SATYRIN^. 
of the butterfly contained in the Collection of the British Musenm from all the 
warmer parts of the Old World, specifying no fewer than twenty-eight recog- 
nisable variations. In his British Museum Catalogue of Satyridoe (issued in 
1868), pp. 1-3, he reduced these with judgment to nine, at the same time 
remarking, " I have found it utterly impossible to separate the above forms 
specifically from one another ; slight differences in form and in the colouring 
of the upper side are the only guides by which to distinguish the different 
named varieties ; but even these are not constant. The true jLe':?«, however, 
appears to occur only in India and the Indian Islands ; but the slight variety 
Ismene (including Mijcena and Arcensia) has a much wider range, being found 
in India, Java, Australia, and Africa. The (?) Taitensis of Felder links this 
form to Solanclra ; the latter and Banhsia appear to exist only in Australia 
and Africa, whilst Phedima seems to be strictly confined to Australia." 
As supplementing this account, I may mention that I have captured at 
D'Urban, Natal, true Leda, indistinguishable from the type inhabiting Con- 
tinental India, and have received other specimens from the same locality, one 
of which precisely agrees with Cramer's figure of Leda (pi. ccxcii. a, under 
side) from India. In May 1879 Colonel Bowker forwarded a considerable 
number of specimens taken near D'Urban ; these exhibited every variety of 
tint and marking on the under side, and one of them (a (J ) was quite like 
Cramer's figure of Arcensia (0 on the same plate), while another $ , except for 
a little more fulvous on the upper side, closely agreed with Cramer's figures of 
Ismene (pi. xxvi. fif. a, b). In some of the Natal and Madagascar examples, of 
both sexes, the fulvous covering is very largely developed on the upper side, 
extending almost to the bases of the wings. Throughout the several varia- 
tions, the 9 always has the fore- wings more angulated than those of the (J . 
The specimens which I met with in Mauritius (see Trans. Ent. Soc. Lo?id., 
1866, p. 336) correspond pretty nearly with Natalian examples, including 
typical Leda, with scarcely a tinge of rufous on upper side, and with the 
under-side ocelli largely developed, and others with a very rufous upper side, 
and the under-side ocelli obsolete, 
I found this butterfly rather scarce near D'Urban during the summer of 
1867, only taking a few individuals in the month of February; but it is 
evidently numerous there in some seasons, the late Mr. M'Ken and Colonel 
Bowker having sent down many specimens. Shade-loving habits are car- 
ried to their farthest point by this Melanitis, which rests among the dead 
leaves, which its wonderfully-variable under surface so closely resembles, in 
the darkest parts of woods, and seldom moves during the daytime unless 
roughly disturbed. On one wet and gloomy day, I took a specimen sitting out 
in the open on the bare mould of a flower-bed ; but, as a rule, it is only about 
sunset that Leda begins to fly heavily about near the ground. In Mauritius, 
where the species Avas abundant, I observed these butterflies chasing each other 
at dusk until it became too dark to see their movements any longer. In 
Moore's Lepidoptera of Ceylon similar habits are recorded of Leda by Mr. 
Hutchison, who notes that it " flies at dawn and dusk of the evening, rarely 
by day" (p. 15). When aroused in the daytime, Leda seldom keeps on the 
wing for more than a few yards' distance, flying in a most irregular, flapping, 
heavy manner, and settling again on the ground or on dead leaves. 
Localities of Melanitis Leda, 
I. South Africa. 
E. Natal. 
a. Coast Districts. — D'Urban. 
h. Upper Districts. — Estcourt {J. M. Hutchinson). 
F. Zuldand. — St. Lucia Bay [Colonel H. Tower). " . * 
K. Transvaal. — Upper Limpopo (7^. G. Selous). 
