•"»08 MR. TRIMEN ON MIMETIC ANALOGIES AMONG AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES. 



1 »ra a West-African specimen) and P. Mer tones, n. sp., the Madagascarene form, or 

 M Var. II," of Boisduval's < Species General' (p. 222). The former of the two Felderian 

 specie! apprars to me of doubtful value, being founded upon some slight differences in 

 the outlinr of the wings (a very variable character in Merope) and in the width of the 

 <liscoi<l,il eoD of the hind wings*; -but there is some ground for the separation of the 

 form inhabiting Madagascar, as will be seen immediatelv. 



Con idering for how long a time this fine Papilio has been known, and how frequently 

 it reaches Kn land in collections from the various African settlements, it seems singular 



the female -liould be unknown. I have examined a large number of specim 



the National ( -llrction, the Oxford Museum, and the principal private collections, and 



:l tli.'iii, without exception, to be males. In Southern Africa, I have been familiar 



the butterfly in its native woods for some years, have taken some scores of speci- 



* have examined many others from localities which I had no opportunity of 



W i t h 



mens 



visiting: all were males 



in) 



arced 



But in various parts of the Cape, Kaffraria, and Natal there occurs, within a range 

 n>nv 9 pond.ng to that of P. Merope, the uncommon Papilio Cenea, of StoU, already 

 mentioned as so singularly accurate a mimicker of Sanctis Echeria. I have reason to 

 believe that nearly all the specimens of this at present in collections have passed through 



:m<l !,n,on - t,ie wllo!,i number (about 25) from various localities, no male has 



k black Papilio, without tails f, and marked with ochre-yellow patches and 

 Bpota, is a very cl.ll'.. rent-looking butterfly from the fine pale-yellow Merope; yet there 

 is ood v .son for believing that Cenea is the female of Merope, modified in imitation of 

 U<m«ts Mtono. A close inspection reveals many points in common between the two 

 injects. lh. head, thorax, and abdomen are similarly coloured and spotted. The pale 

 spot near the apex of the fore wings, so conspicuous in the dark border of Merope, is 

 a most always present (though occasionally smaller) in Cenea. On the under surface, 

 In; ochre hue ot the hind wings and border of the fore wings only differs in Cenea by 

 bemg rather darker; and the cellular and internervular streaks in the basal region, as 



" Pah ' T C£ \ bet : ee,t the radi ^> ^ the darker band beyond the middle of the 



n wm,s are found m both butterflies. Both in the Cape Colony and Natal, the woods 



u Inch Merope was common were the only spots in which I met with Cenea ; and on 



e, Tin'T > Sa T 2T Cl r d ^ MeWpe in the m — P-Har to a male butterfly 

 hG Zr^l 1 'T ^ ** *» *"* circumstaLs, analogy with the 



id^d Lt tTT / C $ •' W, " Ch alS ° C °P ies »»«* &*<**. wWle the t is 



Zr r ^ f ' • SUPP ° rtS * he Pr ° babmt y of tte ™ here enunciated. 



A, Cenea occurs only m the south of Africa, its known range heing from Knysna 



( 



i * 



African 



^ fW *i^ «~~ , n ^ c ncsi-Airican iorm ot Merope, expressly observing 



dtli! fr 1 ^ figUieS ' ^ fr ° m West-Afncan examples, 4h the South-African 



uaes him irom considering .o.lphureus a creo^nnTnVoi m .w_- 



ngu 



reanlt of mutil-itiJ ! ♦ 1 J re P resent Merope without tails. This may be, as Boisduval suggests 



* P- ft* van- in L « Z r"" ^ kn0Wn t0 be a Variable cWter in ™»y s P ecies of ^ 



and m Mer^/te 



bethought imp mbl 



