Prarie i 
Uy, 
the Relatwe Edibility of Insects. 69 
SP. | Obs. N Name Colour | Hdi- Remarks 
at ale ; "| bility. i 
173 359 Precis natalica Veld. P | ++ | Black and brown. 
113 250 Hypolimmnas misippusL.,g. A | ? M. when out hunting 
made no effort to catch 
this, which was sitting 
| on the ground, 
120 260 Hypolimnas misippusL.,?.. AA | + Mimics 286A. 
211 443 * :, misippus L., A - Mimics 286B. 
Q f. inaria. | 
169 355 Neptis agatha Cram. A |~ + |Conspicuous black and 
| white. 
General remarks on the NYMPHALIDAE. 
For the purposes of this article the coloration classified 
is that of the wnder-side, which is of most importance, since 
it is all that shows when the butterfly is in the condition 
of complete rest. Thus many Precis are brightly coloured 
above, but very procryptic below. It is interesting that 
the Acraea seemed more distasteful than Danaida chrysip- 
pus, and that Hypolimnas misippus, synaposematic with 
the latter, was put at about the same level. 
Precis sesamus and P. antilope, the wet-season aposematic 
forms, were not treated as distasteful. 
Lycaenidae. 
| 
62 119 Axiocerces harpax F. | ieP. | ++ | 
| | 
I have not offered Lycaenids to the monkey because 
their very small size makes them hardly worth while; 
their edibility to birds is another matter. But the above 
species (upper surface richly copper-coloured, under surface 
russet-brown) is of some especial interest, owing to the fact 
that the curiously twisted “tails” on the hind-wing aid 
very greatly in the procrypsis when the butterfly is in the 
position of complete rest for the night. The following 
quotation from an entry in my journal of January 13th, 
1917, illustrates this: “ Several species of Lycaenids were 
seen disposed for the night on shrubs, among them No. 62, 
which is very common here; this wasa 2. Both antennae 
projected straight out in front just above the surface of 
the leaf on which the butterfly sat. The fore-wings were 
completely covered by the hind-wings except for their 
extreme tips; the third silver spot on the costa (counting 
from the tip) being half covered by the hind-wing, and 
half exposed. The tails on the hind-wings projected 
almost vertically (in a line almost directly above the base 
of the abdomen, the whole of which was exposed) and 
