewhere, this area 

 extending downwards, slightly beyond the submarginal row of spots. 

 The suffusion is most marked along the costa, along the inner 

 margin, over the basal third of the wing, and along the whole of the 

 nervures, but more particularly towards the outer margin. It is not 

 markedly tailed as in ab. eleus, although the anal points are sometimes 

 slightly developed in this direction. It is possibly the darkest form usually 

 obtained in Britain, and probably includes most of the British and German 

 examples recorded under the name eleus. We have taken specimens at 

 Deal, August, 1887, Cuxton, August, 1893, and July 6th, 1898. James 



