BUTTERFLIES OF SAMOA AND SOME NEIGHBOURING ISLAND-GROUPS. 19 



horn red, with a black tip. At various times I had about fifty of these larvae 

 reared from eggs, besides some thirty others found when nearly full-grown ; 

 all the latter were of the green form, while of the former all but one or two at 

 the most were dark. It is difficult to account for this difference in colour 

 between wild and captive larvae, unless it be an effect of the conditions of higher 

 relative humidity under which the latter are usually kept. 



The pupa (PI. IV, fig. 4) is attached by the tail to a pad of silk on the underside 

 of a leaf of the food-plant. It is usually metallic gold in colour ; the eyes, 

 antennae, a broad lateral band, a broad transverse band on the fourth abdominal 

 segment, and two narrow dorsolateral lines from this latter to the cremaster are 

 brown ; there are also small brown blotches on the wing-cases. The golden colour 

 may or may not show a greenish tinge, and there is also a form of the pupa 

 which is silvery in colour instead of golden. In a few cases dark larvae gave 

 golden pupae, and green larvae silvery ones, but the instances were too few to 

 indicate whether this is usual. The pupal stage usually lasts eight days. 



Early stages were found in every month from June to December. 



5. Acraea andromacha polynesiaca Rebel. 

 Acraea andromacha ; Schmeltz, p. 186. 

 Acraea andromache ; Pagenstecher, p. 302. 



Acraea andromache polynesiaca ; Rebel, 1910, p. 417, PI. XVIII, fig. 1. 



Described by Rebel from specimens collected at Tiavi, Upolu Island, Samoa. 

 The author states that it differs from the nomino-typical form as follows : 

 " A little larger, and the yellow spots between the veins in the black marginal 

 band of the hindwing are distinctly larger and more in line. The black spots 

 in the lower part of the transverse branch in cell 4 of the hindwing are generally 

 smaller and obsolescent. Forewings 29-35 mm., against 26-32 mm. in the 

 typical form." In a long series from various parts of Western Samoa there 

 is much variation in size, from a maximum of 71 to a minimum of 50 mm. In 

 other respects the form is very constant, though there is slight variation in the 

 size of the spots in the marginal band of the hindwing. 



Usually rare in Samoa, though found throughout the year, but not at all 

 uncommon in May, June and July, 1924, at various localities between 1,000 and 

 2,000 feet in Upolu (Vailima and Malololelei) and in Savai'i, where it was 

 common locally at 1,500-1,800 feet. It also occurs as a straggler right down to 

 sea-level (Apia and Lalomanu), but is never common there. I have no records 



