646 Rev. K. St. Aubyn Eogers' Bionomic Notes on 



Two ova, of unknown parentage, were also found on the 

 food plant. Thelarvse which hatched from them pupated 

 on April 5, an imago emerging on April 20, the other on 

 the 21st. 



These 7 bred specimens appear on the whole to show 

 the pelasgis (wet) characteristics rather less fully than the 

 majority of the captured specimens. This is especially 

 true of the last-mentioned specimen, which emerged on 

 April 21st. A comparison with the captured specimens 

 renders it probable that these very slight differences are 

 merely the result of artificial conditions, and do not 

 indicate any tendency towards the development of the dry 

 phase during April. 



The chief character in which these more northern 

 pelasgis approach archesia and fall short of the development 

 attained by the wet-season forms in southern Africa is the 

 usual grey-mottled appearance of the dark ground colour on 

 the under surface, especially noticeable in the basal halves 

 of both wings. In southern specimens, on the other 

 hand, this dark ground colour is uniform and patternless. 

 In other less striking features the northern forms appear 

 also to approach archesia, but an account of them is post- 

 poned until a long series of southern specimens has been 

 carefully examined from this point of view. In the mean- 

 time there is no doubt about the general existence of the 

 important difference described above, and it is probable 

 that the appearance of intermediate characters in the 

 northern pelasgis may throw light on the evolution of the 

 most completely specialised and contrasted seasonal forms 

 of the species. E. B. P. 



d. Habits of Precis natalica and F. clgiva. 



Eahai, Sept. 30th, 1906. 



I see [in Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1902, p. 423] that in 

 S. Africa Precis natalica and P. elgiva are both described as 

 forest butterflies. This is not the case here. P. natalica 

 is common at Mombasa even in parts of the island where 

 there is no wood at all, and the scrub is not more than 

 8 ft. or 10 ft. high, and I found P. elgiva in N. Kikuyu 

 where woods of any size are few and far between, and 

 there is nothing that could be called forest anywhere 

 near. 



