ACRAEA. By Dr. C. Aurivillius. 
275 
A. lualabae Neave is very similar to the two following species, scarcely differing except in the fore¬ 
wing having two to four discal dots in cellules 3 to 6. Both wings above orange-yellow with large black 
dots; apical spot of the forewing about 8 mm. in breadth, indicated beneath also; marginal band of the hind¬ 
wing on both surfaces with large light spots; hindwing above blackish at the base. Congo: Lualaba. 
A. chaeribula Oberth. (55 b) is very similar to certain forms of the next species, only differing in the 
very large and deep black apical spot on the upperside of the forewing. Discal dots 3 to 6 of the forewing 
are absent and the marginal band of the hindwing is light-spotted. The ground-colour is in the orange- 
yellow, in the $ sometimes dull dark brown, only yellowish behind the cell of the forewing. Rhodesia, southern 
Congo, Nyassaland and German East Africa. 
A. acrita is very variable, but may always be known by the veins not being black and by discal dots 
3 to 6 of the forewing being usually absent and the apical spot of the forewing if present lighter and 
smaller than in chaeribula. According to Eltringham the species has 6 races or subspecies (the type-form, 
ambigua, pudorina, littoralis, manca and bellona) and in addition numerous aberrations and seasonal forms. The 
ground-colour of the upper surface bright fiery orange-red; discal dots 1 b and 2, as well as the median 
dots of the forewing, placed in a line almost vertical to the costal margin. — acrita Hew. (55 b). Forewing 
beyond the cell orange-yellow, at the apex at most with black marginal band 2 mm. in breadth; hindwing 
above with regular, sharply defined, light-spotted marginal band about 2 mm. in breadth and beneath with 
large red spots or stripes both proximally and distally to the discal dots; the forewing above not or very little 
darkened at the base. The rainy-season form differs in having the apical spot of the fore wing 3 to 4 mm. 
in breadth with its proximal edge straight, while the forewing above is often darkened at the base as far as 
the basal dot in 1 b and the marginal band on the upperside of the hindwing is about 3 mm. in breadth and 
proximally more or less widened, particularly in cellule 3. In the $ the fore wing above is brown-yellow to 
coffee-brown to the apex of the cell and has the apical spot on an average broader; the $$ of the rainy- 
season form have a blackish ground-colour and are only in the subapical part of the fore wing smoky yellow' or 
whitish. Mashonaland, Manicaland, Rhodesia and Nyassaland. ab. nisamviae Strand is based on SS °f the 
extreme rainy-season form, in which the marginal band of the hindwing above is 4 mm. in breadth and at the 
inner margin widened over the whole wing as far as the base. On the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika. 
$-ab. aquilina Strand has the whole hindwing and the basal half of the fore wing coffee-brown; marginal band 
of the hindwing sharply defined proximally and the basal area of the hindwing not blackened; discal dots 
of the hindwing beneath separated by at least their diameter and forming a strongly curved row. German 
East Africa, ab. nyassicola Strand is according to Eltringham a S form intermediate between those of the 
dry and rainy seasons and has the apical spot of the forewing 2 to 3 mm. in breadth and large marginal 
spots on the upperside of the hindwing, only bounded by fine lunules. Nyassaland. — ambigua Trim, is dis¬ 
tinguished by having the apical spot of the fore wing larger, about 6 mm. in breadth, the marginal band of 
the hindwing above only composed of fine or indistinct lunules, showing through from beneath, and particu¬ 
larly by the hind wing beneath being almost unicolorous between the discal dots and the marginal band, without 
distinct red spots. The subapical area on the upperside of the fore wing is usually lighter than in the type- 
form and occasionally in the $ white. Danaraland to Tanganyika. — bella Weym. agrees with ambigua in the 
large apical spot of the forewing, which is 7 to 8 mm. in breadth, in the formation of the marginal band 
on the hindwing above and the colouring of the hind wing beneath, but differs from it and from all the other 
races in the very large black spots of the forewing; in the rainy-season form, bellona Weym. (59f), these some¬ 
times become so large as to touch one another; the basal dot in cellule 1 b of the forewing is absent 
in the dry-season form, but large in that of the rainy season. Forewing in the $ of the rainy-season form 
with white subapical area. Angola. — littoralis Eltr. is the race usually occurring in German East Africa and 
nearly approaches the type-form; it only differs in the somewhat broader apical spot of the forewing, which 
in the dry-season form is 3 mm. and in the rainy-season form, usaramensis Strand, 4 to 5 mm. in breadth. $-ab. 
aquilia Thur. is a rainy-season form in which the hindwing and the basal half of the forewing are coffee- 
brown; the black marginal band on the upperside of the hindwing is at least 4 mm. in breadth and is very 
irregularly defined proximally. $-ab. chaeribulula Strand has the apical spot on the forewing above 7 mm. 
in breadth and the hindwing blackened at the base and is regarded by Eltringham as an intermediate form 
between the dry- and rainy-season forms. East Africa. — pudorina Stgr. (55 b) may be known by the longer 
and more pointed forewing, which at the apex is scarcely black or at most for a breadth of 2 mm. (= uten- 
gulensis Thur., the rainy-season form); the ground-colour of the upper surface is duller than in the type- 
form and the black dots of the fore wing are small or absent; marginal band on the upperside of the hindwing 
with large marginal spots, the under surface not or scarcely spotted with red between the marginal band and 
the discal dots. Kilimandjaro and British East Africa. — manca Thur. is similar to pudorina , but has the 
forewing shorter and somewhat broader and differs from all the other forms in the forewing having well deve¬ 
loped discal dots in cellules 3 to 6; marginal spots on the upperside of the hindwing large but bounded 
by sharply prominent lunules; hindwing beneath without large red spots in cellules 2 to 6. German East 
Africa, f. lindica Strand is unknown to me, but according to Eltringham is a form of manca. It differs con¬ 
siderably, however, in that the fore wing has the apical spot 5 to 6 mm. in breadth and lacks the discal dots 
lualabae. 
chaeribula. 
acrita. 
nisamviae. 
aquilina. 
nyassicola. 
ambigua. 
bella. 
bellona. 
littoralis. 
usaramen¬ 
sis. 
aquilia. 
chaeribu¬ 
lula. 
'pudorina. 
utengulen- 
sis. 
manca. 
lindica. 
