LAMPIDES BOETICUS. 835 



the costal and posterior margins pale fuscous ; a large black marginal spot between 

 the second and first median nervules, and two contiguous smaller black spots at the 

 anal angle ; [the tail black, outwardly fringed to near the tip, and the extreme tip 

 white.] Underside of both wings pale brownish-ochraceous, Avith the following 

 linear brownish fasciae margined with greyish — (brewing with two crossing the 

 middle, and two near the end, of the cell, two (considerably fractured) crossing the 

 wing between the end of the cell and the outer margin, commencing near the fourth 

 subcostal nervure [terminal portion of subcostal nervure] and terminating at the 

 submedian nervure, two submarginal [the innermost broadest], and the outer-margin 

 narrowly pale fuscous ; hindwing crossed from the base to beyond the middle with 

 about eight linear fascia? as on the forewing (more or less fused and broken), 

 followed by a distinct and somewhat broad greyish fascia, and with two submargin- 

 al linear brownish fascia? ; two large marginal spots containing a few scattered 

 greenish [metallic] scales, and inwardly margined with pale reddish-ochraceous, 

 separated by the first median nervule ; the outer margin narrowly fuscous. Cilia 

 of both wings pale brownish, the tips greyish-white. Body above more or less 

 concolorous, with the wings beneath greyish-white. Legs greyish-white, more or less 

 streaked with brownish. Female. — Upperside of both wings pale brownish. Fore- 

 wing with a discal bluish patch. Hindwing with [the base irrorated with iridescent 

 blue,] two outer greyish submarginal fascia?, the inner one broadest; the black anal- 

 angle spots as in the male, distinctly margined with greyish. Underside both 

 wings as in male (Distant). [The additions made by Xieeville are in square 

 brackets.] 



"Variation.- — For an insect with such an exceedingly wide 

 distribution, this species shows very little, if any, local variation, 

 suggesting comparatively powerful flight, and constant interchange of 

 blood, between examples of different districts. The males differ every- 

 where but little in ground colour, except that some are rather redder- 

 purplish than others ; all are, however, distinctly purplish in hue, although 

 some are rather greyer in appearance than others ; this hoary appear- 

 ance is due to the development of long coarse hair-like scales, and one 

 example in the British Museum coll. is distinctly of " orbitulus " tint 

 ( = ab. grisescens, n. ab.). The females show much more variation — (1) 

 in the ground colour, from deep fuscous to fuscous-greyish ; (2) in the 

 tint of the blue scaling ; (3) in the development of the pale transverse 

 fasciated band. In this sex there are three distinct shades of blue notice- 

 able ; (1) of a purplish tinge, rather brighter than that of the male ; this is 

 by far the most usual form; (2) of the more brilliant " bellargus " tint, 

 fairly generally distributed but not common, but well marked in a fine 

 series in the British Museum coll., from St. Helena, where the species 

 is probably somewhat inbred; (3) of the bright blue "hylas" tint 

 (sometimes seen in the brighter form of bellargus), and noticeable in 

 specimens from Candahar, Palawan, Java, Amboyna, etc. Wholly 

 grey females without any trace of blue are not uncommon in the 

 hotter parts of ^Africa, Khartoum, Omdurman, etc., and are represented 

 in the British Museum coll. also by specimens from Penang, etc. 

 There is considerable variation in the amount of development of the 

 series of hindmarginal spots of the hindwings (of which the two highly 

 developed ones near the anal angle are always by far the most con- 

 spicuous), the spots being sometimes also faintly indicated on the fore- 

 wings; the male sometimes shows a third spot on the hindwings, and, in 

 one male from Java, the series is continued along the whole margin, as 

 also is the development of the pale edging to this series. In some females, 

 too, a transverse series of pale spots between the hindmargin and the centre 

 of the hindwings is sufficiently developed to form a well-marked trans- 

 verse band, in others, this shows only as a series of pale blotches or 



