CHRYSOPHANUS DISPAR. 



437 



2 al. post, nigricantibus ; subtus al. post, griseis, noncasrulescentibus." 

 In 1889, Alpheraky, in his account of the " Lepidoptera captured by 

 Potanine in China and Mongolia," writes : " A S > taken on June 26th, 

 1886, near the village of He-Tchen, belongs, without doubt, to auratus, 

 Leech, which, however, is only a variety of P. dispar, a variety very 

 close to rutilus, and from which it is to be distinguished by the narrower 

 black border of the wings, by the absence of the discocellular spot on 

 the fore wings, as well as by the tawny antemarginal band on the 

 underside of the hindwings being a little wider. It is certain that the 

 specimens taken by Fixsen, in Corea, and referred (Bom. Mem., iii., p. 

 283) by him to rutilus belong to auratus." Of these specimens, Fixsen 

 says that " they vary in size, some being smaller and some larger, yet 

 they do not essentially differ from the rutilus of North Germany. 

 The ? exceeds the usual form in size, has the ground colour of a 

 darker tone, whilst the marginal band of the forewings, and the black 

 of the hindwings is deeper, and more intense. Flies from July 4th 

 to August 25th, the wing expanse of the $ 17mm. -19mm., of the $ 

 18mm. 20mm." The previousyear, however, i.e., in 1888, Graeser (Bed. 

 Ent. Zeits., 1888, p. 75) had renamed this eastern form, var. dahurica, 

 observing that both sexes of " this very constant local form of 

 Polyommatus dispar, were taken in considerable numbers, from mid- 

 July until the commencement of August, near Pokrofka. It differs 

 so distinctly, not only from dispar, Haw., but also from rutilus, 

 Wernebg., that it deserves to be separately named. So far as the 

 upperside of the £ s is concerned, in this variety, the black discoidal 

 spot of the forewings is always absent, and so, too, is the fine black 

 discocellular line of the hindwings. This spot and line are visible 

 in the $ examples of dispar and rutilus before me. The hindwings 

 of the ? of this variety are entirely unicolorous blackish-brown, except 

 the red marginal band, never tinged nor streaked with red veins as in 

 dispar and rutilus. From these again, dahurica differs much more 

 conspicuously in both sexes on the underside of the hindwings, which, 

 in this, are not bluish-white, but smoky-grey with a faint silky-like 

 gloss due to the darker ground colour ; the white margins of the black 

 dots and spots stand out much bolder than in the other forms. The 

 red marginal band of the hindwings is more sharply defined than in 

 rutilus, and extends to nervure VI. On the underside of the forewings, 

 on their outer margins, is a very regular row of black spots, the first 

 of which is at the apex, the last near the inner angle, between the first 

 two nervures. This row of spots is, in dispar and rutilus, likewise 

 present, but is much more irregular, and less conspicuous. In size, 

 the specimens vary, the $ s from 27mm. -37mm., the ? s from 31mm.- 

 42mm." In 1892, Staudinger observes (Bom. Mem., vi., pp. 154-5) that 

 " Christoph sent him a $ which had been caught in the middle of 

 July near Raddefka (Dorries), a similar one from Askold, a pair 

 from Bikin, and a number of specimens from Sutschan. One of the six 

 $ s from the latter district shows traces of the black discal spots on the 

 upperside of the forewings." " Graeser," he says, " caught this insect 

 in numbers near Pokrofka, and calls the European and Central Asiatic 

 forms rutilus, whilst he names this striking Amurland form dahurica, 

 although a year previously, Leech had described it as auratus, from 

 examples taken in Corea, south of Gensan. Of specimens caught byHerz, 

 in Corea (not far from the spot where Leech captured his examples), 



