NOTES ON THE LEPIDOPTERA OF NATAL. 9 



species, but at the same time the forms are common to both 

 male and female : thus I have taken male Anthedon in copulation 

 with female Mima, and vice versa. Eurytela Hiarbas and 

 E. Drijope are, I believe, also varieties of the same species, 

 since I have taken them in cop. ; and on the Zulu border, last 

 July, I caught an intermediate variety, the individual being a 

 male, with the markings of E. Hiarbas, but the white stripe was 

 replaced by one of dark red-brown, much darker than the usual 

 orange band of E. Dryope. As I have also taken C. Zoolina and 

 C. Neanthes in cop., as well as J. Archesia and J. Pelasgis, I am 

 inclined to imagine they are likewise varieties of each other. I 

 am, however, quite aware that it is by no means an infallible 

 test of the identity of a species to find two distinct forms in cop., 

 since amongst the orange-tips such a phenomenon is frequently 

 seen. The splendid "mother-of-pearl," too, is by no means very 

 particular with whom it mates ; I have taken it on terms of 

 tender intimacy with J. Archesia and P. Merope, female; and 

 Colonel Bowker assures me he has taken it in cop. with a large 

 day-fl^ang moth, Aphelia Apollinaris. Possibly this queer weak- 

 ness accounts for the pecuhar varieties of this butterfly that 

 occasionally turn up : one, being a dark form, almost black ; 

 another, shining like polished silver; and another, with a 

 beautifully embroidered border, has been dignified as a distinct 

 species. This latter variety is very rare ; I have only caught it 

 on the Zulu border, and at the same time the woods were all 

 alive with the ordinary form floating through the Kafir foot- 

 paths like large patches of polished silver. 



Mr. Gooch has referred to two skippers, Leucochitonea bicolor 

 and L. paradisea, as two butterflies so local that they are 

 confined to a single locality ; but I think they will be found in 

 various suitable localities when the colony is more worked. 

 L. bicolor I have found at the Inanda Hills ; it is certainly not 

 plentiful ; but at the same place L. paradisea occurs in plenty. 

 Mr. Wood takes it plentifully even in his garden in April. It 

 also occurs at Verulam, where I have taken it in my own garden 

 and grounds ; and I have even caught individuals close to 

 Durban. The night-flying skippers, Pamphila Erinnys, P. Fiara 

 and P. Dysmcphila are also considered rare ; but this is, I 

 believe, entkely owing to their nocturnal habits. P. Dysmephila 

 feeds on the date palm, and the larva changes to a pupa enclosed 



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