lIESrERlDJv 279 



inner side) ; femora finely hairy beneath ; tarsi long and stout, spinu- 



lose. 



Ahdomm stout, of moderate length ; in $ terminally tufted and 

 laterally compressed, and beneath with a more or less deeply excavated 

 median groove, widest at base and extending to beyond basal half. 



Larva.— Stout, somewhat tapering anteriorly, very sparsely and 

 shortly pubescent ; head of moderate size, granulated. 



PurA. — Rather stout; head prominent; thorax rounded and ele- 

 vated dorsally ; covered generally with a bluish or whitish powder. 



(These characters of the earlier stages are from the descriptions and 

 figures in Duponchel's Iconoyrapliic, &c., (Us ChmUlcfi, i. (1849), of 

 those of P. Malvce, L.) 



The butterflies of this genus are further distinguished by the length 

 of the cilia of the wings, which is emphasised by their being white with 

 conspicuous black interruptions at the extremities of the nervules. 



Although, as indicated in the foregoing diagnosis, there exist con- 

 siderable diversities in Pyrgus as far as the secondary sexual characters 

 of the $ are concerned, I agree with Dr. Speyer's later view {I. c, 1 879) 

 that these are insufticieut to warrant the separation of the respective 

 sets of species presenting them in the proposed distinct genera Car- 

 charodus and Scelothrix. It is remarkable that, with the exception of 

 P. Elma, Trim, (a member of the Alccce group, which possesses the 

 costal fold in the fore-wings), none of the South- African species pre- 

 sents any of the secondary ^ characters in question.^ 



These small but robust butterflies have been well studied in 

 Europe, where no fewer than seventeen species are found (besides 

 several marked varieties), and representatives of the genus occur 

 throughout, but are more numerous in the southern countries. The re- 

 corded Pyrgi amount in all to about seventy-six ; the Paltearctic Ptegion 

 yielding twenty-two ; the Nearctic fourteen ; Central and South Ame- 

 rica fifteen; India and China six; Africa nineteen; and Australia, 

 according to Plotz, one {Anjlna, H. Schiiff). There can be little doubt 

 that many more species remain to be discovered ; the small stature, 

 plain colouring, and swift flight (combined with the very restricted 

 localities of some of the forms) rendering these insects very likely to 

 escape the collector's observation. 



The black or blackish-brown (rarely greyish) ground-colour of 

 Pyrgus is marked with white (rarely also with transparent) spots ; and 

 on the under side a similar pattern prevails, but the ground-colour 

 (except the blackish disk of the fore-wings) is of some tint of yellowish-, 

 reddish-, greyish-, or greenish-ochreous. The fourteen known natives 

 of South Africa are for the most part (nine species) of this prevalent 



1 Plotz {loc. cit., p. 6) notes of P. Sataspcs, Trim., " der Umsclilag iler Vfl. ist orange ;" 

 but in this he appears to have been misled by the colourist of the figure in Bhop. Afr. Aust. 

 (ii. pi. 5), who has given the costa too warm a tint, and probably conveyed the impressioo 

 that this stripe of colour indicated the presence of a costal fold. 



