INTRODUCTION". V 



settling on a flower. It was in perfect condition, but, to my 

 surprise, was smaller than the male. A short description 

 of a female ardimachus from the Gaboon River appears 

 in the ' Entomological Monthly Magazine ' for June 1892, 

 p. 162. A very fine male was caught in June of that year by 

 Lieut. Stevens, of the West India Regiment, in front of the 

 Military Sanitarium, on Kortright Hill, which is about a 

 thousand feet above sea-level. It had settled on a stone, and 

 flew away on being approached ; curiously enough it returned 

 to the same spot on the following day and was then captured. 

 This insect is of rare occurrence ■ at Sierra Leone. The 

 females of many of the butterflies are either rare, or, what 

 is more probable, keep themselves in retirement. The male 

 of P. phorcas abounded everywhere, but I only obtained two 

 specimens of the female, and these came from the forests 

 clothing the less frequented hills. 



The year is divided into two well-marked seasons at 

 Sierra Leone, the wet and the dry. During the former 

 from 170 inches to over 200 inches of rain may fall, and 

 but few Lepidoptera are met with on the wing. At its 

 conclusion, in November, species new to one who has only 

 resided there during the preceding six or seven months 

 make their appearance ; even during the dry season, Novem- 

 ber to May, butterflies do not seem to occur in any great 

 profusion. The Pierinse are but sparsely represented, and 

 there are none of those migratory flights of butterflies which 

 are noted as occurring in Ceylon and the West Indies. 

 The most striking of this family to the eye is Tachyris 

 chloris; it is gregarious, often selects the vicinity of running 

 water, over which it circles in a wavy, graceful flight ; its 

 colours of white, orange, and sooty black forming a notable con- 

 trast to the dark green foliage and sparkling water. Another 

 butterfly which is very pleasing to watch is the long-tailed 

 Hypolyccena lebona as it flies with an easy deliberation through 

 the closest thickets. 



