SOME AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES 623 



Argynnis nipke, Eupkcedra eleus, Elymnias undularis, Papilio 

 merope, Caryatis phileta. 



Amauris is a genus which, like Limnas, has numerous striking 

 mimics, none more so than A. niavius. This is a large butterfly, 

 very boldly marked in broad patches of black and white, which 

 is abundant in West and South Africa. It is chiefly remarkable 

 for the fact that, wherever it occurs, the female of Papilio 

 merope assumes a special form closely resembling it. P. merope 

 and its allies are widely distributed throughout Africa, including 

 the island of Madagascar. The male is creamy yellow, the 

 wings having black borders with one pale spot near the tip, 

 while the hindwings have very prominent spatulate tails. In 

 Malagasy and one or two East African forms the female is 

 almost exactly like the male, the only noticeable difference in 

 colour being the addition of a black bar on the costa of the 

 forewings. On the rest of the mainland, however, no females 

 resembling the male have ever been found, although the male 

 never varies much in any district. Not only one, but several 

 species of Danaince are mimicked by this extraordinary lady. 

 One, as I have indicated, conforms closely to the pattern and 

 colouring of A. niavius, while another assumes the totally 

 different hues of L. chrysippus. In no case do these females 

 possess tails, and the only noticeable difference from the species 

 mimicked is the dentated form of the hindwings. 



Ill 



Acr mince are perhaps the most abundant butterflies in 

 Africa, taking the place of our familiar white butterflies in 

 gardens and cultivated places. They bear a strong likeness 

 to one another, so that, although several genera have been 

 proposed in order to divide the enormous number of species 

 into workable form, yet no very definite characters have been 

 assigned to them, and the two genera Planema and Acrcea, the 

 latter containing more than a hundred distinct species, may 

 generally be regarded as the only permanent division of the 

 African species of the subfamily. 



Nymphalince, the great group of butterflies containing so 

 many richly coloured species, even amongst Palaearctic forrns, 

 are extremely abundant in Africa, and, although the species 

 do not generally surpass in beauty the richly coloured Admirals, 

 Tortoiseshells, and Peacocks familiar to every English school- 

 boy, they display an almost limitless variety, which, while 

 having certain points of resemblance to Palaearctic species, 

 includes forms distinctly peculiar to the African Continent. 

 A large and typical genus is Precis, which comprises butterflies 

 having some general resemblance to the Tortoiseshells, but 



