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Show 968 DR. A. G. BUTLER ON BUTTERFLIES [Nov. 28, to base ; the remainder of these wings is smoky brown, slightly cupreous, with a large ill-defined but distinctly darker patch over the end of the cell: secondaries cupreous brown, brilliantly glossed with sky-blue between the second subcostal branch and submedian vein ; a conspicuous orange anal spot between two short tails : anal lobe small, silver-spotted and fringed with black; body blackish; frons 6ilvery whitish, collar with pale edges ; antennae annulated with white, the club externally edged with tawny: under surface pale fleshy buff, with the discoidal area of the primaries and the anal patch of secondaries orange-ochreous ; the internal area of the primaries blackish grey towards the base, white slightly opalescent beyond, the marking on the wings much as in C. esmeralda, silver with black margins ; body below white. Expanse of wings 26 millim. The female is rich copper-brown with white fringes, and an orange spot on the secondaries between the tails, as in the male ; the under surface similar to that of the male : size uniform. 6, Slopes of Nthatha Hill, Kitwi, 4700 feet, 31st December, 1898 ; 2, Plains N. of the Tana River, 4500 feet, Kikuyu, 5th January, 1899. C. tamaniba, according to Walker, expands one inch and one line (or 28 millim.), and is therefore the largest species in the genus ; the primaries are described as being shot with blue at the base and on the hind half, and the secondaries as blue, with a narrow brown border ; " an orange spot adjoining the tail, into which it extends, bordered on the outer side with glittering chalv-beous." These characters do not at all correspond with those of C. esmeralda (which Prof. Aurivillius has unaccountably placed as a synonym of it), and differ considerably from those of the present species. Many years ago (1870) I saw the type, but I cannot pretend to remember exactly what it was like. I am, however, quite certain that Walker's measurement is rather under than overstated : the specimen is, of course, incorrectly described as a female. C. esmeralda not only differs from C. pseudozeritis in having only one tail to the secondaries, but in the absence of the brown clouding on the under surface of these wings. It is mere guesswork to suppose that a small insect like this from Natal is at all likely to be identical with one from Somali-land, or even that the latter is likely to be the same as one from the western shore of the Red Sea. It is quite possible that there are many-species of Chloroselas scattered over Africa, and that, ten years hence, the species hitherto confounded will be generally regarded as amongst the best marked of all. Structurally, the species may at present be separated by the tails of the secondaries as follows :- Species with two tails. Small-C. pseudozeritis Trimen. Large-C. azurea Butler. Species with one tail. Small-C. esmeralda Butler. Large-C. tamaniba Walker. |
