Acraea fornax explained

Acraea fornax is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found on Madagascar.[1]

Description

A. fornax Btlr. (55 g) may be easily known by having the basal part of the forewing as far as the apex of the cell brick-red without spots and then black (male) or black-grey (female) with three small whitish semitransparent spots in 4 to 6; the black colour is continued at the costal margin to the base and is more or less transparent, especially in the female; the marginal spots are entirely absent above but are large and red-brown beneath. Hindwing above brick-red with large, free black basal and discal dots and black, proximally somewhat dentate marginal band, in which in the male the marginal spots are absent or only distinct in 1 c to 3, but in the female all large and dull red-yellow; beneath the hindwing is somewhat scaled with smoky brown in the basal area as far as the discal spots and has then a whitish median band of uniform breadth and a black marginal band with triangular red-yellow marginal spots. Madagascar. [2]

Biology

The habitat consists of forests.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea masamba species group - but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [3]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Acraeini . 2012-06-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120810134550/http://atbutterflies.com/downloads/nymphalidae_acraeini.doc . 2012-08-10 . dead .
  2. Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Grosschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Grosschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.
  3. Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf