216 
LYCAENIDAE 
rounded in front, completely concealing the head ; the back 
is much elevated; sides are flat and sloping to the lateral 
ridge ; the last three segments are flattened, especially the 
last, and similar to the first. On the eleventh segment are 
two retractile tubercles, which are sometimes thrust out when 
the larva is suddenly alarmed, and on the tenth segment is a 
well-developed honey gland. The head is black and shining. 
The ground colour is very pale green with a dark purple 
dorsal stripe running the entire length and bordered on each 
side by a white line. This is again bordered by a pinkish-green 
stripe, followed by a conspicuous dark-green band composed of 
a series of oblique markings. A somewhat similar but narrower 
stripe runs parallel to and immediately above the spiracles ; 
a sub-spiracular dark-green stripe, bordered below by a white 
stripe, also passes along the lateral ridge bordering on the 
green ventral surface. The whole surface is sprinkled with 
black-and-white granulations; each granule emits a fine 
ochreous hair. Another form of colouring of the larva, almost 
as common, has the first sub-dorsal and sub-spiracular stripes 
lilac-red, and the ground colour usually more tinged with 
olive, giving the larva a reddish hue. In all its stages the 
larva is very sluggish in movement ; it has a slow, gliding 
motion, continually protruding and withdrawing its head, 
waving it to and fro while crawling. It feeds on Gorse blos¬ 
soms as long as this plant remains in bloom, after which it 
readily feeds on the young tender spines, which form the sole 
food of the larva in its last stage. The larval stage lasts 
about twelve weeks. 
Pupa. The pupa is 8*50 mm. long. The head is rounded, 
the thorax swollen, rounded and contracted behind. The 
abdomen is swollen at the middle and curves to the anal 
segment, which is rounded and furnished with hooks. The 
whole surface is smooth, but not very glossy. The colour 
is pale ochreous-green, the abdomen darker and the wing 
whitish and semi-transparent at the apex. The pupa is not 
attached by the anal hooks, but is suspended to a stem of 
the plant close to the earth merely by a few strands of silk 
spun around it. The pupal stage occupies about eighteen days. 
Imago. The sexual difference is distinct, the average expanse 
of the wings in the male is 31 mm. ; in the female, 29 mm. 
