MR. TRIMEN ON MIMETIC ANALOGIES AMONG AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES. .oOO 



(lat. 33° 59' S., long. 23° 3' E.) to Port Natal, the inquiry naturally arises, where is the 

 female of the tropical Ilerope ? One might have heen at a loss here, were it not for 

 another, and still rarer, isolated ? Fapillo which is found in Southern Africa, viz. P. 

 Hlppocoon, Fab. { — P. Westermanni, Boisd.), and which appears to l)e rather commoner 

 on the western coast. This butterlly closely rcsenildes Duiials Niavlus, Linn., a common 

 species, which also inhabits tropical Africa and Natal. IIip)pocoon is brought from the 

 same localities as Mevope in "Western Africa, but is very much scarcer in collections. 

 The markings already mentioned as common to Merope and Cenea recur in Hippocoon ; 

 and some remarkable intermediate southern examples in my collection appear to indicate 

 some of the stages by which Illppocoon's broad white markings may have been gradually 

 modified in the direction of the dominant southern Banais, D. Echeria, until so different 

 a form as Cenea was the result. In various collections, I have examined fourteen speci- 

 mens of Hippocoon, all of which are females. 



A third remarkable Papilio must be placed as another form of the ? 3£e)'op)e, viz. 

 P. Dionijsos, Doubl.*, a very rare insect inhabiting "Western Africa. I had long 

 regarded this butterfly as probably connected with the curious series of forms under 

 consideration, even w'hen I knew it only from the figure in the ' Genera of Diurnal 

 Lepidoptera ;' and my opinion has been strengthened by an examination of the type 

 specimen in Mr. Hewitson's collection f. That exam2)le, as well as another larger speci- 

 men recently received by Mr. Ilewitson from Old Calabar, is a female. These two 

 specimens come nearer to F. Hippocoon than to any other butterfly ; but their colouring 

 is very singular, the lai'ger white space of the fore wings extending the whole length of 

 the inner margin, and being scarcely separated from the subapical white bar by some 

 blackish scaling, while the hind wings are wholly warm yellow-ochreous, except the 

 white-spotted black hind-marginal bordering. On the underside, however, the dull ochre 

 margins of the wings, and the internervular .streaks, are like those of IlippocoQn ; and 

 the apical spot in the fore wings, as well as the markings of the body, present no 

 difference. But the strongest proof of the most intimate affinity between the two forms 

 is afforded by a third female specimen, which accompanied that just mentioned from 

 Old Calabar; for in this example the characters of Hipjwcoon and Dioiii/sos are 

 unmistakably blended, the markings of the fore wings being precisely those of the former 

 (except that the inner marginal white extends rather further into the wings), while the 

 yellow tint of the hind wings, though paler, is like that of the type Biotnjsos. 



The fourth form of the ? Meropie is that described and figured by Professor "West- 

 wood X under the name of PapiUo Trophonius, and suggested by him as possibly the 

 female of P. Cenea §. In this form the markings quite agree in size and shape with 



* Gen. Diurn. Lep. pi. 3. fig. 4. 



t I take this opportiniity of recording ni)- warmest acknowledgment of the courtesy and liberality with whicli Mr. 

 Hewitson has given me unlimited access to his fine collection. I am also indebted to Mr. Bates, Mr. Butler, Mr. 

 Sal\-in, Mr. Wallace, and Professor Wcstwood for similar kind assistance. 



X Arcana Entomologica, i. p. 163, pi. 39. figs. 1, 2. 



§ This view of the sexes was adopted by Doubleday, witliout (luory, in the ' Genera of Diurtial Lepidoptera ; ' and 

 upon this authority I unfortunately, without investigation, perpetuated the error in Part 1. of my ' Rhopaloccra 



