2 20 SOUTH- AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES. i 
I 
(These characters of larva and pupa are given from the skins 
of those of P. Octavia^ Cram. ; and Captain Harford's description of 
the larva of P. Sesamus, Trim., agrees with what is noted of that 
state.) 
It is very doubtful whether Precis is really separable from Jimonia, 
some of the few distinctive characters of the imago above given being 
rather inconstant. The species referred to it have, however, a common 
and very characteristic fades, the usual pattern of the upper side con- 
sisting of a rufous or fulvous common discal band, marked with a continu- 
ous series of more or less incomplete ocellated spots, on a dark-brown 
field, while on the under side the basal half is varied with transverse 
irregular streaks, and the line of the inner edge of the common discal 
band prominently defined by a strong dark streak, bounded internally 
or externally by one lighter than the ground-colour. In P. Octavia 
(Cram.) and P. Cloanthct (Cram.) the red and fulvous-ochreous respec- 
tively occupy nearly all the field of the upper side ; while in P. Sesamus 
(Trim.) pale-blue occupies as large an area, leaving only a narrow 
irregular brick-red discal band. In the Indian P. Hedonia (Linn.) 
and allies the discal band is very inconspicuous, but the ocellated spots 
are very well developed. The latter character is also prominent in 
the African P. Cloantha, a species whose robust body and thick hairy 
wings remind one of Vanessa, and, with its thick, short, and very 
gradually clavate antennae, make it rather an aberrant member of 
the genus. 
Precis is a specially African group, twenty-five of the thirty-four 
recorded species being peculiar to the Ethiopian region. The remainder 
consist of six Oriental and three Austro-Malayan and Australian species. 
Of the twelve species known to inhabit South Africa, only two appear 
to be peculiar to the country, viz., P. Si7nia, Wallengr., and P. Tugela, 
Trim. ; four are not known to occur north of the Equator, and the re- 
maining six range through the greater part of the region. 
All the South- African species occur in Natal, where the only rarities 
are P. So])hia (Fab.), P. Siviia, Wallengr., and P. Tugela, Trim. Six 
of them inhabit Kaffraria Proper, and of these four — Cloantlia, Sesamus, 
Archcsia, and Pelasgis — extend into the eastern districts of the Cape 
Colony. The George and Knysna districts seem to be the south- 
western limit of the genus, only Cloctntha and Archcsia being known to 
me to range so far. 
I have seen all the South- African forms on the wing except Sophia 
and Si7nia. They are bold and active butterflies, with the habits of 
Vanessa and Pyrameis, and, with the exception of Elgiva and Tugela, 
seem to prefer open ground, especially the summits and ridges of rocky 
hills, about which they hover, chasing each other, and frequently settling 
on stones or on the ground. 
