Mr. A. G. Butler on a new Species of Pseudacraja, 123 



XVII. — Description of a new Species of Pseudacrtea from 

 Natal By Akthur G. Butler, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c. 



The genus Pseudacrcea is one of the most interesting- groups 

 of butterflies, the species of which mimic the various forms of 

 Acrcca, Planema, &c. 



The present species is in the collection of Mr. Walter de 

 Rothschild, and was captured in Natal by Mr. Peter Colville, 

 after whom I have much pleasure in naming it. 



The nearest allies of P. Golvillei are P. Trinienii and P. 

 Boisdavaliij between which it is in some respects interme- 

 diate ; it appears to me to resemble Acrcea horta rather than 

 the groups copied by its two allies. 



Pseudacrcea ColviUeij sp. n. 



<S . Aloe anticas area interno-basali rufa, nigro maculata ; area api- 

 cal! cinerea, subhyalina, venis strigisqiie inteniervularibus nigris ; 

 limbo externo iiigrescente ; ala3 postica? rufa?, area basali nigro 

 maculata ; limbo externo nigro, rufo maciilato ; corpus nigrum, 

 fulvo alboque maculatum. 



Primaries with the basi-internal half reddish fulvous (pro- 

 bably carmine-red when fresh), with black markings, exactly 

 as in P. Trirnenii ; apical half smoky semitransparent grey, 

 with black veins and internervular streaks nearly as in P. 

 Boisduvaliij but without the transverse <-shaped markings 

 near the base of the median branches : secondaries nearly as 

 in P. Trivwniij but with large oval red spots on the black 

 border, as in the female of P. Boisduvcdii ; form and expanse 

 of wings corresponding with those of the latter species. 



Natal [P. Colville). Coll. W. de Rothschild. 



Although P. Trirnenii is subject to slight variation in 

 colouring, the secondaries sometimes exhibiting a snow-white 

 patch from the three round black spots crossing the median 

 vein, as in Acrcea acara^ there can be little doubt that the 

 present species is far too distinct from it for a mere sport ; its 

 resemblance to an entirely different form of Acrcea^ its diffe- 

 rent outline, and other characters show it to be clearly a 

 separate species. Neither is it any more remarkable that two 

 Pseudacrceas of the same group should occur in Natal than 

 tliat the corresponding forms of Acrcea should independently 

 exist there ; the only strange thing is, in spite of the rarity of 

 the species in this genus, that the present species has not 

 already been described. 



The allied P. Boisduvalti inhabits Western and South- 

 western Africa. 



