Case of Papilio Meroj)e. 151 



all the specimens of which are now in the South African 

 Museum ; while near D'Urban, Port Natal, I found both 

 Cenea var. and the last-named form of j .* 



These details of distribution seem to me satisfactorily to 

 show that, as far as South Africa is concerned, w^e have not 

 "representative species or races oiP. Merope (as Mr. Butler 

 suggests in his Catalogue of Fabrician Diurnal Lejndop- 

 tcra, 1869, p. 252), but one widely-ranging polymorphic 

 species, most unstable in character, yet varying within de- 

 terminate limits, as regards the females, in the direction 

 of accurate mimicry of the prevalent species of Danais 

 i^Amauris). 



I have only to add that the following appears to be the 

 accurate synonymy of Papilio Cenea^ viz. : — 



Papilio Cenea. 



$ . Papilio Brutus, Godt. (.jmrs), Encyc. Meth., ix. p. 69, n. 122 (1819). 

 „ „ Domv., Nat. Repos., in. -pi. n {IS25).\ 



„ „ Boisd. (pa7-s'), Pautie Untom. de Madaff., ,^'c.,]^, 12 



(1833). 

 „ „ Boisd., Var. A. Spec. Gen. Lep., p. 221, n. 39 



(1836)4 

 „ „ Chenu, Encyc. d'Hist. Nat.— Pap., pi. 2, f. 1 



(?1852).§ 

 Papilio Merope, Dovhl. <5" \\ cstw. (pars), Gen. Biurn. Lep.,\. p. 13, 



n. 92 (1840). 

 „ „ G. li. Gray {pars). Cat. Lep. Brit. 3Ius. — Pap.,Tp. 



25 (1852). 

 „ „ Trimcn (jmrs), Rhop. Afr. Aust., i. p. 11 (1862). 



„ „ Trimen, in Trans. Linn. Soc., xxvi., tab. 43, f. 1 



(1869). 



* Trophonius has not as yet, I believe, been recorded from Natal ; but a 

 variation intermediate between that form and the representative of Hippo- 

 coon was (as I have elsewhere mentioned) taken by the late Colonel 

 Tower, near St. Lucia Bay, on the coast north-east of Natal. 



f Donovan delineates the southern extreme form in which the band 

 across the hindwings on the u]iperside is unbroken. This band is, how- 

 ever, more even and regular on both upper and under surfaces than in any 

 specimen which I have seen. The underside ochreous colouring is given 

 as strongly rufescent. From the letter-press accompanying the plate, 

 Donovan seems to have considered that the unbroken band was the dis- 

 tinctive feature of the Madagascar race {P. Meriones, Felder) ; but in 

 this he was probably mistaken, as in all the Madagascar examples which 

 have come under my notice, the band is represented by 3 or 4 small and 

 widely-separated spots. 



X Boisduval's " Variete A " is the same southern form as that figured by 

 Donovan, and is noted as inhabiting the Outeniqua district, which is 

 situated in the southern part of the Cape Colony. 



§ Chenu gives the locality " Cafrerie," and figures rather a small ex- 

 ample, which combines the characters of the two singular specimens above 

 described (p. 1,50 and note), having the border of the forewings much 

 narrowed, and the broken markings representing the band of the hind- 

 wings unusuall}- small. 



