Acraea machequena explained

Acraea machequena, the machequena acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, south-eastern Tanzania. It is also present in some areas of South Africa, the savannah in Limpopo and north of the Soutpansberg, as well as the lowland forest of northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Description

A. machequena Smith (53 d) only differs from ranavalona in having the forewing at least in the male scaled with red-yellow to the apex of the cell and the upperside of the hindwing in the with yellowish instead of red scaling. Delagoa Bay, Nyassaland and Rhodesia ^[1] The wingspan is 48–55 mm for males and 50–56 mm for females.

Biology

Adults are on wing in late summer and autumn in South Africa and year-round in the rest of the range.^[2]

Taxonomy

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

• Acraea (group ranavalona) machequena; Henning, 1993, Metamorphosis 4 (1): 11
• Acraea (Acraea) (group neobule) machequena; Pierre & Bernaud, 2013, Butterflies of the World 39: 5, pl. 15, f. 6-7
• Acraea (Acraea) machequena; Henning & Williams, 2010, Metamorphosis 21 (1): 7;

Notes and References

1. 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.
2. Book: Woodhall, Steve . Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa . 2005 . Cape Town, South Africa . Struik . 978-1-86872-724-7 .
3. Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf