CELASTRINA. 385 



all together in the pupal stage, only some of each brood emerging as 

 imagines, in the same year. 



Sexual dimorphism is very marked, the males of a delicate violet- 

 blue, the females with a dark border varying in width in different 

 species. Of the Indian species, de Niceville writes (Butts, of India, hi., 

 p. 93), the males of most of the different species can with a little study 

 be made out satisfactorily, but, in the case of three common species 

 occurring in Sikkim, C. marginata, de Nicev., C. placida, de Nicev., 

 and C. dilectus, Moore, though literally hundreds of females have 

 passed through my hands, I have quite failed to pair them with their 

 respective males. Moore and Doherty have described the female of 

 C. marginata, but from their descriptions I am unable to distinguish 

 that sex from the female of C. puspa, Horsf." 



It may be here noted that the general appearance of the undersides 

 of the Celastrinid species is very characteristic, being usually of a whitish 

 or pale silvery-grey colour, sometimes tinged with blue towards the base, 

 whilst the usual rows of transverse ocellated spots are reduced to small 

 linear black streaks, and the marginal spots or blotches are almost 

 obsolete. We have already (antea, p. 383), however, noted the peculiar 

 undersides of the New Guinea species, as well as those with more heavily- 

 marked undersides occurring in India. It is to be observed that the 

 most heavily-marked undersides of C. argiolus are found in the spring- 

 emerging examples of North America, more particularly in its more 

 northern localities. 



The common species of the Nearctic and Palasarctic regions 

 (pseudargiolus = argiolus) now known to be the same species, is 

 single-, double- or many-brooded, according to latitude and alti- 

 tude. The seasonal dimorphism of these forms is well marked, that 

 of pseudargiolus having been worked out in detail by Edwards (Butts. 

 North America, ii., Lye. pis. ii and hi), but that of our European 

 argiolus is, no doubt, just as remarkable in its southern habitats. 

 De Niceville states (Butts. India, etc., hi., p. 93), that "in India, although 

 it has not been proved by breeding, as it has been in North America, 

 seasonal dimorphism almost certainly occurs to a considerable extent. 

 This is especially marked in C. marginata, C. transpectus, less so in 

 C. puspa, C. jgnteana, C. placida, and C. dilectus. The dimorphism 

 takes the usual form of darkening the coloration and markings in the rains, 

 and of lightening the coloration and reducing the^size and distinctness 

 of the markings in the dry season. All these species occur in the 

 Eastern Himalayas. Whether or not this dimorphism occurs in the 

 species of the Western Himalayas I cannot say, but it certainly would 

 not be of so marked a nature, as the rainy season is shorter, and not 

 so severe there as it is to the eastward." 



The species of this tribe are rarely seen near the ground, their 

 habit being to fly around trees and bushes at considerable elevation. 

 They are active, and, in spite of the delicacy of their appearance, 

 usually emerge for the first time in the very earliest spring, whilst 

 the specimens of the latest broods last until late autumn. The 

 males of our own species, C. argiolus, may sometimes be seen 

 two or three together, gambolling around a holly- tree, or high 

 up round the ivied walls of a church, castle or other tall building. 

 Of the American form of this species, Gosse writes (Letters of Alabama, 

 pp. 144-5): " It appears to be very pugnacious, attacking with Quixotic 



