piEraN.-E. 65 



of (liscoidal cell ; hiud-inarginal spots united by bi'oad arclied streaks, 

 so as to form a series oi fesloun-Ukc markinc^s ; before tlieiu a more or 

 less connected row of arclied streaks {as in nndcr side of $) touching 

 them. Under sipk. — Venj similar to $, but the marhingii Iroader. 

 Fore-iving : paler than on upper side ; base only light-greyish, but in 

 the whiter specimens with a pale-3'ellow tinge as far as extremity of 

 cell. Hind-irimg : deeper in tint than in ^ ; blackish markings often 

 more or less diflused. 



The $ varies but little, except in size ; but the black markings 

 generally are more pronounced in some specimens, and in a few of the 

 smaller examples the upper part of the terminal disco-cellular streak on 

 the upper side of the fore- wings is obsolescent or wanting. The $, on 

 the other hand, is highly variable, not only in size, but in ground- 

 colour and development of markings. Examples of the medium pale- 

 yellowish tint, with all the marginal markings defined with more or less 

 clearness, are most prevalent ; but specimens not rarely occur in which 

 the yellow is much deeper on both upper and under side, and the 

 marginal markings are on the upper side in both wings confluent into 

 a broad dark border without (or with only the traces of) the usual 

 spots, while the basal clouding is broader and darker. Females in 

 which the ground-colour is whitish or nearly white are the scarcest ; in 

 one of three, which I took near Grahamstown, the borders and basal 

 suffusion are almost as strongly marked as in the yellower examples, 

 just mentioned.^ 



I captured the paired sexes near Grahamstown on the 6th, and at 

 Uitenhage on the 23d February 1870, and Colonel Bowker took them 

 near D'Urban, Natal, in November 188 i. The $ of Colonel Bowker's 

 pair is remarkable for presenting on the upper side of the fore-wings 

 the coalescence of the outer and inner series of white spots in the dark 

 border, usually found only on the under side, — the confluent spots are, 

 however, much irrorated with fuscous scales. 



The longer and much more pointed fore-wings and inferiorly elongated hind- 

 wings well distinguish the (^ s of Gidica and Alyssinica from their allies in 

 South Africa, and, in a less degree, the 5 s also. The $ Gidica is a very rapid 

 flyer, and its swift irregular course over and among the trees and imderwood 

 of its sylvan haunts makes it by no means an easy capture on the wing. 

 It constantly visits flowers, however, especially those of Calodendron capense 

 (the so-called " Wild Chestnut") and of Plumbago caiJensis, and is then taken 

 without much difiicnity. The species is very numerous in the wooded parts of 

 South Africa, but does not make its appearance until tl>e warm weather is well 

 advanced. At Plettenberg Bay, near Grahamstown, and on tlie ISTatal coast, I 

 found it abundant at the end of January and through February in ditierent 

 years, and in the last-named district up to the beginning of April. Mr. W. S. 



^ My determination of Wallengren's Pinacoptcryx Wcslicoodi and P. Douhledayi as 

 respectively S and ? of Gidica was confirmed by some rough drawings of his type speci- 

 mens shown to me by W. F. Kirby. " P. Westwoodi, Wlgrn.," in the drawings is certainly 

 the i Gidica; "P. Douhledayi, Wlgrn., (J," is a ? Gidica in which the fore-wings are 

 whitish ; and " P. Douhledayi, Wlgrn., 9 ," is a yellow ? Gidica. 



VOL. III. E 



