A study of the genitalia of <i>Precis actia<i> (Distant), 1880 and <i>Precis pelarga<i> (Fabricius), 1775 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

The diagnostic character based on the position of a dot in a light coloured patch on the forewing is quantified for each male specimen in short series of Precis actia and Precis pelarga from Zambia. A study of the male genitalia reveals an additional diagnostic character, which correlates well with the quantified dot-position character. This additional character is proposed as a more definitive means of separating the two very similar species.