Breeding of the Nymphaline Genus Euraha. 
501 
disclosed by the 24th ; and all the remaining larvae had 
pupated by the 29th—with the exception of six taken tor 
preservation as inflated dried specimens. tvt o ;i 
The appearance of the imagines began on May 2. and 
continued for 13 days, ending on the 14th. The ^ ^ 
took the lead, 29 of that sex only emerging during 2nd to 
4th • the 2 2 came out in smaller number than the £ 6 
a to 17) on the 5th and 6th, but in larger inimber than 
the £ £ (45 to 24) from the 7th to the 11th; while on the 
last three days, 12tli to 14th, ? ? only emerged to the 
number of 5. The total number of imagines bred trom 
the 139 ova deposited by the two dcceptor mothers was 
thus 127 (70 ^ ^ and 57 ? ?); 4 ova appear not to have 
hatched, 2 larvae died, and 6 larvae were preserved. 
Only 1 imago emerged with crippled or deformed wings. 
The illustration (Plate LXI), reproducing a photograph 
taken by Mr. J. H. Burn of Durban, represents in minia¬ 
ture the whole imago progeny of the two deceptor motheis, 
with the exception of the deformed example just men¬ 
tioned and three others which were damaged in setting. 
The very small percentage of loss in rearing this larp 
decevtor progeny in confinement would seem to point, in tlie 
case of a butterfly so rarely taken in Natal, to the existence 
of severe persecution or other adverse conditions attecting 
the insect when at liberty in that country. The mothers 
under notice were fairly prolific, and the offspring reared in 
confinement under protection were, with o^nly one excep¬ 
tion, fully developed and richly coloured. Mr. Millar 
writes that deceptor is one of the rarest ot our boutn 
African butterflies, and during my collecting (now extend- 
ino- over 35 years) I have not taken a dozen good speci¬ 
mens.” I have of late years inclined to the beliet that, 
like several other species of butterflies now found in Nata , 
deceptor is a recent immigrant into that country that has 
extended its range along the coast from the northwaid 
It is—especially as regards the so pronounced a mimic 
of Amauris ochlea, that in its imago state this form should 
be shielded from excessive persecution by insectivores; and 
one is led to suppose that its scarcity in Natal—where its 
food-plant does not seem to be rare--may be due to 
enemies attacking the larva or pupa. A butterfly of this 
size so very conspicuous and striking in its pattern and 
colo’ration—and with the unusual character of the con¬ 
siderably larger $ being more brightly tinted than the £ 
