NYMPHALIS OPIS. Alis supra fuscis, fasciâ communi caracteribusque
ochraceis; anticis strigâ punctorum alborum. (Expans. Alar. 2 unc. 6
lin.)
SYN. Papilio (Nymph. Phal.) Crithea, _Drury, App. vol._ 2. _Fabr. Ent.
Syst._ III. 1. _p._ 132. _No._ 406. _Cramer, pl._ 16. _f._ 5. 6.
Nymphalis Opis, _Enc. Méth._ ix. _p._ 381. _No._ 104. _Fabr. Ent. Syst._
III. 1. _p._ 131. _No._ 405.
HABITAT: Sierra Leone.
{32}_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.