148 
SOUTH-AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES. 
included in it by Hewitson and Kirby, but wliich are rightly referable 
to the genus Zeritis. 
The Aphncei are on the upper side for the most part of rather dull- 
brownish colouring varied with ochre-yellow, but several (especially the 
$ s) have a vivid purple or violaceous-blue gloss extending from the 
bases over a considerable area of the wings. On the under side their 
beauty is very remarkable, the pale-creamy or yellowish ground-colour 
being crossed by numerous well-defined bands of orange or ochre- 
yellow, brown or purple, containing brilliant silvery or very pale-golden 
stripes. In the Orcas group (noted above as having five branches to 
the subcostal nervure of the fore-wings), the silvery marks, though 
very largely developed, are broken up into separate spots, the rest of 
the bands being either merged in the ground-colour or represented by 
a dark edging to the spots. A tendency in the same direction is exhi- 
bited by the under-side pattern of A. Iza, Hewits., a small species from 
the Gaboon. 
Of the South- African species, only one — the largest and most beau- 
tiful, viz., the newly-discovered A, Hutcliiiisonii, Trim. — belongs to 
the Orcas group ; five represent the most numerous group, viz., that of 
Etolus, Cram. ; and the remaining one, A. Fseudo-zeritis, Trim., has a 
very distinct aspect, and in the under-side characters shows a resem- 
blance to some species of Zeritis. 
These butterflies are very swift on the wing, but settle very fre-, 
quently on twigs and leaves of shrubs, more rarely on flowers, and 
sometimes on the ground. Of the four species I have seen in nature, 
I think the very handsome A. Masilikazi is the most easily captured, 
though it usually frequents higher twigs and flowers than the others. 
This species is most prevalent on the Natal coast, but several of the 
genus haunt exceedingly dry or almost desert country, notably A, 
Namaquus, Trim.,^ which I discovered in Little Namaqualand. 
193. (1.) AphneBUS Hutchinsonii, sj). nov, 
% 
Exp. cel., {$) I in. 6 lin. 
^ Fuscous, ivith disco-inner-marginal area from hase widely suffused 
with molaceous-Uue in loth ivings ; six conspicuous white spots in sub- 
apical area of fore-wing. Fore-wing : blue occupies basal two-thirds of 
discoidal cell, and all the space between first median nervule and inner 
margin, except a moderately wide border on hind-margin ; immediately 
beyond extremity of cell a rather large subquadrate pure white spot ; 
a submarginal row of five similar but rather smaller spots, of which the 
third (between lower radial and third median nervules) is out of line 
^ The North- African and Arabian A. Acamas and A. Tamaniba are also dwellers in 
desert tracts. 
