Genus. Acræa, Fabr. Latr. God. Papilio (Heliconii), Fabr. olim.
Acræa Ethosea. Alis oblongis, suprà fuscis disco albo, anticis integerrimis, posticis subdenticulatis, his infrà basi punctis nigris, margine exteriori maculis albis trigonis serie digestis. (Expans. Alar. 2 unc. 3 lin.)
Syn. Papilio (Nymph. Phal.) Ethosea, Drury, App. vol. 3. Enc. Méth. ix. p. 235. No. 17.
Habitat: Sierra Leone.
Upper Side. Antennæ black. Thorax, abdomen, and wings deep brown, almost black; the disk of the anterior being white, and extending to the shoulders, all the middle part of the posterior being white likewise.
Under Side. Palpi grey. Breast and abdomen brown. Anterior wings next the body yellowish brown, but towards the tips inclining to grey; nerves black; the disk white, with a round black spot near the body, and another of a smaller size below it. The middle of the posterior wings is white, surrounded with brown, that part along the lower edges being darkest; next the body are five distinct black round spots, and an irregular shaped one at the middle of the upper edge; along the lower edges are a number of small triangular white spots. Margins of the posterior wings slightly dentated.
Although Sierra Leone is given by Drury in his published account of this insect as the locality for this species, I find it mentioned in his manuscript Catalogue as being received from "New Zealand, Mr. Banks, 1775." The authors of the Encyclopédie Méthodique evidently knew the species only from Drury's figures and descriptions, and therefore have given the former locality. It is difficult to account for this contradictory statement, or to assert which of these localities is the correct one.
ACRÆA CYNTHIA.
Plate [XXXVII]. fig. 5, 6.
Order: Lepidoptera. Section: Diurna. Family: Heliconiidæ, Swains.