16 RHOPALOCERA AFRICJE AUSTRALIS. 



small golden spot at anal angle, and a larger crescent of the 

 same colour before it above submedian nervure, close to inner- 

 margin. Fringes very narrow, whitish between nervules. 



? . Black duller and more sooty than in $ , stripes and 

 spots dull pale-greenish^ hardly metallic. Fore-wing: upper 

 spot of the three united ones on costa barely indicated by a 

 few green scales ; stripe narrower, its edges straighter than 

 in $ . Hindwing : stripe much narrower, never extending 

 further than extremity of cell, and sometimes not so far ; 

 hind-marginal spots larger, more lunular than in $ , 

 increasing greatly towards anal angle ; white marks on 

 fringes larger, conspicuous. UNDER-SIDE. Fore-tving : im- 

 mediately beyond cell a pale, shining, greyish space, running 

 into a similarly-coloured transverse stripe commencing just 

 before apex, and reaching submedian just before anal angle ; 

 between nervules, from subcostal nervure to subme 

 hind-margin, a row of silvery -whitish spots. Hind-wing : 

 ferruginous tint at base conspicuous ; a shining transverse 

 fascia about middle, conspicuously whitish near costa, gradu- 

 ally becoming obsolete to inner-margin ; beyond middle a 

 silvery- whitish streak from costa to third median nervule ; 

 wing beyond it pale greyish, except on hind-marginal edge, 

 which is dark brown, and contains some silvery lunular 

 spots.* 



Woods and copses. Frequent in gardens near woods. 



September (e) March (e). April and June, 1861 (D'Urban). 



Very common. A very powerful and rapid flier, soaring over the highest 

 forest trees; but, like most species of the Genus, a frequent settler 

 on flowers. At Plettenberg Bay, Plumbago Capensis appeared very 

 attractive to this splendid Butterfly ; in gardens, the flowers of the Orange 

 and Periwinkle seem to be its favourites. It is very active and wary; and 

 when settled keeps its wings in a state of ceaseless vibration. 



Knysna. Plettenberg Bay. Natal (Aldrich). Coll. mihi. 

 " Graham's Town. King William's Town." D'Urban, in 



[litt. 



Natal. Coll. S. A. Mus. 

 D'Urban, Natal (R. C. Jones). 

 Natal. West Africa. Sierra Leone. Brit. Mus. 

 " Madagascar ? " Boisd. 



* It is worthy of remark, that the nearly-allied Mauritian species, 

 P. Phorbanta, Linn., which differs greatly from P. Nireus in the shape 

 and disposition of the bluish-green markings on the upper-side, presents 

 an under-side almost identical with that of Nireus, as much in the female 

 as in the male. It is quite possible, if not probable, that P. Phorbanta 

 may prove to be only a strongly-marked insular variety of the widely-spread 

 and variable P. Nireus of the main land of Africa. 



