32 



AFRICAN MIMETIC BUTTERFLIES 



p. 109) that when at Anatapur (India) he several times saw the male misippus pursuing 

 chrysippiis as though under the impression that it was a female of its own species. Marshall 

 (Trans. Ent. Soc, 1902, p. 480) says, ' I certainly think that I have more frequently seen 

 H. misippus (female) in company with L. chrysippus than with its own male. The latter is fond 

 of haunting the tops of kopjes in company with various species of Precis (which always 

 occur in such localities), but I have never seen the female do so, neither does chrysippus. 

 Trimen thus describes the larva and pupa.^ 



' Larva. Fuscous brown on back ; sides duU greenish, with two longitudinal dull red 

 streaks (of which the upper one is broader) ; all the legs red. Head dull red, with two 

 rather long, divergent, spinose, black horns. Body beset throughout with blackish branched 

 spines, tinged with pale red at their bases. Feeds on Portulaca oleracea and P. quadrifica 

 (M. E. Barber). 



' Pupa. Brownish yellow-ochreous, varied with very dark brown ; abdominal segments 

 rather closely ringed with fine fuscous parallel lines ; back of thorax irregularly patched 

 with very dark brown; wing covers all dark brown, except for some ochreous spotting near 

 extremity.' 



H. misippus seems to have a great tendency to become widely spread over great 

 distances. It is very strong on the wing, and though when undisturbed the female flies 

 slowly in a manner imitative of its model, it becomes very wary when pursued and never 

 returns to the same spot. The ability of this insect to travel great distances, even over the 

 sea, has been illustrated in a most interesting manner by Professor Poulton's account of 

 a swarm of these butterflies having been met by the sailing ship Winifred when over 500 

 miles from land.^ Captain E. P. Ellis, of the ship referred to, forwarded three females and 

 two males, two of the former being of the inaria variety. Captain Ellis's notes as given by 

 Professor Poulton are as follows : — 



' May 5, 1893. In 00 36' N. lat. and 26° 42' W. long., a swarm of butterflies about 

 the ship ; they appear to be all of one kind.' 



' May 9, 1893. In 3° 56' N. lat. and 27° 20' W. long. Butterflies all over the ship ; the 

 sailors knocking them down with their caps from one end of the ship to the other.' 



The further particulars and comments are best given in Professor Poulton's own words. 

 ' Captain Ellis also informs me that during these days the ship had passed through the region 

 of the doldrums with calms and rain squalls between the north-east and south-east trade 

 winds. To the best of Captain Ellis's recollection and opinion all the butterflies belonged 

 to one swarm and were of the same kind on both occasions. The ship was then nearly on 

 the line between Cape St. Roque and Sierra Leone, and 580 miles from the former, 960 miles 

 from the latter. Although the African coast was far more distant than the South American, 

 I cannot doubt that the insects came from the former. Indeed, I put down Tropical West 

 Africa as first among the suggestions thrown out in my note (vol. xii, p. 80). The only other 

 possibility is Tropical South America, a country in which H. misippus has comparatively 

 recently established itself and is spreading rapidly. The insufficient observations that have 

 been made in South America do not justify the belief that the inaria form of the female 

 is present in large proportion, while two out of the three females captured at sea belonged 

 to this variety — a proportion entirely consistent with our much more extensive series of 

 observations upon this species in West Africa. Furthermore, the species is not sufficiently 

 abundant in South America to render it probable that these vast swarms can have come 



1 S. Af. Butt., i, p. 279. {Pupa figured, pi. i, f. 5.) 



2 'Entomologist's Record,' vol. xii, No. 11, Nov. 15, 1900. 



