1894.] MANTCA, SOUTH-EAST AFEICA. 35 



45. Precis aetaxia (Hewits.). 



Junonia arta.via, Hewits. op. cit. iii. p. 26, pi. 13. fig. 6 (1864). 

 Precis artaxia, Trim. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1891, p. 75. n. 24 

 Of this very striking and singularly-coloured Precis there is a 

 fine series of 41 examples, of which 37 were taken in the Mineni 

 Valley from 6th to 26th March, 3 in Christmas Pass in the first 

 half of February, and 1 on the Lusika River early in April. The 

 sexes scarcely differ in colouring, the female being somewhat paler 

 occasionally. Hewitson figures an example in which the smaller 

 lower ocellus ou the upperside of the hind wings is wanting, and 

 in his description omits all mention of this marking, although it 

 was present in two out of the three Zambesian specimens which I 

 examined in his collection in the year 1867, and, although varying 

 in size, is very rarely obsolete or even indistinct. The small 

 ocellus in a corresponding position in the fore wings is, on the 

 contrary, often obsolescent and never very distinct. The under- 

 side varies considerably in colour, presenting several shades in 

 which brown or grey predominate, and being in some cases glossed 

 with bronzy greenish or with pale dull violaceous. The markings 

 on this surface vary in distinctness, especially the nearly straight 

 ochre-yellow streak, outwardly bordered with dark brown, which 

 crosses the middle of the hind wings. There is a tendency to the 

 ocellate form in most of the very small indistinct spots of the 

 common discal series, and two of these, considerably larger than 

 the rest, represent respectively the upperside ocelli in the fore 

 wings and the superior portion of the hind wings. 



Mr. Selous notes that P. artaxia is usually numerous in the shady 

 forests to which it is restricted. During its very short and 

 hurried flight the large many-coloured ocelli of the hind wings are 

 conspicuous, but it settles again almost immediately on the ground 

 at the foot of trees, where the dead-leaf-like underside effectually 

 conceals it. Although indisposed to take wing ordinarily, it 

 becomes wary when alarmed by pursuit. 



Genus Salamis, Boisd. 



46. Salamis ajtacaedii (Linn.). 



Papilio anacardii, Linn. Mus. Lud. Ulr. p. 236. n. 55 (1764). 



The specimens taken (5 at Christmas Pass, 1 at Revue River, 

 and 6 on the Pungwe River) are like those from Natal, having 

 a clearer paler colour, "with a less intense rosy-violet gloss, than 

 the tropical West- African examples. 



47. Salamis nebulosa, Trim. 



Salamis nebulosa, Trim. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1881, p. 441 ; 

 S.-Afr. Butt. i. p. 246. n. 79, pi. iv. fig. 6 (1887). 



The only example, taken on the Pungwe River, about 15 miles 

 above Sarmento, is a female, larger {exp. al. 3 in. 2| lin.) and 

 with considerably broader fuscous upperside marking than the Zulu- 



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