1887.] 29 



ON THE MYCALESIS ASOCHIS OF HEWITSON, A BUTTERFLY OF 

 THE SUB-FAMILY SATYRINJS. 



BY ARTHUR G. BUTLER, F.L.S., P.Z.S., &c. 



In the third volume of his Exotic Butterflies, Mycalesis, PI. vii, 

 figs. 46, 47, Hewitson figures a curious species from Old Calabar. 

 His description is so incorrect (" the basal half of both wings white ") 

 that unless figured, this butterfly could only have been recognised by 

 a reference to the type ; as a matter of fact the wings are bone-whitish, 

 the primaries having a broad costal border, and nearly the external 

 half dark brown, but the secondaries only a broad border, occupying 

 about one-fifth of the wing. 



In the Hewitson cabinet, associated with his types of M. Asochis 

 are two female examples of an allied but apparently perfectly distinct 

 species, supposed by Hewitson to be females of M. Asochis ; the true 

 female, however, as proved by a specimen in the Museum collection, 

 does not differ from the male to anything like the extent of these 

 specimens. 



The species regarded by Hewitson as 31. Asochis, ? , was briefly 

 described by Mr. Kirby in a Catalogue of the Lepidoptera in the 

 Museum of Science and Art, Dublin, in 1879, as probably the female 

 of that species. 



The male examples in the Hewitson cabinet are neither of them 

 his type, as they do not agree accurately with his figure, and neither 

 his males nor his females are labelled with locality-tickets ; the pro- 

 bability is that the type w^as a poor specimen, and was destroyed by 

 its owner as soon as he acquired fresher examples. A male example 

 in our collection from the Gaboon agrees with Hewitson's figures, and 

 a second from Accra only differs in very slight details. 



A female recently received from Old Calabar only differs from 



the male in its superior size, browner basal area, and rather narrower 



borders above, and in the defined brown stripes across the wings below. 



I have very little doubt, therefore, about the distinctness of Hewitson's 



, females, but in the absence of any locality-labels I hesitate to give 



a name. It may readily be recognised by those who possess it, from 



the fact, that the narrow border of the primaries is twice excavated, 



forming what is known as a "key pattern," or a castellated border, 



whilst near the anal angle of the secondaries there is a more or less 



defined rounded black spot, representing the ocellus of the under 



surface ; the border, excepting at apex, is very narrow, scarcely re- 



I presented by more than three closely approximated dark brown lines. 



( British Museum : March, 1887. 



