Acraea igola

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Dusky-veined acraea
Acraea igola.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Acraea
Species:
A. igola
Binomial name
Acraea igola
Trimen, 1889 [1]
Synonyms
  • Telchinia igola(Trimen, 1889)
  • Hyalites igola(Trimen, 1889)
  • Acraea maculiventrisGrose-Smith and Kirby, 1894
  • Acraea igola f. turbataLe Doux, 1923
  • Acraea igola f. fasciolaLe Doux, 1923

Acraea igola, the dusky-veined acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found from the Eastern Cape along the coast to KwaZulu-Natal, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, north-eastern Tanzania.

Contents

The wingspan is 40–45 mm for males and 45–53 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round, with a peak from October to April. It is very scarce in dry months. [2]

Description

A. igola Trim, is very similar to the two preceding species, [ A. quirinalis , A. orestia ] but the marginal band of the hindwing is not transparent and the cell is unspotted. Basal half of the forewing as far as the apex of the cell and vein 3 bright orange-yellow without spots; costal margin dusted with black to the base, apex, marginal band and veins 3-6; cellules 3-6 otherwise diaphanous; hindwing orange-yellow above with black dots and black marginal band 2-2.5 mm. in breadth; the red-yellow colour on the under surface much paler than on the upper; streaks on the interneural folds short, not reaching the distal margin. In the female the ground-colour is lighter, light ochre-yellow to cream-yellow and the marginal band not sharply defined. Zululand to German East Africa. - female f. maculiventris Sm. & Kirby has a duller, more brown-yellow ground-colour and the marginal band on the upperside of the hindwing not sharply defined, sometimes broader, sometimes narrower; beneath the hindwing is sometimes coloured as above, sometimes chocolate-brown at the base as far as the discal spots, and then light reddish to the red-brown marginal band. Among the type-form. [3]

Biology

The larvae feed on Urera woodii and Urera trinervis .

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea masamba species group - but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [4]

References

  1. Trimen, R. in Trimen, R. & Bowker, J.H. 1889. South-African butterflies: a monograph of the extra-tropical species 3 Papilionidae and Hesperidae [Hesperiidae] [vi] + 438 pp. London.
  2. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN   978-1-86872-724-7.
  3. 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.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  4. Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf Archived 2014-11-12 at the Wayback Machine