MIMETIC ASSOCIATIONS 



85 



ERONIA ARGIA. 



Fabricius, Ent. Syst., p. 470 {1775). Donovan (var. $ poppea), Nat. Repos., ii, pi. 54, 



Herbst.Naturs. Schmet.,v,p.78,pl.90,f.i(i792)- f. 2 (1824). 



Cramer (a^ cassiopea), Pap. Exot., iii, p. 14, Aurivillius (var. 5 mixta), Ent. Tidskr., xvi, 



pi. 201, f. A (1782). p. 262 (1895). 



Aurivillius (var. 5 semiflava), Ent. Tidskr., xvi, — (var. ? sulphurea), 1. c. 



p. 262 (1895). Trimen (var. I'flrz'fl), Trans. Ent. Soc, p. 175(1864). 



Boisduval (var $ idotea), Sp. Gen. Lep., i, p. 441 Aurivillius, Synonymy, Rhop. Aeth., p. 446 



(1836). (1898). 



Plate IX. Fig, 5, 5. 



This common butterfly extends from Sierra Leone to Natal. The male varies from 

 white to pale greenish-blue, and has a black hind-margin in the fore-wing, broad at the 

 costa and narrowing to a point near the inner-margin. There is no red flush at the base 

 of the wings. On the underside the fore- wings are the same as on the upperside, but paler, 

 yellowish about the costa and hind-margin, and the hind- wings are very pale ochreous, with 

 a slight dusting of blackish scales near the margin and below the second subcostal. A very 

 minute black dot at the extremity of each nervure except the costal and submedian. The 

 females are usually whitish above, with a suffused and broken brown marginal border in 

 both wings. This border varies from nearly black to a mere powdering of the nervules. 

 On the underside the peculiar purplish-brown stain-like markings on the margin of the 

 wings also vary greatly in intensity. It seems probable that the underside markings are 

 a combination of cryptic and aposematic coloration. In the position of partial repose the 

 orange flush at the base of the fore- wings would be visible and synaposematic with that of 

 Mylothris agathina. In complete repose this aposeme would be concealed and the insect 

 would undoubtedly bear a very close resemblance to a dead leaf. The latter fact will be 

 completely realized by any one who has examined the very beautiful plate in Trans. Ent. 

 Soc, 1907, showing Eronia cleodora on the wing and at rest. In the latter position the mark- 

 ings of the hind-wing, which are not unlike those of E. argia, so perfectly represent the 

 decayed leaves of Isoglossa woodii that the insect becomes practically invisible, in much 

 the same way as do the species of the genus Kallima referred to in the introductory section. 



MYLOTHRIS SPICA. 



Moschler, Verb. z. b. Ges. Wien., xxxiii, p. 277 (1883), 

 Boisduval (j eudoxia), Spec. Gen. Lep., i, p. 510 (1836), 

 Moschler {a^ poppea, var. c), 1. c, p. 275 (1883). 

 Karsch (o^ jaopura), Berlin Ent. Zeit., xxxviii, p. 232 (1893). 

 Aurivillius, Metamorph. Ent. Tidskr., xvi, p. 258, pi. 2, f, 2 (1895). 

 — Synonymy, Rhop. Aeth., p. 393 (1898). 



Plate IX, Fig. 6,?; Fig. 14, o^. 



It is extremely difficult to distinguish between this species and the Mylothris poppea of 

 Cramer (Plate IX, Fig. 15, $ ), and it is doubtful whether they are specifically distinct, though 

 the female M. poppea is usually white, as shown in Fig. 15, instead of having the fore- wings 

 yellow. I have illustrated this white female M . poppea in order to show the close resemblance 

 between it and the female Phrissura phoebe, depicted at Fig. 20. The male M. poppea is 

 similar to the male M. spica. As will be seen from the figures, the appearance of the two 

 sexes is very different. The female M. spica shown at Fig. 6, was taken in Southern Nigeria, 

 whilst I received the male from Sierra Leone. The pupa is thus described by Professor 

 Aurivillius (loc. cit.) : — 



' The pupa from which a male emerged must have been white or greenish, and differs 



