114 
SOUTH-AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES. 
colour; a bright ferruginous hind-marginal edging and parallel sub- 
marginal streak, both obsolete near apex ; on anal angle a black spot. 
$ Wings rounder, especially hind-wing ; fore-wing not apically 
prominent, but with hind-margin rather convex. Red less metallic and 
paler, hut occupying a larger field, reaching nearer to base ; dark borders 
narrower except on costa, not so black ; cilia broader. Under side. — 
As in J. Fore-iving : streaks from costa not convergent. 
The central band on under side of hind-wing is sometimes quite 
divided by the grey intersection on discoidal nervule. 
In two $ s from Port Elizabeth, taken by Mr. S. D. Bairstow, the red 
field is more restricted than usual, especially in the hind- wing, where the 
costal border is broadly black as far as second subcostal nervule. A $ from 
the Lydenburg District of the Transvaal exhibits quite the opposite tendency, 
having the red in both wings much enlarged and paler than usual. The three 
(J s accompanying this $ show a slight or moderate enlargement of the red, 
but a ^ from Natal has it as much developed as in the Transvaal 5 ? ^iid is 
also remarkable for acuter wings. The five examples just mentioned all 
possess a feature not noticed in any specimens from the Cape Colony, viz., an 
orange-red base to the cilia of the lower half of the hind- wing. 
This splendid Lycsenide frequents hill ridges and rocky " kopjes " on 
mountain sides, seldom occurring in low-lying situations. Both sexes are 
rapid on the wing, but the male extremely so ; female specimens are, however, 
rarely met with, and no doubt are habitually inactive, while the males keep 
flying about a particular spot of limited extent, darting away in pursuit of 
each other or of different butterflies, and quickly returning to some favourite 
perch. Near Cape Town I have found it settling most frequently on the 
leaves of young Proteaceoe and of Watsonia ; I have only twice noticed it on 
flowers, and never saw it settle on the ground. Mr. T. D. Butler, the 
Museum taxidermist, brought me a female which he found on the Devil's 
Mountain, Cape Town, sitting on damp ground in a slight hollow. The long 
hill lying between Wynberg and Protea is the best locality for Alphceus near 
Cape Town, and on one occasion I found it rather numerous near the highest 
block-house on the Devil's Mountain. In this neighbourhood it is apparently 
on the wing all the year round, though October and March seem to be the 
months most favourable for it, and I have not captured it during November, 
May, or June. 
Localities of Capys AlpTimus. 
I. South Africa. > 
B. Cape Colony. 
a. Western Districts. — Cape Town. Montagu. Knysna. 
h. Eastern Districts. — Port Elizabeth [S. D. Bairstoio). Grahams- 
town {M. E. Barber). 
E. Natal. — Special locality not noted {M. J. 3I'Ken). 
K. Transvaal. — Potchefstroom and Lydenburg District (T. Ay res). 
Genus HYPOLYC^NA. 
• Hypolyccena^ Felder, Wien. Ent. Monatschr., vi. p. 293 (1862) ; Hewit- 
son. 111. Diurn. Dep., p. 48 (1865). 
Myrina [part], Westw., Gen. Diurn. Lep., ii. p. 475 (1852). 
Amhlypodia [part]. Trim., Rhop. Afr. Aust., ii. p. 226 (1866). 
Imago. — Structure more slender than in lolaus. Head small ; eyes 
smooth ; palpi long, ascendant, divergent, — the second joint much 
