184 
SOUTH AFRICA 
each sex. Last, but not least beautiful of the Pierines was Eronia 
cleodora , l Hubn., of which five specimens were taken, while a male 
E. leda , Doubl., was netted, but managed to get away. 
The widely-ranging JDanaida chrysippus, of the typical African 
colouring, which, as is well known, is darker than in the Indian 
form, was flying slowly about in some numbers; two females that 
were taken yielded the musk-rat odour. 
Another butterfly that was very common was the Nymphaline, 
Eurytela hiarbas, Drury. It has a curious slow flight, gliding back¬ 
wards and forwards about bushes, for flowers seem to have no 
attraction for it; but if the flight of this butterfly, and its coloration, 
brown with a transverse white band, remind one of the Neptis group, 
its general appearance and shade-loving habits suggest a Satyrine. 
E . hiarbas usually settled on the ground with wings more or less 
expanded and from time to time slowly closed and opened them again; 
it oriented itself with tail to the sun, but not very accurately. Con¬ 
spicuous amongst the Hymphalines was our old friend Pyrameis 
cardui , mostly in poor condition, but one was very fine. The large 
genus Precis was represented by three species, sesamus , Trim., archesia, 
Cram., and cebrene , Trim., the latter not uncommon. One specimen 
of each was secured, but we had our first lesson in the elementary 
fact that to see a Precis is not always the same thing as to catch it. 
A sunny bank cleared of scrub was grown over with a Senecio 
not unlike the Oxford squalidus, Linn. Amongst these flowers 
Byblia goetzius, Herbst, was rather common, often settling on the 
ground; they were all females, one of intermediate character, the 
rest “ dry.” A single B. ilithyia > Drury, was “ very dry.” This and 
a specimen taken at Ladysmith were all of this species that we saw 
in South Africa. 
One of the spots in the park where butterflies were especially 
numerous was a sunny bank close to an open drain whose black 
stream evolved so much sulphuretted hydrogen as to suggest pollution 
by a laundry. Some Poinsettia bushes (including one with the 
bracts pale yellowish instead of the more usual scarlet), growing 
where the smell was most sickening, proved quite as attractive to 
butterflies as others in sweeter situations. 2 
A few fine blue and black Papilios dashed about to tantalize us 
(they were almost certainly P. nireus, Cram., f. lyaeus , Doubl.), but 
1 It is well known that the local races of E. cleodora show great differences in 
the amount of black bordering to the wings. This in the East London specimens is 
reduced to a minimum. See Dixey, Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1905, p. lxvi. 
2 Gompare my experience near Darjiling (p. 83), and at Hongkong (pp. 127,128). 
