( 379 ) 



of May. Both sexes hannt by preference the outskirts of woods, seeming to delight 

 in short flights of great velocity over open spaces, ending in a return to the tree 

 stem or projecting twig they have quitted. The moist exudations on the trunks 

 and branches always attract this butterfly, and I have frequently seen three or four 

 specimens together busily engaged in drinking at one of the supplies of moisture. 

 I have more than once disturbed a ? at rest on quite a low bush, but the c?, though 

 occasionally descending to within a few feet of the ground, never appears to settle 

 except at a considerable height. Mrs. Barber has often observed the ? at high- 

 lands near Grahamstown — and I noticed examples there and at Mitford Park in 

 1870 — but singularly enough has never seen the c? on the wing. Colonel Bowker, 

 who forwarded several fine examples of both sexes from Kaifraria Proper, noted the 

 species as 'rare' on the Bashee River. Mr. W. C. Scully, who has lately (1885) 

 observed the species in woods near Seymour (Eland's Post), found that a large 

 number of these butterflies were attracted by the sap e.xuding from a climbing 

 composite shrub, the stem of which he had wounded for the purpose." 



33. Charaxes cithaeron. 



Charaxes cithaeron Felder, Wlen. Ent. Mon. HI. p. 398. t. 8. f . 2. (J . 3. ? (1859) (Natal) ; ButL, 

 Prnc. Zoo}. Soc. Lonil p. 631. n. 33 (1865) (Natal) ; Gooch, Eiitom. XIV. p. 6. 7 (1881) (Natal, 

 larva) ; Spiller, ihUl. XV. p. 8 (1882) (Natal) ; Staud., E.tnl. Turjf. p. 170 (1880) (Natal) ; 

 Dewitz, Nov. Act. Leoji. Cur. Ak. Xtit. h. 5. p. 371 (1887) (Ngura) ; Trim. & Bowk., S. Afr. 

 Butt. I. p. 345. n. 116 (1887) (Natal, metam. !) ; But!., Proc. Zuol. Soc. Land. p. G49. n. 23 

 (1893) (Zomba, ?) ; Trim., ihul. p. 45. n. 71 (1894) (Manica) ; Butl., I.e. p. 256. n. 19 (1895) 

 (Zomba) , id., I.e. p. 720. n. 14 (1895) (Zomba) ; id., Jourii. Linn. Soc. Lond. XXV. p. 375. 

 n. 70 (1896) (Natal ; Transvaal ; Zomba ; Kilimandjaro) ; id., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 397. 

 n. 10 (1898) (Brit. E. Afr.) ; Auriv., Kongl. Sr. Ak. Hand!. XXXI. 5. p. 239. n. 41 (1899) 

 (pt. ; Natal ; Transvaal ; Manica ; Nyassa ; Kilimandjaro ; Brit. E. A.). 



Nyniphali-t xijihares var. .1. {cilliaeron Felder), Trimen, lihuji. Afr. jlnxlr. p. 1G9. sub n. 97 (18G2) 

 (Natal). 



Nymphalis cithaeron, Kirby, Cat. Diurn. Lep. p. 270. n. 33rt (1871) (Natal). 



6 ? . Body above olive black, anteriorly slightly russet, four dots on head, a 

 line behind and two dots on collar cream colour ; undersif/e clay-colour, sides of 

 breast darker, palpi of both sexes and abdomen of <S almost creamy bnfi", palpi with 

 the vestige of a white line close to eye ; femora black with white, dispersed, scales. 



S. Wings above blue-black, glossy in basal area, with pale blue markings, 



which assume a purple tint in side-light. Forewing : a series of pale blue discal 



spots ; three spots SC' — R^ elongate, close to cross-veins, the uppermost often 

 absent, two spots R^ — M^ more distal, generally smaller, seldom a little larger 

 than the blue-black interspace between them, distally often concave, the second 

 sometimes oblique, two more spots between M- and SM", sometimes vestigial, often 

 merged together ; a postdiscal series of spots, parallel to outer margin, but spot 

 SC* — SC more proximal, upper two white, the others pale blue, spot R' — R- the 

 smallest, diameter about 1 mm., the following often little larger, but sometimes 

 gradually and considerably increasing in size, spots M- — SM- not rarely merged 

 together, forming witli the respective discal spots a large square patch, the centre 

 of which shows, however, some blue-black scales of the ground colour, this patch, 

 about 6 mm. from outer margin in front of SM* ; along internal margin, behind 

 the discal and postdiscal series, stands a long pale blue patch, varying in length 

 from 8 to 15 mm., often very narrow, sometimes contiguous with patch M- — SM- ; 

 marginal dots buffisli or bluisli, only the jmsterior ones marked in most individuals; 



