African Species of the Genus Acraea. 251 



Head black with pale marks between and behind eyes, thorax 

 black with a few paler scales, abdomen black above with pale 

 ochreous segmental lines and lateral spots. Claws unequal. 



$ . Expanse 50-68 mm. Resembles ^^ but paler and duller, 

 the ground-colour being sometimes brownish grey. The paler 

 areas though varying in depth of tint do not appear ever to 

 attain the orange colour seen in some ^ ^ . The h.-w. marginal 

 border often broader than in ^, and always showing much 

 more distinct traces of the underside pattern. Underside 

 correspondingly paler, and the h.-w. central band with a faint 

 pinkish tinge, 



A. oberthiiri f. conjluens, SufF. 



In this form the apical and inner marginal patches are 

 confluent in area 3 on both svirfaces. Suffert's examples were 

 from Cameroon. Similar forms of both sexes are before me, 

 from Kiva Iho R., Nigeria, and from Lagos. One of these ( (J ) 

 was taken near Lagos by Mr. Lamborn, Besides having the 

 paler areas (which are orange colour) confluent in the f.-w. the 

 colour of the central band of h.-w. radiates along the nervulea 

 into the marginal border. Another example ( 5 ) occurs in a 

 aeries bred by the same collector from a company of larvae, 

 the other specimens being normal though the paler areas show 

 a varying depth of tint. 



The larvae near Lagos are as follows : — 



Slaty blue with a reddish yellow head, and traces of a paler 

 lateral line on segments 10-13. The spines on segments 2-5 

 and the dorsal and lateral spines on 10-13 are black. The 

 dorsal and lateral spines on 6-9 are yellowish and the sublaterals 

 are yellowish, those on 6 and 10-13 tipped with black. Each 

 black spine arises from a dark tubercle, and there appear to be 

 a few irregular darker dorsal and lateral segmental markings 

 not accurately discernible in a preserved specimen. 



The food plant is Ancistrocmyus densispinosus {Tiliaceae). 



The pupa is of the usual Acraeine appearance, white, with 

 two dorsal and two lateral rows of black-ringed orange spots, 

 and black lines on the wing-covers. Each of the dorsal black 

 rings has a small blunt process on the side nearest the median 

 dorsal line, and the whole pupa is covered with microscopic spines. 



94. Acraea althoffi. PI. XIV, f. 1. 



Acraea althoffi, Dewitz, Ent. Nachr., 15, p. 102, pi. 1, f. 5 (1889) ; 

 Aurivillius, Rhop. Aeth., p. 107 (1898); Grose-Smith, 

 Novit. Zool., 7, p. 544 (1900); Smith and Kirby, Rhop. 



