BITHYS QUERCtTS. 237 



rather small example, labelled "Buda-Pest, Leech coll.," has the same 

 spot wedge-shaped, and very brightly marked = ab. bellus-unipunctus, 

 n. ab. Norgate also records (Ent., vii., p. 69) a female, captured 

 August 1st, 1874, at Drayton Drury, in Norfolk, that has a wedge- 

 shaped orange spot above the centre of each forewing (on the upper- 

 side) ; the small end of the orange wedge is directed towards the tip 

 of the wing and the large end towards the base. He says (in litt.) that 

 he captured five B. querciis from the top of one oak, that one 2 had 

 a distinct ( = ab. bellus-unipunctus) , and the other an indistinct, orange 

 spot in the middle of the upperside of each forewing = ab. bellus-obsoletus. 

 Another $ in the British Mus. coll., somewhat smaller, labelled 

 "Silesia, Elwes coll.," has two orange spots, the wedge-shaped one 

 as just described, and another just below and a little outside (on the 

 right forewing there is a vague suspicion of a third spot below the 

 second) =ab. bellus-bipunctatus, n. ab. Raynor notes (in litt.) that he 

 has an example, bred at Colchester, July, 1901, by Harwood, with a 

 conspicuous orange spot at the end of the discal cell, on upperside of 

 forewings, also a fainter cloud between the orange spot and the outer 

 margin, evidently, therefore, of the bipunctatus form. Another specimen 

 labelled " Buda Pest. Leech coll." has the three orange-coloured spots 

 that characterise the true bellus, Gerh., so also has a second, and 

 somewhat larger example, labelled " Austria. Leech coll." The 

 most remarkable specimen, however, of this series is one labelled 

 " Ber. Leech coll.," in which not only are the three usual spots of 

 bellus well developed, but, in addition, a well-marked brown streak 

 runs along the inner margin from the anal angle, rather more than half- 

 way towards the base = ab. bellus- excessus, n. ab. The most marvellous 

 specimen of the bellus type that has been recorded is, however, a male (the 

 character throughout the group being almost entirely a female one) bred 

 by Gebhard, who notes (Soc. tint., xii., p. 132) that he bred a male, 

 from a larva taken at Klopfen, in which the iridescent violet of the 

 upperwings had beautiful yellowish-brown spots, leading one to believe 

 it identical with var. bellus, The size variation of the species is 

 considerable, and there is a tendency for specimens bred in confine- 

 ment to be rather small. Wheeler says that the average size of Swiss 

 examples is 31mm., but they are sometimes captured as small as 

 29mm. The largest examples in the British Museum collection are 

 males labelled respectively " Lenkoran, 30. vi. '74 (Christoph)," 

 "Veluchi. 1863 (Merlin coll.)," and "Jena. 1852 (Schlager) (Zell. 

 coll.)." The last two have been noted as ab. pallescens (supra). 

 Staudinger also describes the specimens from the Parnassus as larger than, 

 but, otherwise, very similar to, German specimens. Rebel states that 

 the examples he took on the Calvarienberg, near Botzen, were very large. 

 Graves observes (Ent. Rec, xix., p. 67) that Marsden's collection contains 

 large specimens up to 42mm. in expanse, taken on Mount Troodos 

 in late July. We would call all specimens below 30mm. ab. 

 minor, n. ab., and above 38mm. ab. major, n. ab. There is 

 also considerable difference in the depth of the ground-colour and 

 markings of the underside, some of the ? s being particularly 

 pale, almost whitish-grey, others have a faint brownish tinge ; 

 the intensity, width, and completeness of the white transverse 

 line, as well as the dark border, vary considerably, so also does 

 the depth of the colour of the antemarginal band, particularly in 



