Polyommatus Thero. Alis dentatîs, suprà nigricanti-fuscis, fúlvo maculatis, posticis subtùs nebuloso-cinereis maculis linearibus nitenti-albis, maculà disci majori, apicibus uncinatâ. (Expans. Alar. lin. 1 unc. 9 lin.)
Syn. Papilio (Pleb. rur.) Thero, Linn. Syst. Nat. 2. p. 787. No. 219. Fabr. Ent. Syst. III. 1. p. 274. No. 57. (Hesperia rural). God. et Latr. Enc. Meth. 9. 602. No. 154.
Hesperia Erosine, Fabr. Ent. Syst. III. 1. p. 266. No. 28.
Papilio Salmoneus, Cramer, Ins. t. 1. pl. 2. f. 1.
Papilio Rumina, Drury, (exclus. syn. Linn.)
Habitat: Cape of Good Hope.
Upper Side. The wings are dentated, and of a fine dark brown colour. The anterior having seven square discoidal red spots, of different sizes. The posterior ones are furnished with four short tails, two on each; above which are three small red spots.
Under Side. The anterior wings are red at the base; but along the external and interior edges are of a rusty grey brown, with several dark marks or clouds thereon. Near the anterior edge, towards the base, are three black spots, with three small white ones in their centres. The posterior wings are of a rusty grey brown, darkest in the middle, with a margin of a paler colour, running along the external and part of the upper edges. Several spots, of a silver white, are dispersed on different parts of the wings; some being round, long, triangular, &c. About the middle of each wing is a long silvery mark, running in a direction from the base to the external edge; being about half the length of the wing.
Drury confounded this species with the European Papilio Rumina, Linn. belonging to a distant genus (Thais), whilst Fabricius described it twice under the specific names cited above.