SATYEIN^. 



67 



These peculiarities are alike on right and left sides, but are limited to 

 the upper side. 



The largest example (i in. 8 lin. in expanse) is a $ taken at Delagoa Bay 

 by Mrs. Monteiro. This specimen has the ocelli on the under side of the hind- 

 wing very minute, but the transverse striae better marked than usual. 



The Arabian and Syrian type of this butterfly — with which Mr. Butler's 

 Y. simplicia from Abyssinia seems very closely to agree — has the ocelli repre- 

 sented as larger than those of the South- African specimens which I have 

 examined, especially in the $ ; and scarcely any trace is depicted of the 

 transverse strise of the under side of the hind-wing. This latter feature is 

 almost always more or less characteristic of the species, the central stria only 

 being of frequent definition. The only individual in which I have found all 

 three striae well marked is a (J taken in Swaziland by the late Mr. E. C. 

 Buxton; but a ^ sent from Delagoa Bay by Mrs. Monteiro (in which the 

 hind-wing is whiter than usual) exhibits them very fairly, and so does also a 

 (J captured by Mr. W. Morant at Colenso, in Natal. As a rule, these strise 

 are most obsolete, as far as South Africa is concerned, in examples inhabiting 

 the Cape Colony, and more developed in the countries to the east and north- 

 east of it, A Cape Coast Castle ^ in the South- African Museum, which was 

 taken by Mr. J. Morton Pask, not only has the striae well defined on the under 

 side, but the central and marginal ones also expressed strongly on the upper 

 side. The dark discal space below the ocellus on the under side of the fore- 

 wing is variable in extent, but, as Hewitson (loc. cit.) points out, a constant 

 distinguishing character of Asterope. 



I have not seen the Y. Norma of Westwood, from China; but both 

 Hewitson and Mr. A. G. Butler (Cat. Satyridae in Brit. Mus., p. 148) agree in 

 regarding it as a variety of Asterojpe, and the figure in the " Gen. Diurn. Lep.," 

 cited above, appears to differ only in its smaller size, darker colour, and want 

 of the ocellus on the upper side of the hind-wing, Hewitson {loc. cit.) notes 

 that " there are similar varieties from the Holy Land." 



In 1867 I took a single $ near Grey town, in ISTatal, in the same spot in 

 which Physcceneura Panda and Ccenyra Hebe occurred ; its weak flight and 

 habit of frequently settling on the ground made it resemble those two species. 

 I also met with several specimens at Klipdrift, on the Vaal Eiver, Griqualand 

 West, in September 1872; they were flitting among and sitting on the large 

 stones on the river-banks ; and I observed the same habits in others of the 

 species which, in the summers of 1876 and of 1877, I found near Montagu 

 and Kobertson in the Cape Colony. Robertson is the most southern locality 

 of this butterfly known to me ; but the insect is so very inconspicuous and 

 haunts such arid rocky stations, that it would easily escape the notice of any 

 one but a lepidopterist, and may occur in many places from which it is at 

 present unrecorded. In 1870 Colonel Bowker sent me the paired sexes,rcap- 

 tured by him at Aliwal North, on the north-eastern boundary of the Cape 

 Colony; except in its larger size and less pronounced darker streaks, the $ 

 example does not differ from the ^ . 



Localities of Ypthima Asterope. 



I. South Africa. 

 B, Cape Colony. 



a. Western Districts. — Eobertson. Montagu, 



b. Eastern Districts. — Between Somerset East and Murraysburg (J. 



H. Bowker). Aliwal North (/. H. BowTcer). Burghersdorp {D. 

 R. Kannemeijer). 



c. Griqualand West. — Klipdrift. 



