LYC^NID/E. 
Abdomen larger and thicker than in Beudorix, especially in 
Hewitson rightly removed the noble Lycsenide on which he founded 
this genus from its questionable association with Zcrifis ; but he 
admits it to be " very nearly allied to the genus Dmdorix,'' and it is 
perhaps hardly separable from the latter. Besides the distinctions above 
given, Capys wants the rather long linear tail on each hind-wing, so 
characteristic of Beudorix. 
The only species known is the Al])limus of Cramer, a butterfly 
which on the upper side is black, with a broad metallic-red band across 
the wings, and on the under side chiefly pale-grey crossed by a bar of 
darker grey and ferruginous. With the exception of Zeritis Thero 
(Linn.), its expanse across the fore-wings is the largest among the 
South- African Lyccenidm^ and in bulk of body it exceeds them all. 
Though widely distributed throughout Southern Africa, it is very local 
in its haunts, and seems more prevalent in the vicinity of Cape Town 
than elsewhere. It occurs in the Transvaal, but has not hitherto 
been recorded from any tropical locality. The butterfly is fond of 
rocky elevated spots ; and several males usually sport about in com- 
pany, taking frequent short flights of extreme rapidity ; while the 
female, though well able to fly, is rarely seen on the wing. 
177. {!•) Capys Alphaeus, (Cramer). 
Plate VII., f. 5 ( ? ). 
$ Papilio Alpheus, Cram., Pap. Exot., ii. t. clxxxii. ff. e, f. (1779). 
^ Polyommatus Alplioeus, Godt., Enc. Meth., ix. p. 663, n. 155 (1819). 
$ Zeritis? Alphceus, Westw., Gen. D. Lep., ii. p. 500, pi. Ixxvii. f. 3 (1852). 
^ $ Zeritis Alphoeus, Trim., Rhop. Afr. Aust., ii. p. 270, n. 168 (1866). 
Exp. cd., ($) I in. 4 — 9I lin. ; ($) i in. 6 — I i lin. 
$ Glossy-blacky ^vith a broad, discal, sidj-metallic red band, from 
fourth subcostal nervule, or from upper radial nervule of fore-wing to 
submedian nervure of hind-wing, near anal angle ; a mixed golden and 
purplish gloss over basal region ; cilia white, with black spots at ends 
of nervules. Fore-iuing : band exteriorly indented with black on nervules, 
and narrowed on inner margin. Hind-iving : a narrow costal blackish 
border ; inner-marginal border hairy, dull grey ; anal angle bluntly 
produced, marked with a red spot ; on subcostal nervure, at origin of 
nervules, a smally subovate, glistening space. Under side. — Hind-wing 
and border of fore-wing (except inner margin) hoary grey, clouded with 
i darker. Fore-iving : bright orange, paling into dull-yellowish on inner 
I margin ; at end of cell two short, ferruginous, blackish-edged, transverse 
marks, between which is a greyish space ; between them and apex two 
{ longer similar, more widely apart, crenelated streaks from costa, con- 
i verging as far as orange where the inner one ends, but the outer is 
dimly prolonged along external edge of orange. Hind-wing : a broad, 
i central, irregular, dark-grey, ferruginous- and black-edged, transverse 
stripe, on its inner edge deeply pierced upwardly by a streak of ground- 
