Nymphalis Opis, Enc. Méth. ix. p. 381. No. 104. Fabr. Ent. Syst. III. 1. p. 131. No. 405.
Habitat: Sierra Leone.
Upper Side. Antennæ brown. Thorax and abdomen dark brown, with four yellowish lines crossing them. Anterior wings dark purplish brown, having many marks and spots of different shapes and sizes placed thereon of a deeper shade; four being round, and gradually diminishing in size, and placed along the external edges; two others also, that are small, are situated at the shoulders. Posterior wings dark brown; the upper parts along the anterior edges dull yellow, reaching almost to the thorax. Two indented ash-coloured lines cross these wings; one beginning at the upper corners running circularly, and meeting below the body; the other running in a straight line above the first, and meeting a little above the extremity of it.
Under Side. Palpi, breast, and abdomen ash-coloured. Legs yellowish. Anterior wings dull yellow, but next the tips brown, where there are some greyish spots and marks; in the centre are two small round spots, almost black; and along the anterior edges, next the shoulders, are some other brown spots variously and irregularly shaped. Posterior wings entirely dull yellow, immaculate; the margins of these being a little dentated, the anterior ones entire.
The authors of the Encyclopédie Méthodique consider the insect here figured, and that represented in Pl. [XVII]. fig. 5, 6, as varieties of the same species. Mr. Smeathman states, that this species is found in the same gloomy recesses, and often congregated together in the same manner as Nymphalis Erithonius, figured in Pl. [XV].
PLATE XVII.
BIBLIS ILITHYIA.
Plate [XVII]. fig. 1, 2.
Order: Lepidoptera. Section: Diurna. Family: Nymphalidæ, Swains.