South African Butterjiies. 361 



but at the same time I find certain races that appear 

 more pronounced than the others, and among them 

 asteris, Godt., may safely be treated as one of the most 

 distinct. 



The actual specimens on which this species was founded, 

 are stated by Godart to have been taken by M. Jules 

 Verreaux about Table Mountain, and the description 

 given of them accords very nearly with numerous 

 examples collected by myself in the same neighbourhood. 

 From these natives of the Cape Promontory, about a 

 dozen individuals sent from Basuto-land differ in having 

 the cilia regularly varied with black at the extremities of 

 the nervules, and the first (or costal) spot in the discal 

 row on the underside of the hind-wings filled with black 

 instead of brown ; while in the $ , the orange lunule 

 adjoining the black spot near the anal angle of the hind- 

 wings is wanting on the upperside, and in neither sex do 

 the very short tails appear to exist. In connection with 

 these differences, I may note that I have received two 

 specimens from the neighbourhood of Grahamstown 

 (taken by Mrs. Barber and Mr. H. J. Atherstone), have 

 captured two at Mossel Bay, and even met with a single 

 cJ at Wynberg (where the true asteris of Godart is most 

 prevalent), all of which agree in markings with the 

 Basuto examples. 



Mr. Bowker notes this butterfly as inhabiting the tops 

 of hills at Koro-Koro and Maseru, and remarks that the 

 females sit quietly among the grass, while the males course 

 actively about. I have observed quite similar habits in 

 the asteris taken near Cape Town. 



Lyccena Cissus. 

 Polyommatus Cissus, Godart, Enc. Meth. ix. 683. 



A fine c? from Maseru agrees with the ordinary 

 appearance of the species. 



This is a more widely distributed species than I had 

 supposed. I found it abundantly in Natal; Colonel 

 Tower brought it from St. Lucia Bay; there is a specimen 

 from the Gaboon River in the British Museum ; and the 

 Hopeian Museum at Oxford contains a $ from Sierra 

 Leone, remarkable for the whiteness of the disc of the 

 fore- wings. 



