iiEsrERiDii:. 329 



Colonel Bowker sent five pupa-skins of this species, enveloped in the folded 

 palm-leaves. 



Di/smephila is a near ally of Ceri/mica, He wits., from Old Calabar. Only 

 the S of tlie latter is ligured (Kvut. Butt., iv. pi. 57, IF. 20, 21) and described; 

 the same sex of Dijsmephila differs in being considerably smaller, and in the 

 fore-wings having a conspicuous white hind-marginal border, the vitreous spots 

 three instead of four in number, and white instead of ]iale-yellow, and wanting 

 an oblique linear grey masculine badge just before lowest vitreous spot.^ 



Colonel Bowker discovered this line species in Kall'raria Proper, capturing 

 a single ? in March 1864 on the banks of the Easheo River; it was visiting 

 flowers about sunset on a dark cloudy evening. Writing from D'Urban on the 

 28th May 1884, he observes, " This Skipper is a regular night-bird, and comes 

 out with the owds and the bats. At this season it is almost dark at 5.45 p.m., 

 and on these last two evenings I have taken five or six on the wing, chasing 

 each other about a small tree. When in full chase they make a louder hum- 

 ming noise with their wings than most hawk-moths ; I could often hear them 

 a good ten yards off, when it was too dark to see them except when they rose 

 above the horizon line." IMr. A. D. Millar writes that he has never captured 

 this dusk-loving butterlly. The only Cape specimen that I have seen was taken 

 near King William's Town by Miss F. Bowker in 1873. Colonel Bowker has 

 taken it at D'Urban in December as well as in the winter months. 



Localities of ramphila dysme])hila. 



I. South Africa. 

 B. Cape Colony. 



b. Eastern Districts. — Pembroke, near King William's Town (Miss 

 F. Bowker). 



D. Kaffraria Proper. — Bashee River (/. II. Boivher). 



E. Natal. 



a. Coast Districts. — D'Urban and Pinetown (/. //. Bowker and //. 

 C. Harford). 



356. (U.) Pamphila Fiara, (Butler). 



? Proteides Fiara, Butl, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1870, p. 503, n. 3. 

 cJ Proteides Fiara, Staud., Exot. Schmett., i. pi. 99 (188S). 



Uxp. al, ($) 2 in.— 2 in. 2 lin. ; ($) 2 iu. — 2 in. 3 lin. 



Allied to Dysmephila, Trim. 



^ Bather dull ochreous-broivn ; hind-wing darker, ivith a median 

 space of dark ochre-ycllotv. Forc-ioing : on costa near apex two or three 

 faint dull-creamy dashes at extremities of subcostal nervules. Hind- 

 wing : median ochre-yellow filling discoidal cell (except close to base), 

 and extending beyond and below it over about half the length of median 

 nervules, but not reaching submedian nervure. Cilia very dull brownish- 

 white. Under side. — Hind-wing and narrow costal border and broad 

 apical hind-marginal area of fore-wing pale dull brownish-grey, with a 

 tinge of yellowish and a slight violaceous surface-gloss, rather sparsely 

 speckled with blackish. Fore-iving : basal half of inner-marginal border 



1 I believe that a large West-African species which I noted in the British Museum col- 

 lection will prove to be the ? Cerymica ; on the under side of the hind-wings the white 

 stripe is much broa ler than in 9 Dysmephila, and tlic neuration is whitish. 



