HESPERIDiE. 
267 
' a large subquadrate spot at end of cell, with a smaller spot just below 
it; a submarginal row of seven or eight spots, of which the first, 
; fourth, and fifth are the largest, and the last three ill-defined. Cilia 
of the ground-colour, but in hind-wing yellow near and at anal angle. 
Under side. — Paler, more glossy. Fore-wing : spots larger, paler ; 
j basal irroration forming a distinct streak on costa, and another in 
cell (the latter confluent with cellular spot). Hind-wing : unicolo- 
1 reus, excepting only a small yellow spot on costa near base. Cilia as 
I above. 
I $ Bivivn, luithout pm^plish tinge ; spots paler ^ larger. Fore-ioing : 
\ spots in and above cell forming one marking ; more irroration in cell. 
I Hind-iuing : the small spots of submarginal row very small, some or 
; all of them occasionally wanting (in one example, the first spot is very 
; small, and the only two others, the fourth and fifth, are scarcely visible 
j as dots). Cilia yellow throughout in hind-wing, and at anal angle of 
fore-wing. Under side. — Hind-wing and apex of fore-wing marked 
loith ferriiginous-ochreous, luhicli in the former hroadly inclieates the 
position of the spots of upper side Fore-wing : no cellular streak from 
base ; cellular spot often confluent with third spot of transverse row. 
Head and body of ground-colour intermingled with golden-yellow. 
Antennse half-ringed (inwardly) with alternate dark-brown and golden- 
yellow, and tipped with the latter ; palpi with mixed hairs of the 
same two colours. Abdomen superiorly rather inconspicuously half- 
ringed with the two colours and with a terminal tuft of golden yellow. 
In $ the yellow is throughout paler and duller. 
A $ taken at Etshowe in Zulnland by Mr. T. Vachell, of the 
27th (Inniskillen) Eegiment, has on the upper side the spots of the 
fore-wings unusually small, and the lowest spot of the discal row 
wanting; the under side is normal. 
The very deep rich colouring of this well-known species — the 
golden-yellow spots being very conspicuous on the dark purple-brown 
ground — at once separates 3fetis from its congeners ; and in the ^ the 
very dark unmarked under side of the hind-wings is a characteristic 
feature. It seems to present no variation over its extensive South- 
African range. 
At Cape Town this species is common, especially about hedgerows and 
in gardens, where it is fond of settling on leaves in sheltered situations. 
Though it often when settled keeps the wings fully expanded, I have noticed 
that it sometimes holds them all vertically erect, the wings of the right and 
left sides not touching, but standing parallel quite apart. On the wing it is 
active, but with a somewhat fluttering motion. It occurs throughout the year, 
but is rare during the winter months. In the Botanic Gardens at Cape Town 
this butterfly is one of the most frequent victims of the climbing South- 
American Asclepiad, Physianthus albens, which nips with a vice-like tenacity 
the proboscis of any insect attempting to rifle its nectaries, Metis with its long 
trunk thus sharing the fate of several ISToctuae and Sphinges, and being held 
prisoner till it dies. 
