136 
SOUTH-AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES. 
thorax not ridged, rather blunt and rounded ; abdomen considerably 
elongate, curved inwardly towards its extremity. Pale-creamy^ with a 
tinge of ochreous : wing-covers streaked with black along the positions 
of the nervures ; two curved black streaks from eyes to angles at bases 
of wings ; two black, short, longitudinal streaks on back of thorax ; a 
transverse black streak at junction of thorax and abdomen ; on each 
side of the back, a row of large, united, black, ochre-yellow-centred 
spots ; each row united by thin, black lines to a row of similar spots 
below it, on side of abdomen ; a shorter row of similar, more contiguous 
spots along middle of under side of abdomen. 
Attached to stems and leaves of plants, palings, walls, &c. The silk to 
which the tail is attached often covers an area of an inch in diameter. The 
butterfly emerged, in most instances, eight or nine days after the disclosure of 
the pupa. 
A common and abundant species throughout South Africa. In fields and 
gardens in and about Cape Town these butterflies are particularly plentiful ; 
they can be taken all the year round, but are less numerous in May and June 
than at other times. Throughout the summer they are quite a feature of the 
locaHty, their deep-red colour and slow flight rendering them very conspicuous 
objects ; wliile their spiny larvt© and remarkably handsome pendant pupae are 
everywhere noticeable on gates, trunks of trees, and walls. The larvae often 
occasion much damage to passion-flowers in gardens, as I have seen both in 
Cape Town and Grahamstown. In the latter locality, Mrs. Atherstone was 
much concerned to find that the fowls would not eat these destructive cater- 
pillars when collected for them by the gardener; but this was not to be 
wondered at, as the larvae.^ in addition to their prickly skins, have a strong and 
disagreeable odour, more perceptible than in the pupa, or even in the butterfly. 
The pupa, however, is probably a distasteful morsel, as it is peculiarly con- 
spicuous wherever attached. 
It is rather surprising that so prevalent and widely-ranging an AcrcEa as this 
should, as far as is known, be attended by no mimicker.^ 
I have frequently captured the paired sexes of A. Horta. In one instance, 
which I carefully noted at the time, the ^ rested on the ground with expanded 
wings, and the $ rested on the 9 with his wings also flatly extended. In this 
position (which was maintained) the heads of the two were held in the same 
direction, and the extremity of the ^ abdomen was twisted sideways, as in the 
union of the saltatorial Orthoptera. 
Localities of Acrma Horta, 
1. South Africa. 
B. Cape Colony. 
a. Western Districts.— Cape Town. Caledon (Genadendal : 
Hettarscli). Robertson. Swellendam {L. Taats). Oudtshoorn 
( — Adams). Knysna {Miss Rex), 
h. Eastern Districts.— Uitenhage (S. Bairstoiv). Grahamstown. 
King AVilliam's Towm (IF. S. M. U Urban). Queenstown, 
Windvogelberg {Dr. Batlw). 
d. Basutoland {J. H. Bowker). 
^ Mr. A. G. Butler has recently (August 1884) suggested that the variety of Pseudacrcea 
Trimenii, Butl., which he has named P. Colvillei, is probably modified in imitation of A. 
Horta, to which it bears considerable resemblance. 
