28o 
SOUTH-Al^'RICAN BUTTERFLIES. 
ready to emerge as imago may be the explanation ; and the similar cases 
recorded {cf. those of Papilio Demoleus and Heliconius Cfiaritonia mentioned 
in Proc, Ent. Soc. Loud., 1882, p. iv.) render this not improbable. 
The (as noticed by Colonel Bowker in 1863), when in pursuit of the 
5 , keeps ajittle below her, with his Avings constantly and rapidly quivering ; 
while the $ slowly rises, with little motion of the wings, towards the summit 
of some adjacent tree. I observed the same habit in Natal. 
The imitation of Danais CJirysippus (Linn.) by the $ Diadema Misippus 
is one of the most exact and unmistakable cases of mimicry known, and is 
the more striking from the extreme dissimilarity of the ^ Diadema. The 
obvious intention of the mimicry is demonstrated by the singular fact that 
the very variations of the Danais are correctly reproduced by the $ Diadema, 
viz., the failure of the ordinary black and white at the apex of the fore-wings, 
and the suffusion of white on the disc of the hind-wings. ^ In life the imita- 
tion is singularly deceptive, as well when the butterfly is settled on flowers as 
when it is on the wing ; and it requires a keen eye and close observation to 
distinguish one insect from the other. I once noticed at Port Katal a Chry- 
sippus for a long time pursue a $ Misippus, and have little doubt that the 
former mistook the latter for a female of its own species. 
Mrs. Barber notes that the larvte of Misippus, however unlike in colouring 
to their food-plants, are really protected by their appearance, the species of 
Portulaca on which they live being prostrate in habit, with their stems often 
half-hidden in the soil ; and the larvae being thus, when feeding, as much on 
the dark earth as on the plants. 
She adds that the pupae are not suspended, but simply concealed among 
dry leaves on the ground ; but there seems to be variety of habit in this 
particular, Colonel Bowker reporting that the two pupae he sent to me from 
Basutoland were found suspended by tlie tail in clefts of rocks. 
P. Misippus has a very wide range, being found throughout the countries 
inhabited by Danais Chrysippus (with the single exception of the European 
shore of the Mediterranean), and apparently occurring also in several parts of 
South America and the AYest Indies. 
Localities of Diadema Misippus, 
I. South Africa. 
B. Cape Colony. 
a. Western Districts. — Cape Town. Swellendam {T. Caimcross). 
Ivnysna. Plettenberg Bay. Oudtshoorn (Adams), 
h. Eastern Districts. — Uitenhage. Grahamstown. Kowie River 
{Sir A. Scott). King A\^illiam's Town (TF. S. M. D Urban). 
Burghersdorp [P. M. Kannemeyer). Colesberg {A. F. Ortlepp). 
d. Basutoland. — Maseru {J. H. Poivker). 
D. Kaffraria Proper. — Bashee River (/. II. Poivl'er). 
E. ]N"atal. 
a. Coast Districts. — D'Urban. " Lower Umkomazi." — J. H. Bowker. 
b. Upper Districts. — Pietermaritzburg. Estcourt (/. M. Hutchin- 
son). 
E. Zululand. — St. Lucia Bay {Colonel H. Toiver). 
K. Transvaal. — Potchefstroom District (T. Ayres). Limpopo River 
{F. a Selous). 
L. Bechuanaland. — ]\Iotito {Rev. J. Fredoux). 
^ Colonel C. Swinhoe {Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1884, p. 505) notes that at Kurrachee the 
$ Diadema mimics the variety Dorip;pus more commonly than the typical Chrysixtpus. 
