238 
LYCAENIDAE 
The Mazarine Blue just 
emerged. Sketched from 
life. 
Blue is recorded as having been cap¬ 
tured by a college student named 
Townsend on the Downs near Beachy 
Head, Sussex. It passed into the col¬ 
lection of Mr. E. D. Morgan, of Crow- 
borough, who subsequently presented 
his collection to the Torquay Museum, 
where the specimen now is. 
The haunts of the Mazarine Blue 
were chiefly rough meadows, hay-fields 
and uncultivated ground. The food 
plants of the larvae (after hibernation) 
consisted mainly of the blossoms and 
tender shoots of Clover, also the flowers of the Kidney Vetch 
(Anthyllis vulneraria), Trefoil and other leguminous plants. As 
its haunts in many places remain unchanged, and its food plants 
abound, the disappearance of this butterfly from all its former 
localities is surrounded in mystery. Abroad it is widely distri¬ 
buted over Europe, Siberia, Asia Minor, Mongolia, and Amurland. 
Hibernation. (See page 239.) 
Time of Appearance. In this country C. semiargus was 
normally single-brooded, but as specimens occurred in August 
in certain years, it might have been partly double-brooded 
under very favourable weather conditions. The earliest known 
date of its appearance is May 28th, 1833, and the latest at the 
end of August, 1793. Its normal time of appearance was from 
about the second week in June to the middle of July. 
Egg and Egg Laying. Abroad females of this butterfly have 
been observed depositing their eggs on the flower-heads of 
the Red Clover, which no doubt was the chief food plants in 
the English hay-fields and meadows. In captivity I found 
this species readily laid its eggs on the flowers of the Kidney 
Vetch, mostly near the base of the calyces, and often hidden 
between them. 
The egg is very similar to that of the Large Blue both in 
size and structure ; it is o*6o mm. wide. The entire surface is 
covered with a reticulated network pattern resembling white 
frosted glass ; the ground colour is pale blue-green. The egg 
state lasts ten days. Upon hatching the young larva eats a 
small hole in the side of the egg just large enough for its escape. 
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