402 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



At first we were inclined to think that this aberration was the 

 result of exposure to damp, but the absolute similarity of the ground- 

 colour in the male and females, and the peculiar character of the 

 suffusion of the latter, leads us to believe it to be a marked local 

 form. 



e. var. coelestina, Koll., " Hiigel's Kaschmir.," iv., p. 423 (1848); Moore, 

 " Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.," p. 244 (1882) ; de Nicev., " Butts. India," iii., p. 106 

 (1890) ; Staud., " Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 91 (1901). Kollari, Wstwd., " Gen. Diurn. 

 Lep.," ii., p. 491 (1852) ; Butl., "Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.," p. 367 (1886) ; "Ann. 

 Mag. Nat. Hist.," 6th ser., i., p. 148 (1888). Kasmira, Moore, "Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 Lond.," p. 503, pi. xxxi., fig. 1, s (1865) ; p. 271 (1874).— Alis supra saturate 

 cyaneis unicoloribus, linea ante fimbrias tenuissima nigra ; subtus albis, punctis 

 nigris seriatim dispositis, fimbriis albis nigro maculatis. Expansio alarum 15'". 

 Habitat in Kaschmir. Allied to L. argiolus, but rather larger. All the wings 

 on the upperside uniform dark sky-blue ; the fringes bordered within by a 

 narrow black line, the fringes themselves white, spotted with black at the 

 end of the nervures. The underside is white, as in argiolus ; on the forewings 

 is a dark streak in the middle, before the hindmargin a connected row of 

 shorter dashes, and just before the fringes a slender black line, preceded by some 

 single darker dots. On the hindwings the black dots are more numerous than on 

 the forewings, and not so regularly placed, but they are more distinct, and some 

 blackish dots stand immediately before the fringes. The thorax and abdomen are 

 brown above, clothed with dark blue down ; white beneath. The antennae black, 

 slenderly ringed with white, the tip of the club white. Kashmir. Captured by 

 Hiigel (Kollar). 



De Niceville treats this as a distinct species, and deals with it at length 

 (Butts. India, iii., pp. 106-7). He notes it as inhabiting the Western 

 Himalayas ; the $ varying from 1*0 in. to 1-35 in., the $ from 

 l-05in. to l-35in. He quotes Moore's description of kasmira (Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. Lond., 1865, p. 503) and adds an independent description of 

 the larva and pupa. These descriptions read as follows : — 



Kasmira. $ . Upperside, both wings purplish-lavender-blue, exterior 

 margins blackish. Underside both wings cream-white. Forewings with an 

 indistinct discocellular streak, beyond which, one-third from the apex, is a 

 single white-encircled black spot, a transverse discal series of four white- 

 encircled black spots, a marginal double row of indistinct blackish lunules. 

 Hindwing with twelve basally disposed white-encircled black spots, a marginal 

 row of blackish spots, bordered by a submarginal series of indistinct blackish 

 lunules. ? . Upperside, both wings brighter blue. Forewing with the costa 

 and exterior margin, hindwing with the anterior margin, broadly dull black, 

 the latter with a marginal row of blackish spots, bordered by a submarginal 

 series of lunules. Underside, both wings as in the <? . Cilia white (Moore). 

 Larva : When full-grown, -6in. in length ; of the usual Lycamid shape, 

 coloration pale light green, of the exact shade of young leaves ; the very small 

 head placed upon a long neck is intensely black and shining ; the segments 

 increase slightly in width to the 5th, then gradually decrease to the 13th ; the 

 whole surface is finely shagreened, but entirely without markings, except two 

 dorsal lines of a pale bluish-green colour from the 2nd to the 10th segment, 

 slightly converging posteriorly, the colour of the ground between these lines 

 slightly darker than the rest of the surface ; a few colourless short lateral hairs ; 

 the segments shallowly constructed; no mouth-like opening on the 11th, or erectile 

 organs on the 12th segments. Feeds on Prinsepia utilis, native name Bhenkal. 

 Pupa: -40in. to -45in. in length, of the usual Lycrenid shape, pale brown, 

 irregularly and obscurely spotted and blotched with darker brown, no regular 

 markings whatever; the surface rough, with short colourless bristly hairs. From 

 living examples of the larvae and pupae collected at Masuri in the Western 

 Himalayas by P. W. Mackinnon, who informs me, after careful watching, that 

 ants do not attend the larvae (de Niceville). 



De Niceville adds (op. cit., p. 107) that there is no difficulty whatever 

 in recognising C. coelestina. Both sexes are considerably smaller than 

 C. huegelii, and the male has the outer black border on the upperside 



