104 
Psyche 
[Sept.-Dee. 
NOTES ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE 
GENUS LYCCEIDES 
(LYCiENID^E, LEPIDOPTERA ) 1 
By V. Nabokov 
Out of the hundred or so holarctic Lycsenids distributed 
among at least sixteen genera of the subfamily Plebejince (defi- 
nitely fixed by Stempffer, 1937, Bull. soc. ent. France 42 :211, 
etc.; not covering the superficial concept of “Blues” for which 
no systematic term or division can exist), only fourteen species 
or so, two of which are obvious invaders from the Tropics, occur 
in the nearctic region (north of the 30th parallel). These be- 
long to seven genera, four of which (the first four in the list 
given below) are holarctic and contain together six species of 
which one half is common to both regions. All three exclusively 
American genera have the free portion of the aedeagus elon- 
gated; all the exclusively palearctic genera, except Aricia R. L. 
(and the, mainly tropical, Chilades Moore 2 and Freyeria Cour- 
voisier) have stubby or proximally “bulbous” free portions. Of 
the four genera common to both regions one half belongs to the 
first type and one half to the second. 
The only Plebejince , so far known to exist in the nearctic re- 
gion, are: 1. Agriades Hiibner: glandon Prunner (holarctic); 
2. Vacciniina Tutt: optilete Knoch (holarctic); 3. Lycceides 
Hiibner: argyrognomon Bergstrasser (holarctic), scudderi Ed- 
wards, melissa Edwards; 4. Plebejus Kluk: scepiolus Boisdu- 
val; 5. Plebulina , n.g. (remarkably amalgamating the Plebejus 
or Lycceides sedeagus with the valval processus superior and 
uncus + falces of Albulina Tutt) : emigdionis Grinnell (geno- 
type) ; 6. Icaricia , n.g. (allied to Aricia R.L. in sedeagus; some- 
what to Polyommatus Latreille in general type of uncus as seen 
ventrally; close to both in processus superior of valve; dis- 
tinguishable by the underdeveloped, i.e. devoid distally of any 
1 Published with the aid of a grant from the Museum of Comparative Zoology 
at Harvard College. 
2 Unexpectedly represented by speciosa Staudinger in the Andes. 
