402 Annah of the South African Museum. 



Africa ; others are either more local or much less commonly distributed 

 in their habitat. 



Systematically this genus is part of a small group of forms, in- 

 teresting for its geographical distribution. Old-world species are 

 Ethiopian, except one, which occurs in parts of India, in Assam, 

 Indo-China and South China. But a more numerous group is 

 American (Diastatops, Zenithoptera, and of very probable affinity also 

 is Perithemis). Forms common to the Ethiopian and Neotropical 

 regions have been discussed in interesting zoo-geographical specula- 

 tions by v. Ihering for instance, and amongst such forms the 

 Palpopleura-group of LibeUtillnae may be cited as a conspicuous 

 example. 



1. Thoracic sides predominantly yellow. Face very light yellow or olivaceous 



in both sexes ............ 2. 



Thoracic sides predominantly black or blackish fuscous, with two very 

 oblique stripes, light yellow to dark bluish grey in mature males. Face 

 dark brown to blackish in males, ferruginous in females. Males with 

 frons above brilliant metallic blue ; dorsum or thorax and abdomen 

 pruinose blue. Males (a. lucia) with front wings metallic black over 

 entire breadth to about middle of pterostigma to tip in costal space ; hind 

 wings similarly coloured, but the coloured area ending in a sinuate line 

 at variable distance (for instance, between two and three cells' breadth) 

 from the anal margin. Other males (b. var. port in) with black colour in 

 front wings not reaching anal margin, only approaching it in level of t 

 and between nodus and pterostigma, thus roughly forming abroad costal 

 stripe with two transverse bands of black. Females with black pattern 

 similar to second form of male, but having the second transverse black 

 band slightly more proximal, with about equal parts proximal and distal 

 to nodus ; base of both wings yellow, from a very light shade to deep 

 golden yellow, distally to end of second black band. Frons ferruginous ; 

 abdomen ochreous with three longitudinal sinuate black bands. 

 $ (lucia), AM. 15, hdw. 21, pt. 3'5 mm. to 19, 25, 4. 



$ (portia), Abel. 14, h dw. 18, pt. 3 mm. to 19, 23, 35. ? , 12, 18 > 3 to 

 16, 25, 4 . . .... P. lucia. 



2. Smallest species. Legs mostly light yellow, black lines internally in males 



much reduced in females. Males with both wings black at base, mostly 

 to distal end of triangles and two or three rows of cells beyond anal vein, 

 the black area longitudinally divided by a hyaline or yellow stripe in m 

 and space between R and M rA ; veins in black space light yellow ; 

 small black dot at nodus of front wings ; base of wings otherwise yellow 

 to nodus in front wing, almost to pterostigma in hind wing; from very 

 light shades to rather deep golden yellow. Wings of female similar at 

 base, distally with variable transverse black bands ; with proximal 

 margin at nodus in front wing, one or two cells distally in hind wing ; 

 yellow colour mostly deeper than in males, but concentrated in broad 

 borders to the black basal spots and distal bands. Porsum of abdomen 



