Thecla Faunus. Alis supra fuscescenti-violaceis apice atro, subtus albis strigâ communi mediâ fulvâ; posticis tricaudatis, lineâ marginali nigricante maculisque duabus nigro viridique mixtis. (Expans. Alar. 1 unc. 3 lin.)
Syn. ♀ Papilio (Pleb. ruric.) Faunus, Drury, App. vol. 2. Cramer, pl. 39. B. C. ♂. 96. F. G. ♀. Fabr. Ent. Syst. III. 1. p. 161. No. 11. (Hesperia F.) Encycl. Méth. ix. p. 618. 1. (Polyommatus F.)
♂ Hesperia R. Hesiodus, Fabr. Ent. Syst. III. 1. p. 260. 8. Pal. Bauv. Ins. d'Afr. et d'Amer. Lep. Pl. 7. f. 5. 6. 7. ♂. ♀.
Habitat: Sierra Leone (Fabr.). Gold Coast (Drury).
Upper Side. Antennæ ringed with white and black. Anterior wings greyish brown, without markings. Posterior wings of the same greyish brown. Cilia white. A little above the abdominal corners are four white spots, placed close together; the two inner ones being smallest. Each of these wings is furnished with three tails, the upper parts of which are black, the other parts white; the middle one being almost as long as the wing, the other two are about half that length.
Under Side. Palpi, head, and breast white. Legs white and brown. Wings fine silvery white. A small, narrow, orange-coloured line begins at the middle of the anterior edge of the fore wings: which, crossing them and the hind ones, runs almost to the abdominal corner, where it suddenly turns back and ends at the abdominal groove. Near this part are two small black spots, one placed between the two outer tails, and the other on the abdominal edge.
Fabricius gives the sexes of this insect as distinct species, under the names cited above, stating India to be the habitat of Hesiodus (or the male). Palisot de Bauvois has, however, satisfactorily cleared up the error, by figuring both sexes from Africa. The male has the disc of the wings, on the upper side, of a rich blue colour.
PLATE II.
