THE BEDFORD BLUE, OR LITTLE BLUE. (Polyommatus Alsus.)
([Plate XIII]. fig. 4, Male; 4 a, Female.)
This is the smallest of British butterflies, specimens being sometimes seen even smaller than those figured.
Colouring:—Upper side, dark brown, distinctly powdered with blue near the root of the wing in the male, without blue in the female. Under side, pale grey-drab, bluish near the base, marked with rows of black spots in pale rings. No red spots.
Caterpillar, green, orange stripe down back, and streaks of same colour on each side.
The butterfly is out in May and June, and is sometimes seen much later. It is generally met with on limestone or chalky soils; and, from a long list of localities I have looked over, it seems to be distributed over England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
THE MAZARINE BLUE. (Polyommatus Acis.)
([Plate XIII]. fig. 5, Male; 5 a, Female.)