( cxxv ) 



species as they were taken in the year and a half from June 6, 

 L916, up to Jan. 2, L918. It is unnecessary to say anything 

 of the geographical forms of the species, which are of the 

 races characteristic of the 8. and E. of Africa, except the 

 two following. 



Precis archesia, Or. — The wet forms (pelasgis, Godt.) are 

 on the whole intermediate between the most extreme wet 

 forms from further south in which the dark ground-colour 

 of the under surface is continuous and unmarked, and those 

 from the tropical north in which it is freely sprinkled with 

 grey scales (Trans. Ent. Soc, 1908, p. 546). Capt. Carpenter's 

 examples exhibit a variable amount of grey sprinkling, 

 especially over the basal area of both wings. The outer red 

 transverse streak in the F.W. cell is distinctly represented in 

 grey on the under surface of nearly all the specimens, and is 

 usually accompanied by a much slighter indication of the 

 shorter basal red streak. Forms of pelasgis like these are 

 common both to the N., where they are accompanied by 

 " drier *' patterns, and to the S., where they are accompanied 

 by " wetter," all being modifications of pelasgis with the 

 characteristic " wet " outline of the wings. 



The dry or arphesia forms, as represented in Capt. Car* 

 penter's collection, are remarkable in that they are never of 

 the full dry phase. The 10 examples taken June 13-20, 1916, 

 as well as the 2 of July 26, 1917, are all nearer to staudingeri, 

 Auriv., than to any other form. The upper surface is of 

 the full dry phase, the under falling short in the nearly 

 uniformly coloured basal and, usually darker, distal areas, 

 diversified only by a wash of grey especially marked in the 

 distal area, and more strongly developed in the individuals with 

 a fuscous ground-colour, less in those that are brown. Thus 

 the appearance is very different from that of the intensely 

 variegated, highly procryptic, variable patterns which are 

 the commonest forms of the dry phase in S. Rhodesia and 

 Natal : see Trans. Ent. Soc, 1902, pi. xiii, fig. 6, as com- 

 pared with fig. 7, which, although exceptional in Natal, 

 where it was captured, fairly represents the 12 forms of 

 staudingeri taken by Capt. Carpenter. The basal area of a 

 single individual (June 15, 1916) bears indistinct reddish marks 



