2i6 SOUTH-AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES. 



larvce, one already suspended for pupation, the other in the stage de- 

 scribed as the " second moult " by Captain Harford. Only the former 

 of these larvte produced the perfect insect, but I obtained ten butterflies 

 from the pupte received. Of these, the dates of pupation of nine being 

 on record, I am able to note that the duration .of the chrysalis state 

 in November and December varied from twelve to eighteen days. 

 These eleven pupa were (with the exception of two on the twigs of the 

 food-plant, and one — from the larva that pupated after arrival — attached 

 to the side of a box) suspended on the under side of the leaves, the 

 tail being fixed at the base of the mid-rib, or, in a few cases, just free 

 of the beginning of the leaf, to the short foot-stalk. In this position, 

 the difficulty of distinguishing the pupa from the adjacent leaves is 

 considerable, as the concavity and depression of the dorsal aspect, 

 from the attenuated tail to the prominent and curved thoracic peak 

 (which intercepts the view of the blunted head), and the outline of this 

 aspect, the resemblance of the four raised dorsal stripes converging at 

 the tail to a mid-rib or short foot-stalk, and the slightly darker oblique 

 streaks and minute flecks representing the venation, all combine to 

 assimilate the pupa to the surrounding foliage in the most deceptive 

 manner. 



In my former work on South-African Butterflies, I followed Mr. G. R. 

 Gray in treating this Papilio as an austral form of P. Leonidas, Fab. ; but the 

 accession of more material, and the fact of the unmistakable modification of 

 P. Brasidas (more especially the $ ) in mimicry of a different Danaine (viz., 

 Amauris Eclieria) from that imitated by P. Leonidas, have led me to keep the 

 two forms apart, notwithstanding their very intimate alliance. The occurrence 

 of both Leonidas and Brasidas in Zululand marks up till now (January 1888) 

 the southern limit of the former and the northern one of the latter on the East 

 Coast; but according to Mr. Druce (Proc. Zool. Soc. Land., 1875, p. 416), the 

 two forms both appear in the late Mr. Monteiro's collection, formed in Angola, 

 very much farther to the northward on the West Coast. 



Brasidas appears to have rather a limited range in South Africa, not being 

 known to me to exist to the westward of King William's Town and East 

 London, where Mr. D'Urhan reported it to be rare. Colonel Bowker did not 

 meet with many examples in the Trans-Ivei country ; hut on and near the coast 

 of Natal and Zululand the butterfly is by no means uncommon, and often 

 numerous. I took a good many specimens about D'Urbau at the end of 

 January and in February 1867 ; they frequent woods and their vicinity, flying 

 briskly but not very swiftly, and often visiting Lanta^ia and other flowers. In 

 relation to this Papilio' s marked resemblance to Amauris Eckeria, Stoll,i |)oth 

 in pattern and outline of wings. I was much interested to see that it was in 

 the habit of settling precisely in the way affected by the Amauris, viz., on a 

 projecting leaf or twig, with the wings closed and hanging downward, and in 

 this exposed position remaining motionless for a considerable time. On more 

 than one occasion I have mistaken Brasidas when so posed for Echeria. 

 Captain Goodrich's Zululand specimens were captured in October and November 

 1886, and January and April 1887. 



^ See vol, i. pp. 37 and 59; and Trans, Linn. Soc. Lond., xxvi. p. 507, and note (1869). 



