508 MR. TRIMEN ON MIMETIC ANALOGIES AMONG AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES. 



from a West-African specimen) and P. Meriones, n. sp., the Madagascarene form, or 

 " Var. B," of Boisduval's ' Species G(^neral ' (p. 222). The former of the two Felderian 

 species appears to me of doubtful value, being founded upon some slight differences in 

 the outline of the wings (a very variable character in Ilerope) and in the width of the 

 discoidal cell of the hind wings * ; but there is some ground for the separation of the 

 form inhabiting Madagascar, as will be seen immediately. 



Considering for how long a time this fine Fcqnlio has been known, and how frequently 

 it reaches England in collections from the various African settlements, it seems singular 

 that the female should be unknown. I have examined a large number of specimens in 

 the National Collection, the Oxford Museum, and the principal private collections, and 

 found them, without exception, to be males. In Southern Africa, I have been familiar 

 with the butterfly in its native woods for some years, have taken some scores of speci- 

 mens, and have examined many others from localities which I had no opportunity of 

 visiting : all were males. 



But in various parts of the Cape, KaflPraria, and Tsatal there occurs, within a range 

 corresponding to that of P. ilerope, the uncommon Fapilio Cenea, of Stoll, already 

 mentioned as so singularly accurate a mimicker of Danais Echeria. I have reason to 

 l)elieve that nearly all the specimens of this at present in collections have passed through 

 my hands ; and among the whole number (about 25) from various localities, no male has 

 occurred. A black Fajyilio, without tails f, and marked with ochre-yellow patches and 

 spots, is a very different-looking butterfly from the fine pale-yellow Merope ; yet there 

 is good reason for believing that Cenea is the female of Ilerope, modified in imitation of 

 Danais Echeria. A close inspection reveals many points in common between the two 

 insects. The head, thorax, and abdomen are similarly coloured and spotted. The pale 

 spot near the apex of the fore wings, so conspicuous in the dark border of Ilerope, is 

 almost always present (though occasionally smaller) in Cenea. On the under surface, 

 the ochre hue of the hind wings and border of the fore wings only differs in Cenea by 

 being rather darker ; and the cellular and internervular streaks in the basal region, as 

 well as a pale space, between the radials, in the darker band beyond the middle of the 

 hind wings are found in both butterflies. Both in the Cape Colony and Natal, the woods 

 in which Merope was common were the only spots in which I met with Cenea ; and on 

 one occasion I saw Cenea chased by Merope in the manner peculiar to a male butterfly 

 when in pursuit of the female. Apart from these circumstances, analogy with the case 

 of Fapilio eclierioides (the ? of which also copies Danais Echeria, while the S is 

 widely different) strongly supports the probability of the view here enunciated. 



As Cenea occurs only in the south of Africa, its known range being from Knysna 



* Dr. Felder does not use the name sulphurcus to include the West- African form of Merope, expressly observing 

 (loc. cit. p. 77) that the agreement of Cramer's figures, made from West-African examples, with the South-African 

 Merope, precludes him from considering sulphureus a geographical subspecies. 



t Cramer's earlier figures (pi. 1.51. figs. A, B) represent Merope without tails. This may be, as Boisduval suggests, 

 only the result of mutilation ; but these processes are known to be a variable character in many species of Papilio, 

 and in Merope itself vary in size ; so that the existence of a form in which they are wanting, or nearly so, need not 

 be thought impossible. 



