Charaxes richelmanni is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania.[1] The habitat consists of lowland evergreen forests.
Van Someren. 1970 describes and figures (plate 7) C. richelmanni[2]
C. (richelmanni) ducarmei Plantrou, 1982[4] (Democratic Republic of Congo: Kivu) is now considered as bona species.[Stat.Rev.2005]
Historical attempts to assemble a cluster of presumably related species into a "Charaxes jasius Group" have not been wholly convincing. More recent taxonomic revision,[5] corroborated by phylogenetic research, allow a more rational grouping congruent with cladistic relationships. Within a well-populated clade of 27 related species sharing a common ancestor approximately 16 mya during the Miocene, 26 are now considered together as The jasius Group.[5] One of the two lineages within this clade forms a robust monophyletic group of seven species sharing a common ancestor approximately 2-3 mya, i.e. during the Pliocene,[6] and are considered as the jasius subgroup.[5] The second lineage leads to 19 other species within the Jasius group, which are split into three well-populated subgroups of closely related species.
The jasius Group (26 Species):[5]
Clade 1: jasius subgroup (7 species)
Clade 2: contains the well-populated three additional subgroups (19 species) of the jasius Group: called the brutus, pollux, and eudoxus subgroups.[5]
Further exploration of the phylogenetic relationships amongst existing Charaxes taxa is required to improve clarity.