Geographical Distribution of Acraea lycoa, A. johnstoni. 1 1 



kind. From a preserved specimen in the Tring Museum 

 the larva of A. johnstoni may be described as follows : — 



Body yellowish beneath and brownish black above, each 

 segment with a ring of yellowish white, edged with brown 

 and divided in the middle by a dark brown line widened 

 somewhat at the base of each of the papillae which carry 

 the spines. Head black, and the first and last three 

 segments ventrally somewhat darker than the remainder. 

 Twenty-four dorsal black spines arranged in a double row. 

 Eleven lateral spines on each side, the last two projecting 

 backwards. Eight sublateral yellow spines on each side, 

 the first pair arising from the fourth segment (Plate II, 

 fig. 6). _ 



The principal differences distinguishing this larva from 

 that of lycoa are the dark-coloured dorsal area, the alterna- 

 tion of dark and light rings and the colour of the sublateral 

 row of spines. 



Synonymy of the forms of A. lycoa and A. 



johnstoni. 



Having now established the specific differences between 

 A. lycoa and A. johnstoni it remains to arrange the various 

 forms in accordance with the facts enumerated. The 

 varieties of A. lycoa fall naturally into several geographical 

 races or subsjDecies, and it will therefore be convenient 

 to give them subspecitic names. In the case of Acraea 

 johnstoni only one such geographical distinction can be 

 clearly discerned, viz. that of the variety toruna. Since 

 the form of A. johnstoni which must be taken as the type 

 {= semifnlvcscens, Oberth.) occurs in both sexes, I would 

 suggest that for the sake of uniformity, and without 

 implying tlie slightest discourtesy to Mr. Butler, that 

 the latter's female should be assigned to tlogenhofer's 

 confnsa. The Jfavcsccns and semialhescens of OberthiiV are 

 not conveniently distinguishable from his 2)f^ote'in(C and 

 Rogenhofer's confusa. Oberthiir describes the forewing 

 spots in p7vtei7ia as white or pale yellow, in Jlavescens as 

 yellow, and in semialhescens as white. All these variations 

 may be observed in long series, such as those from the 

 Chirinda District collected by Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton and 

 Mr. G. A. K. Marshall. In this neighbourhood all the 

 examples of johnstoni appear to be of the confusa form, 

 whereas the latter occurs in company with the type 



