66 



AFRICAN MIMETIC BUTTERFLIES 



to be the model of the Pseudacraea. This Planema agrees for the most part with P. consan- 

 guinea, Auriv., in which the sexes are, however, similar. Further collections from West Africa 

 may serve to elucidate the mimetic relations of these Pseudacraeas and Planemas. Mean- 

 while the question as to which species of the latter acts as the special model of the former is 

 not vital to the general principle, since all these Pseudacraeas have a Planemoid appearance. 



THE ACRAEA EGINA GROUP. 

 ACRAEA EGINA. 



Cramer, Pap. Exot., i, p. 64, pi. 39, f. f, g var. areca. 



(1775). Mabille, An. E. Fr. (6), 8 Bull, p. 169 (1888). 



Herbst (rudolphina) , Naturs. Schmet., v, p. 7, Butler (5), Proc. Zool. Soc, 1893, p. 658 



pi. 81, ff. I, 2 (1792). (1894). 



Fabricius (persephone), Ent. Syst. (3), i, p. 174 Smith (khara), An. N. H. (6), iii, p. 128 (1889). 



(1793). Fig. Rhop. Exot., Acraea 2, ff. i, 2 (1889). 



Godart {zidora), Enc. Meth., ix, p. 237 (1819) Aurivillius, Synonymy, Rhop. Aeth., p. 92 



[cr^ only.] See note under P. ridleyanus. (1898). 



Plate VI, Fig. i ; Fig. 2 5. 



This beautiful Acraea, like many other species, was at first considered purely West 

 African, but is now known to extend to East Africa. I have received large numbers from 

 Entebbe, where it would appear to be very common, and with it came many examples of 

 Papilio ridleyanus. In collections the male is seldom seen in the splendour of its original 

 colouring, as the rich crimson rather rapidly fades after death to a brick-red,^ an unfortunate 

 quality which is, curiously enough, a feature of the same colour in its mimics. In some 

 specimens there is a marked suffusion of red in the internervular spaces of the fore-wing, 

 a variation which so far I have only observed in East African specimens. The female is 

 a very dingy butterfly, though some examples are more brightly coloured than the figure on 

 Plate VI. One example I have seen from Lagos has distinctly red hind- wings, whilst 

 a specimen from Nyangori has both wings suffused with red and a well-marked whitish 

 sub-apical bar in the fore-wings, being thus intermediate to the variety areca. In this eastern 

 form the male has the whole of the ground-colour a paler red than in A. egina, the basal 

 black is much reduced, and the insect generally is somewhat larger. The female has all 

 the spots very black and distinct, the ground-colour is pale reddish-ochreous, and there is 

 a prominent white sub-apical bar, sharply defined inwardly but suffused towards the apex. 

 The male A. egina bears a considerable superficial resemblance to Acraea perenna, Doubl., 

 though the latter is at once distinguished by the very marked concavity of the fore-wing 

 hind-margin, and by the decreased width of the fore-wing. 



ACRAEA ZETES. 



Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 487 (1758). var. acara. 



Clerck, Icon. Ins., ii, pi. 43, f. i (1764). Hewitson, Exot. Butt., Acraea, pi. 3, ff. 19, 20 



Drury (menippe), 111. Exot. Ins., iii, pi. 13, (1865). 



ff. 3, 4 (1782). Trimen (zetes), Trans. Linn. Soc, xxvi, p. 517, 



Hubner (mycenaea), Verz., p. 27 (1816). pi. 42, ff. 8, 9 (1869). 



Godart (zethea). Enc. Meth., ix, p. 236 (1819). Ttlder (caffra), Reise Nov. Lep., p. 369, pi. 46, 



Staudinger {zethes) Exot. Schmet., i, p 83 ff. 10, 11 (1865). 



(1885). ab. pseudolycia. 



ab. jalema. Butler, Cist. Ent., i, p. 213 (1874). 



Godart, Enc. Meth., ix, p. 234 (1819). Aurivillius, Synonymy,Rhop.Aeth., p. 90 (1898). 



Plate VI, Fig. 3 o^; Fig. 6 ? (acara). 

 ^ This fading is characteristic of all the Acraeas, showing that the red must be purely a pigment colour. 



