Charaxes kirki explained

Charaxes kirki is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.^[1]

Description

f. kirki Btlr. Hindwing above with broad white median band, with the proximal border bluish and the distal somewhat yellowish, marginal streaks olive, in cellules 4-6 orange. The two rows of spots on the forewing are joined together in cellules la-3 and only in cellules 4-7 more or less completely separated; the band formed by them is yellowish white to ochre-yellow. German and British East Africa. ^[2]

Biology

The habitat consists of savanna and dry forests.

The larvae feed on Acacia mellifera, Albizia adianthifolia, Albizia coriaria, Albizia schimperiana, Entada abyssinica, Entada leptostachys, Entada africana, Entada phaseoloides, Tamarindus indica, Acacia caffra, Albizia sassa, Albizia gummifera and Entada gigas.

Notes on the biology of kirki are provided by Kielland (1990) and Larsen (1991) ^{[3] [4]}

Taxonomy

Charaxes kirki is a member of the Charaxes etheocles species group.

Subspecies

• Charaxes kirki kirki (central and eastern Kenya, central, northern and eastern Tanzania, Pemba Island)
• Charaxes kirki daria Rothschild, 1903 ^[5] (Ethiopia: east of the Rift Valley)
• Charaxes kirki suk Carpenter & Jackson, 1950^[6] (Uganda: central and north to the area west of Lake Rudolf)

External links

• Images of C. kirki daria Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project)
• Images of C. kirki suk (Albertine Rift Project)
• Charaxes kirki images at Consortium for the Barcode of Life
• Charaxes kirki kirki images at BOLD
• Charaxes kirki daria images at BOLD

Notes and References

1. Web site: Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini . 2012-05-24 . 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. Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.
4. Larsen, T.B. 1991 The Butterflies of Kenya and their Natural History. Oxford University Press, Oxford: i-xxii, 1-490.
5. Rothschild, W & Jordan, K. 1903 Lepidoptera collected by Oscar Neumann in northeast Africa. Novitates Zoologicae 10: 491-542.
6. Carpenter, G.D.H., and Jackson, T.H.E. 1950. New butterflies from East Africa and the Ituri Forest. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London (B) 19: 97-108.