I 



DESCRIPTIONS OF MIMETIC ASSOCIATIONS 

 IN AFRICAN RHOPALOCERA 



DANAIDA CHRYSIPPUS. 



Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. lo, p. 471 (1758). var. albinus, Lanz. 

 Cramer, Pap. Exot., pi. cxviii, ff. B, c (1777). Klug, Symb. Phys., pi. 48 (1845). 



Trimen, S. Af. Butt., i, p. 51 (1887). Trimen, S. Af. Butt., p. 53 (1887). 



Aurivillius, Rhop. Aeth., p. 32 (1898). var. alcippus, Cramer, 

 var. dorippus, Klug. Cramer, Pap. Exot. 2, p. 45, pi. cxxvii, ff. e, f 



Klug, Symb. Phys., pi. 48 (1845). (i777)- 



Trimen, S. Af. Butt., p. 53 (1887). Trimen, S. Af. Butt., p. 53 (1887). 



var. albinus, Lanz. var. alcippoides, Moore. 



Lanz, Iris, ix, p. 130 (1896). Moore, Proc.Zool. Soc.,p. 238, pi. 31, f. 1,(1883). 



The butterfly which forms the central figure of our first mimetic association is one of 

 the most interesting as well as one of the most widely distributed of exotic Lepidoptera. 

 With the exception perhaps of the extraordinarily ubiquitous Pyrameis cardui,^ D. chrysippus 

 might fairly be described as the commonest butterfly in the world, so wide is its geographical 

 distribution, and so great its numbers of individuals. It seems probable that the species 

 can claim the respect due to venerable ancestry. In the British Museum there is a Theban 

 fresco on which are depicted numerous figures of birds, fishes, and other natural objects, 

 amongst these being seven representations of a butterfly, and though the details are some- 

 what obscured by the lapse of time, the pictures certainly bear a marked resemblance to 

 this insect. The fresco is considered to be some 3,500 years old. The butterfly is common 

 in Egypt to this day, and was described about a hundred and fifty years ago by Schreber 

 as Papilio aegyptius. 



D. chrysippus presents several well-marked and constant varieties. The typical form 

 is represented on Plate II, Fig. 2, which shows both the upper- and underside of the female. 

 The sexes are alike in pattern except for the presence in the male of the large black spot 

 on the first median nervule in the hind-wing. The ground-colour in typical specimens varies 

 from the bright golden-yellow of Fig. 2 to the darker red-brown of Fig. i. Generally speaking 

 it may be said that the dark form is characteristic of African specimens. Certainly it is com- 

 paratively uncommon in the Oriental region, and the large majority of those I have from 

 Africa are of this colour. A very dark form [cratippus) occurs in Amboina and Ceram, but 

 in tliis the markings are somewhat suffused, and the whole insect has a cloudy, smoky 

 appearance. The first variety occurring in the African region is the alcippus form described 



^ My friend Dr. G. B. Longstaff tells an amusing North Pole. Dr. Longstaff replied that though he 



story in this connexion. A friend remarked to him had not yet visited the latter region, he had once 



that he had no doubt that P. cardui would be found climbed to the top of the Great Pyramid, and that he 



on the top of the Great Pyramid, and also that did in fact on that occasion observe P. cardui hovering 



hibernating specimens would be discovered at the round the apex of that celebrated edifice. 



