836 db. a. g. butlee on lepidopteiia [nov. 17, 



93. Teeacolus begina. 



(S 5 . Anthoeharis regina, Trimen, Trans. Eat. Soc. London, 

 3rd ser. i. p. 520 (1863). 



Tercicolus regina, Trimen, South Afr. Butt. ii. pi. xi. fig. 3, J 

 (1889). 



6 , Loangwa Valley Pass, 4090 feet alt., Senga, August 28th ; 

 $ , Mbalizi Valley, Unyika, Sept. 16th, 1895. 



The female contained " pale yellow ova " ; she was somewhat 

 worn, having probably been long on the wing. 



The receipt of these specimens, the male taken in the dry season 

 and the female before the rains had fairly set in, is very interesting, 

 as supporting the assertion that T. anax is the wet-season form of 

 T. regina. The entire absence of the latter from any of the 

 collections previously received by us from British Central Africa 

 had led me to regard this statement with considerable doubt ; but 

 now 1 see no reason for rejecting it. 



94. Teeacolus phlegtas. 



Anthoeharis jMegyas, Butler, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 431,. pi. xxv. 

 figs. 3, 3 a (1865). 



Wet season, d d , Deep Bay, March 9th, 1896. 



Dry season, 2 S , Loangwa Valley forest, August 30th, and 

 Ntonga, Loangwa liiver, Senga, Sept. 13th, 1895. 



After carefully studying the purple-tipped species, in relation to 

 the question of seasonal dimorphism, I am forced to the conclusion 

 that there is no reason for distinguishing the Eastern and Central 

 African examples of T. phlegyas from those of the White Nile : 

 they are slightly larger, but otherwise typical in both sexes. 



T. phlegyas can hardly be a dry-season form of T. imperator, 

 because the specimen of the male recorded above (and which is 

 fairly typical) was obtained in the middle of the rains, whilst the 

 femnles were obtained near the end of, the dry season : on the 

 other hand, we have a typical male of: T. imperator taken in the 

 middle of the dry season. 



Furthermore, T. imperator cannot possibly be the T. ione of 

 Grodart, as assumed by my friend Trimen in his ' South African 

 Butterflies.' Not only does the distribution of T. imperator 

 render this highly improbable, but the description by M. Godart 

 does not at all answer to it : — 



T. ione. T. imperator. 



1. Black apical border divided 1. Apical area violet, narrowly 

 obliquely by a violet band bordered with black, 

 rounded externally. 



2. A conspicuous black disco- 2. A very faintly indicated dis- 

 cellular spot on the primaries. cocelhilar dot, or none at all. 



3. No transverse ray on under 3. A conspicuous oblique trans- 

 surface of secondaries. verse ray on under surface of 



secondaries. 



I do not doubt that M. Godart's description was made from a 



