CELASTRINA AROIOLUS. 399 



and Le Conte in the original description of pseudargiolus (see postea, 

 p. 407), and in that of sikkima, Moore (postea, p. 403) ; it is also 

 noted in the descriptions of other eastern and American forms. 



j8. ab. argyphontes, Bergstr., " Norn.," ii., p. 15, pi. lviii., figs. 5-6 (1779). — 

 P.P.R. alis rotundatis integerrimis purpurascenti coeruleis ; subtus canis, obso- 

 letisque punctis et virgulis. Uniform purplish-blue in tint ; the underside grey, 

 with obsolescent streaks and stripes. In Dr. Gladbach's coll., Frankfurt. Can it 

 be an aberration of our thersanon, Nom., pi. xlix., figs. 5-6? (Bergstrassser). 



The smallness of the size, and the obsolete nature, of the spots 

 of the underside, are its main features. It differs from the Linnean 

 t}?-pe in having, in addition, faint traces of the marginal lunules on the 

 underside of all the wings. In general appearance, the upper- and 

 underside are not unlike the two examples pictured in Edwards' Butts. 

 Nth. Amer., ii., Lye. pi. ii., figs. 13, 15, which he considers represent 

 forms of his neglecta (second-brood) with very obsolescently- marked 

 undersides. 



y. ab. argalus, Bergstr., " Nom.," ii., p. 18, pi. lx., figs. 4-5 (1779). Argalaus, 

 Bkh., " Naturg.," etc., i., p. 174 (1788). — P.P.R. alis rotundatis integerrimis 

 coerulescentibus fimbria alba ; subtus in primoribus disco saturatiore, solitarioque 

 lineolarum punctorumque in utrisque ordine. Uniformly blue, margined with 

 white ; the underside with a dark area on the forewings and a single row of streaks 

 and dots crossing both wings. In Schatzmann's coll. at Freidberg (Bergstrasser). 



The figures are most unsatisfactory, and, in those in the copy of 

 the work in the library of the Zool. Soc. of London, the colour has 

 apparently changed, and does not agree with the description ; the 

 latter must, therefore, be followed. The main feature appears to be 

 the presence of a dark area on the underside of the forewings. 



Asiatic races. 



Celastrina argiolus is a widely-spread and dominant form most pro- 

 bably on account of its flexibility of constitution, enabling it to face 

 very different environments, and with an additional marked flexibility 

 in colour, form, and markings, producing, as our investiga- 

 tion of the species has proved, a very much greater range 

 of variation than that for which we had been previously pre- 

 pared by a study of the previously usually recognised forms. 

 The specimens from Corea, Japan, and China, incline to the 

 form found in the mountains of India, whilst those of Persia 

 and western Asia belong rather to the European race. Leech 

 says (Butts. China and Japan, p. 320) that " all his specimens 

 from eastern Asia differ from the European type in the greyer 

 coloration of the underside, which is also without any bluish 

 suffusion, and the marginal black borders are more pronounced on the 

 upper surface ; some of these specimens agree very well with kasmira, 

 Moore = coelestina, Koll." He adds that Pryer states that there are 

 several broods of C. argiolus in Japan, during the year, that he himself 

 found the species common throughout Japan and Corea during the 

 warm season, and noticed it as variable in those parts of eastern Asia 

 as in Europe ; whilst the same remark applies to the specimens from 

 China, where the species has been found common in all places visited 

 by collectors. Leech further notes: " In wing-expanse, the specimens 

 vary from 27mm.-36mm., and in the width of the black marginal border 

 of the forewings there is considerable diversity. The Indian C. 

 huegelii does not appear to be specifically distinct from C. argiolus, 



