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The Summer Form
(1) The northern spring form, Cyaniris ladon lucia. This is more heavily marked on the lower surface than either of the other forms; the spots on the outer margin of the lower surface of the wings are blurred so as to form a continuous band, and usually the markings in the middle of the hind wings are also blurred and run together to a considerable extent. It occurs in Canada and in the northern portions of the eastern United States. Where it occurs it is the first butterfly of the season, excepting those species (the anglewings) that hibernate in the adult state. (2) The margined spring form, Cyaniris ladon marginata. -There is a heavily marked form occurring in the spring in which the markings in the middle of the under surface of the hind wings are quite distinct, but those of the margin of the wing are blurred, making a continuous band. This form does not extend as far north as lucia, the northern limit of its range being about lat. 45° on the Atlantic coast. (3) The typical spring form, Cyaniris ladon violacea. In this form the markings of the lower side of the wings are quite heavy, but they are not blurred as in the other two spring forms. In the southern part of its range, say south of lat. 38°, violacea is dimorphic, the males appearing under two forms, one blue above, the normal violacea, and the other dark brown, C. ladon violacea-nigra. 3 6 9 11 SBOB sese Plate XXXVIII. 4 5 7 8 10 12 13 (4) The late spring form, Cyaniris ladon ladon. In the southern part of the range of the species, i. e. south of lat. 40° on the Atlantic coast but as far north as Montana in the West, there appears, from over-wintering chrysalids, but considerably later than the forms described above, a fourth spring form. This is the largest form of the species, expanding one and four-tenths inches; and the spots on the under side are much smaller than in either of the preceding forms. This form has been known as pseudargiolus; but ladon is the older name. (5) The summer form, Cyaniris ladon neglecta. In the more northern portions of the range of the species, i. e. north of Montreal, this butterfly is single-brooded; but south of that region a second generation of butterflies is produced from eggs laid by the spring forms. This generation appears in June, and a third generation may appear in the fall. Both of these generations are of the type known as neglecta. This form resembles the late spring form in markings, but is smaller, not expanding more than one and one-tenth inches.
Mr. Scudder does not regard neglecta as distinct from C. ladon ladon, or pseudargiolus as it has been more commonly termed; according to this view neglecta is one of the spring forms as well as the summer form. And we have had difficulty in separating the two by the characteristic of size as given in the table above.
The following table, based on the publications of Mr. W. H. Edwards, indicates the distribution of the forms described above:
