2 8o SOUTH- AFKIC AN BUTTEKFLIES. 



ready to emerge as imago may be the explanation ; and the similar cases 

 recorded (c/. those of Papilio Demoleus and Heliconius Charitonia mentioned 

 in Proc. iJ?it. Soc. Loud., 1882, p. iv.) render this not improbable. 



The (J (as noticed by Colonel Bowker in 1863), "when in pursuit of the 

 5 , keeps a little below her, Avith his wings constantly and rapidly quivering ; 

 while the 5 slowly rises, with little motion of the wings, towards the summit 

 of some adjacent tree. I observed the same habit in Natal. 



The imitation of Danais Chrysippus (Linn.) by the $ Diadema Misippus 

 is one of the most exact and unmistakable cases of mimicry known, and is 

 the more striking from the extreme dissimilarity of the $ Diadema. The 

 obvious intention of the mimicry is demonstrated by the singular fact that 

 the very variations of the Danais are correctly reproduced by the $ Diadema, 

 viz., the failure of the ordinary black and Avhite at the apex of the fore-wings, 

 and the suffusion of Avhite on the disc of the hind-wings.^ In life the imita- 

 tion is singularly deceptive, as well when the butterfly is settled on flowers as 

 when it is on the wing ; and it requires a keen eye and close observation to 

 distinguish one insect from the other. I once noticed at Port Natal a Chry- 

 sippus for a long time pursue a $ Misippiis, and have little doubt that the 

 former mistook the latter for a female of its own species. 



Mrs. Barber notes that the larvae of Misijiyptis, however unlike in colouring 

 to their food-plants, are really protected by their appearance, the species of 

 Portulaca on which they live being prostrate in habit, -with their stems often 

 half-hidden in the soil ; and the larvae being thus, when feeding, as much on 

 the dark earth as on the plants. 



She adds that the pupse are not suspended, but simply concealed among 

 dry leaves on the ground; but there seems to be variety of habit in this 

 particular, Colonel Bowker reporting that the two pupse he sent to me from 

 Basutoland were found suspended by the tail in clefts of rocks. 



D. Misippus has a very wide raiige, being found throughout the countries 

 inhabited by Danais Chrysippus (with the single exception of the European 

 shore of the Mediterranean), and apparently occurring also in several parts of 

 South America and the West Indies. 



Localities of Diadema Misi;ppus. 



I. South Africa. 



B. Cape Colony. 



a. Western Districts. — Cape Town. Swellendam {T. Cairncross). 



Ivnysna. Plettenberg Bay. Oudtshoorn (Adams), 



b. Eastern Districts. — Uitenhage. Grahamstown. Kowie River 



(Sir A. Scott). King AYilliam's Town [W. S. M. I)' Urban). 

 Burghersdorp (D. R. Kannemeyer). Colesberg {A. F. Ortlepp). 

 d. Basutoland. — Maseru {J. H. BoiuJier). 



D. Kaffraria Proper. — Bashee River (/. II. Boivlier). ' 



E. Natal. 



a. Coast Districts.— D'Urban. " Lower Umkomazi."— J. H. Bowker. 



b. Upper Districts. — Pietermaritzburg. Estcourt (/. M. Hutchin- 



son). 

 r. Zululand. — St. Lucia Bay [Colonel H, Tower). 

 K Transvaal. — Potchefstroom District {T. Ayres). Limpopo River 



(F. a Selous). 

 L. Bechuanaland. — ^Motito {Pi,cv. J. Fredoux). 



1 Colonel C. Swinhoe (Proc. Zool. Soc. Loncl, 1884, p. 505) notes that at Kurrachee the 

 9 Diadema mimics the. variety Dorijypus more commonly than the typical Chrysippus. 



