( Ixvii ) 



up and down the cleared space in the forest up which some of 

 them come from the open plain outside. 



" Papilioninae. — As regards Papilios, congratulate me on 

 at last catching P. ridleyanus, White. Its Acraea models are 

 (since I have been here) extraordinarily scarce. A. zetes, L., 

 I have only seen once or twice, and egina, Cr., not at all. I 

 note that the Papilio sometimes has a trace of yellow near 

 the apex of the front wing, suggesting the eastern zetes* 

 [March 14. — ' I have caught a great number of superb speci- 

 mens of P. ridleyanus at our well, where I think they must 

 collect from a long distance, — for one rarely sees them else- 

 where. I have only once seen one in the forest.' All the 

 ridleyanus sent are males.] P. cynorta, ¥., o, was very 

 common at one time. I have only seen one § — which to my 

 joy I caught (you will remember I have not met her before). 

 She was of the black and white western type [mimetic of the 

 $ Planema epaea, Cr.]. I much look forward to getting more. 

 P. dardanus, Brown, cj, I have seen, but no ?. [March 14. — 

 ' I have caught a hippooon, F., and planemoides, Trim., and 

 it nearly broke my heart to kill them ! However, I have 

 since found a lemon tree (I don't know their wild food-plant), 

 so that the next $ I catch shall lay eggs for me ! '] There is 

 a very interesting species [P. nobilis, Hog.] which I have 

 never before seen to my knowledge. It is like cj dardanus, 

 but with black areas on fore-wing dull buff, and the yellow 

 not so bright. It is of same size and build and flight as 

 dardanus S, and must be very closely allied. Can you tell 

 me its name, and what $ is like ? f Lastly, I have caught, 



* This interpretation is supported by comparison with specimens 

 from further W., in the Hope Department. Only the faintest trace 

 (about 11 yellow scales) were found on the left side only of a single <5 

 P. ridleyanus from the Kassai R., S.W. Congo State, while no traces 

 could be found in 22 other i $ from the same locality, in 6 from N. 

 Nigeria, 1 from Angola and 1 from Bangaluo. Out of Dr. Carpenter's 

 19 (5 c5 , on the other hand, 2 were strongly marked, 3 slightly marked, 

 and 2 in an intermediate condition. E. B. P. 



t The 9 is said to resemble the 6 , but the single ? at Oxford is 

 distinctly different, having additional rows of dark markings on the 

 hind-wing. It may be suggested as probable that P. nobilis is a mimic 

 of the 6 P- dardanus. The former is really closel}- allied to hesperus, 

 but its pattern bears a strong superficial resemblance to dardanus, and 

 now Dr. Carpenter tells us that the two butterflies are alike in flight. 



E. B. P. 



