20 LEPIDOPTERA RHOPALOCERA 



his conclusions are based on an inadequate study of these organs. He divides the species into 

 Sohnites, Phanopeltis, Aphanopeltis and Acraea, but these divisions do not hold good. 



Schatz and Rober recognise five groups but admit that they are but slightly separated. The 

 characters given are for the most part inconstant. 



Careful examination of all the features which have been utilised in the past for the purpose of 

 subdividing the genus convinces me that they do not in fact provide grounds for such subdivision. 



Acraea may be distinguished from Planema by the following features. The palpi are not black 

 (except in most examples of A. johnstoni bntleri), the first branch of the forewing subcostal is given off 

 before the end of the cell, and the discoidal cell of the hindwing is relatively much larger. The pupae 

 of Acraea do not, so far as is known, possess the long hooked spines found on those of Planema. 



The South American genus Actinote is less distinct from Acraea than is Planema. The distinctive 

 features of Actinote are black palpi, a rudimentary nervule in hindwing between submedian and first 

 median (also present in Acraea mirifica), and the heavily marked black nervules and internervular rays 

 on the underside of the hindwing. The neuration in Actinote is more unstable than in Acraea, the sixth 

 and seventh nervules being sometimes stalked in both fore and hindwings. 



The general characteristics of Acraea are as follows. 



Characters. — Forewings either rounded or elongate, the inner margin straight or very 

 slightly concave. The palpi ochreous, very rarely blackish, the short terminal joint usually set with 

 black hairs. No lateral greyish white line. The fore-legs rudimentary, their tarsi in the female with 

 much reduced joints, and spined beneath; in the male haiiy and brushlike with rudimentary joints. 

 The second and third pairs of legs are of normal size and their tarsi terminate in the female in two 

 equal and similar claws lobed at the base. In the male these claws are also equal and similar in a few 

 species (PI. I , Fig. I 2b) but in the majority they are unequal (PI. I , Fig. I 2a), one being long and 

 regularly curved, the other short and bent down almost at right angles to the upper or anterior edge of 

 the basal lobe (in A. servona with normally equal claws, unequal claws are occasionally found). In the 

 forewing the discoidal cell is of medium length. The upper discocellular is very short, and the subcostal 

 nervure is five branched, the first branch being given off before the end of the cell. In the hindw ing the 

 discoidal cell is usually longer than in Planema and reaches to about the middle of the wing. The sixth 

 and seventh nervules usually arise from independent points, but in a few species from a common stalk. In 

 one species, A. burnt, they vary in this respect in different individuals, aud even in the two wings of the 

 same individual. In others such as A. iiurina the stalked condition appears to be constant. In some species 

 nervules 3 and 4, arise from a point at the end of cell. The scales are normally of uniform size and 

 nearly round. In a few species large special scales are found on the median nervure on the underside 

 of the forewing. The antenna? are short and rather abruptly clubbed. The female usually possesses a 

 chitinous plate on the seventh sternite surrounding the external opening of the bursa copulatrix. The 

 form of this plate is specifically constant in most species. Those females which possess such a plate 

 have upon it after pairing a hard wax-like structure, often containing scales and hairs from the male. 

 The larvae have two dorsal, two lateral and two sublateral rows of branched spines, and the pupae are 

 white or whitish with black spots, often in the form of rings enclosing yellow or pink centres. Part of 

 the wing neuration, and the positions of other appendages are more or less outlined in black on the 

 pupal skin. In many cases the pupa bears short blunt spines or processes, but so far as is known never 

 has long hooked spines as in Planema. The genus is almost confined to the ^Ethiopian region. In the 

 Oriental region there occur four, or perhaps five species according to whether we regard A. meyeri and 

 A. moluccana as one species or two. (PI. I , Figs. I Oa, I Ob.) 



The larvae are gregarious and the perfect insects are slow of flight and usually indifferent to pursuit. 

 Most are possessed of great vitality resisting both mechanical injury and the effect of poisonous fumes. 



