Charaxes anticlea explained

Charaxes anticlea, the small flame-bordered charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.[1]

Description

Ch. anticlea Drury male: wings above deep black; forewing at the hinder angle between the hindmargin and vein 3 with a triangular orange submarginal band, which is only 1 mm. from the distal margin; hindwing above with an orange band, anteriorly narrower, in the middle about 8 mm. in breadth, which encloses 4—6 black, white-centred submarginal spots; above strongly recalls the male of protoclea In the female the wings are black-brown above, with a common, nearly straight, light orange median band, which on the hindwing is 9 mm. in breadth and in cellules 5—7 of the forewing is divided into two branches; hindwing with a continuous orange marginal line only about 2 mm. in breadth. Sierra Leone and Ashanti. — adusta Rothsch. only differs in the male in having the orange submarginal band of the forewing 2 mm. from the distal margin and in the female in the orange marginal line of the hindwing being partly broken up into spots. Gameroons to Angola and Uganda.[2] A full description is also given by Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan, 1900 Novitates Zoologicae Volume 7:287-524. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3267025/#page/295/mode/1up page 492 et seq. (for terms see Novitates Zoologicae Volume 5:545-601 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/22556#page/9/mode/1up)

Biology

The habitat consists of forests, including dry forests, and dense riverine vegetation.

Both sexes are attracted to rotting fruit and tree sap.

The larvae feed on Acacia poetzi, Acacia pennata, Mezoneuron benthamianum, Acacia goetzei, Acacia brevispica, Mezoneuron welwitschianum and Mezoneuron angolense.

Subspecies

Taxonomy

Charaxes anticlea is a member of the large species group Charaxes etheocles

Realm

Afrotropical realm

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini . 2012-05-23 . 2013-11-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131109071734/http://atbutterflies.com/downloads/nymphalidae_charaxini.doc . dead .
  2. Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.
  3. Rothschild, W and JORDAN, K. 1900 Novitates zoologicae 7 (3) : [i-iv], 287-524 (494) Full text
  4. Vingerhoedt, E., & Thiry, J. 1996. [Description of a new subspecies of ''Charaxes anticlea'' (Drury, 1782). (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae).] Entomologia Africana 1: 9-12.
  5. van Someren, V.G.L. 1971. Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae). Part VII. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 26:181-226.
  6. van Someren, V.G.L. 1975. Revisional notes on African Charaxes, Palla and Euxanthe (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part X. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Entomology) 32 (3): 65-136.