It is a variable species with a number of described colour morphs including f. anemosa, f. arctitincta, f. mosana, f. welwitschii, f. nivea, f. alboradiata and f. lobemba. The wingspan is 50–55mm for males and 57–64mm for females.
A. anemosa Hew. Forewing above ochre-yellow to orange-yellow, at the base deep black to vein 2, the black colour sharply defined, at the distal margin with sharply defined black apical spot about 4mm. in breadth and fine marginal line; a small median dot; discal dots 4 to 6 large and connected, 1b to 3 usually small or absent, the dot in 1b placed somewhat nearer to the distal margin than that in 2; hindwing above at the base and at the distal margin broadly black, and with a reddish yellow, unspotted median band. Forewing beneath coloured and marked as above; hindwing at the base and in the marginal band dotted with white; median band reddish white, proximally and distally with large red spots, which meet at the inner margin. Damaraland, Transvaal, Rhodesia; Portuguese, German and British East Africa.
arcticincta Btlr. (54 c). Marginal band of the hindwing narrower, 4 to 6mm. in breadth. Among the type-form.
ab. interrupta Thur. The red-yellow ground-colour of the forewing encroaches as a narrow wedge-shaped spot into the black basal area of the cell, so as to form an elongate, quadrate black spot 2mm. in breadth. Uganda.
ab. mosana Suff. Forewing without median spot and without discal dots in 1b, 2 and 3.
ab. dubiosa Suff. Hindwing above (not beneath) with small discal dots. German and British East Africa.
ab. ufipana Strand only differs in having the median spot and discal dots 1b and 2 of the forewing large and strongly developed. German East Africa and Rhodesia.
In ab. discoguttata Strand the forewing has "2 or 3 small dark round spots behind the costal spot in cellules 2 and 3". ab. urungensis Strand. Both wings above with but little black at the base; marginal band of the hindwing beneath with white spots, which are surrounded by the red post discal spots. German East Africa.
Male and female of A. anemosa f. welwitschii, illustrated in Seitz (1925)A. anemosa f. alboradiata, illustrated in Seitz (1925)
A. welwitschi so nearly approaches anemosa that it seems to me [Aurivillius] to be scarcely an independent species. The sole difference consists in the forewing having a dark marginal band extending from the apex to the hinder angle and becoming gradually narrower posteriorly. In some forms this band is so narrow behind vein 4 that it is little broader than the marginal line in anemosa. Such forms can only be distinguished from by having the hindwing above white in the middle.
welwitschi Rogenh. (54 d; 60 g). male. Forewing orange-red, above more or less black at the base and with black marginal band, often dentate proximally, at vein 2 still about 2mm. in breadth; hindwing with white median band and very broad black marginal band, ill-defined proximally. In the female the forewing has a dull ochre-yellow ground-colour and a narrower marginal band; median band of the hindwing yellowish, only in the middle whitish, and above much broader than in the male. Angola.
alboradiata Auriv. (54 c). Forewing above light orange-yellow, before the apex with whitish rays; marginal band very narrow, especially posteriorly; hindwing above but little darkened at the base, in the middle for the most part white. Zambezi: at the Victoria Falls.
lobemba Eltr. (54 c; as welwitschi). Both wings above with bright cherry-red ground-colour and at the base broadly black; forewing above at the costal margin black as far as the cell and with broad black marginal band; discal dots 3 to 6 united into a broad black transverse band, confluent with the costal border; median spot and discal dot 2 large. The female with brown-yellow ground-colour. North Rhodesia and southern Congo.[4]
Biology
Adults are on wing year round in warmer areas with a peak from September to May in southern Africa. In cooler areas, adults can only be found from September to May.[5]
↑ Hewitson, W. C. 1852-1867 Illustrations of new species of exotic Butterflies selected chiefly from the collections of W. Wilson Saunders and William C. Hewitson
↑ 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. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
↑ Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN978-1-86872-724-7.
↑ Henning, G. A., 1993 Phylogenetic notes on the African species of the subfamily Acraeinae. Part 2-3. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) Metamorphosis 4 (1): 5-18, (2): 53-68
↑ Henning & Williams, 2010 Taxonomic notes on the afrotropical taxa of the tribe Acraeini Boisduval, 1833 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae) Metamorphosis 21 (1): 2-38
↑ Pierre, J. & Bernaud, D., 2013 Nymphalidae XXIII. Acraea subgenus AcraeaButterflies of the World 39: 1-8, pl. 1-28 Goecke & Evers
↑ Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre AcraeapdfArchived 2014-11-12 at the Wayback Machine
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