Female, dark smoky brown, with a leaden tinge, sprinkled near the body with _greenish_ blue scales of the _same colour_ as the males; border of orange spots, more or less visible. _Under side_ marked as in fig. 2 _a_, on a brown ground, with a row of _red_ spots near border of hind wing. The _caterpillar_ (Plate I. fig. 10) is green, striped with yellow on the back and sides. The _chrysalis_ is brownish, and of the shape shown at fig. 29, Plate I. The _butterfly_ is out in July and August, frequenting chalky downs, especially in the south, and where it does occur is often extremely abundant. Occasionally it is found _off the chalk_, having been seen in Epping Forest, decidedly _not_ a chalk district. Other localities {156} are--Croydon; Brighton; Lewes; Dover; Winchester; Isle of Wight; Halton, Bucks; Newmarket; Peterborough; Norfolk; Suffolk; Berkshire; Oxfordshire; Wiltshire; Gloucestershire. At Grange, North Lancashire, it is the commonest "Blue," _not on chalk_, but _limestone_. * * * * * THE ADONIS BLUE. (_Polyommatus Adonis._) (Plate XIV. fig. 3, Male; 3 _a_, Female.) _Colouring_:--Upper side, _male, brilliant sky-blue, without any lilac tinge_, bordered by a distinct black line, the _fringe distinctly barred with blackish_. Female, dark smoky brown, sprinkled near body with _pure blue scales the colour of those of male_; border of orange spots, more or less visible. Under side, male, marked as in fig. 3; border of red spots. Female, almost exactly like that of Corydon (fig. 2 _a_), but usually has the black spots on the front wing smaller. This is a most lovely little butterfly, the blue of its upper surface being quite unapproachable among native insects. Mr. Stainton, speaking of the different blues of Corydon and Adonis, happily observes that, "_Corydon_ {157} reminds one of the soft silvery appearance of _moonlight_, whilst _Adonis_ recalls the intense blue of the sky on a hot summer's day." _Caterpillar_ like that of Corydon. The _butterfly_ is double-brooded, appearing first in May and again in August. It is found on the same soils and in most of the localities with the last, but is, I believe, more confined to the south. * * * * * THE COMMON BLUE. (_Polyommatus Alexis._) (Plate XIV. fig. 4, Male; 4 _a_, Female.) _Colouring_:--Upper side, male, lilac blue. Female, purplish blue about the centre, brown towards the margins, but the proportions of blue and brown are very variable--sometimes all the wings have a border of orange-red spots, sometimes these are absent from one or both pairs of wings. _Fringe_ in both sexes _white, uninterrupted by dark bars_. _Under side_, male, marked as in fig. 4, and hardly to be distinguished from under side of male Adonis, except by the ground colour, which is paler and _greyer_ than in Adonis. Female, same pattern as male, but coloured with warmer tints--more like male Adonis. {158}