1900.] from bbitish east africa. 915 



6. Charaxes ansorgei. 



<$ . Charaxes ansorgei, Eothschild, Nov. Zool. iv. p. 181 (1897), 

 v. pi. v. fig. 2 (1898). 



$ . Considerably larger than the male : the basal area of the 

 primaries much darker, maroon-reddish ; the macular upright 

 belt across the disk white, more or less washed with ochre towards 

 costa ; three spots beyond the cell, the two uppermost maroon or 

 deep sienna reddish, the lower spot, which almost touches the white 

 belt, deep ochraceous ; the third spot of the transverse belt wanting, 

 and the three subapical spots thrown farther out and continued, 

 by the addition of three others, to near the first median branch : 

 the secondaries differ but little from those of the male, excepting 

 that the white belt is more regular and tapers away through the 

 lilac and bluish area almost to the abdominal margin ; the tails are 

 longer than in the male, the outer one being the longer (instead of 

 the shorter) of the two ; on the under surface there is no difference 

 worthy of note. Expanse of wings 106-7 millimetres. 



2 $ , Eoromo, Kikuyu forest, Dec. 16, 1899, and Jan. 22, 

 1900. 



Of the first specimen Mr. Crawshay says : — " Taken on the 

 wing, when passing me, with a very lucky stroke of the net. As 

 the specimen has the appearance of having lately emerged from 

 its chrysalis, and was most carefully handled by me, I think the 

 piece snipped from the right lower wing is probably the act of a 

 bird." Of the second example he writes : — " Hovering over a bush 

 in the most confiding manner and thus easily taken, doubtless in 

 the act of depositing her ova, which on coming to disembowel her 

 proved to be fully developed. Large rich yellow spherical ova, 

 some twenty in number." 



This handsome Charaxes is entirely new to the Museum : I 

 believe the male has hitherto been unique in the Eothschild 

 collection, and the female is quite new. 



7. Charaxes rosje. 



Charaxes rosce, Butler, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 255. 



d . Euarka Eiver, 5500 feet, April 29, 1900. 



Mr. Crawshay has inadvertently labelled this as a female ; he 

 says of it : — " I think an insect well known to me in days gone by 

 in B. C. A. ; taken feasting on the mud." As we have males from 

 Zomba, it is possible that Mr. Crawshay may have seen it ; but the 

 only male which he sent home was of the allied C. manica, which 

 differs above in having subapical spots on the primaries, and below 

 in its much more glossy paler surface and less defined markings. 



Although Prof. Aurivillius is of opinion that the group of 

 Charaxes with black males cannot be separated into well-defined 

 species by either sex, I have never found much difficulty in pairing 

 the sexes since we have possessed a good series of specimens from 

 various parts of Africa. I feel confident that when these species 

 come to be bred, the males will be found to be more constant to 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1900, No. LX. 60 



