Acraea insignis

Last updated

Black-blotched acraea
ProceedingsZSL1880Plate19, fig. 6, Acraea insignis, .jpg
male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Acraea
Species:
A. insignis
Binomial name
Acraea insignis
Distant, 1880 [1] [2]
Synonyms
  • Acraea (Acraea) insignis
  • Acraea buxtoniHewitson, 1877
  • Acraea balbinaOberthür, 1888
  • Acraea insignis siginnaSuffert, 1904

Acraea insignis, the black-blotched acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. [3]

Contents

Description

Seitz Fauna Africana Taf 53 SeitzFaunaAfricanaXIIITaf53.jpg
Seitz Fauna Africana Taf 53

A. insignis Dist. (53 e). Forewing above scaled with red-yellow to the apex of the cell and the hinder angle, in the apical part transparent black-grey, at the end of the cell with a black transverse streak, otherwise without markings. Hindwing red-yellow with narrow black, unspotted marginal band about 1 mm. in breadth, which beneath is often grey at the distal margin, at the base with large confluent black spots and with large discal dots in 1 b to 2, of which the one in 2 covers the base of the cellule, and with a thick black transverse streak at the end of the cell; the discal dots in cellules 3-7 are entirely absent; beneath as above, but much lighter reddish white with a red band at the proximal side of the black marginal band. In the female the ground-colour is often grey-yellowish. Nyassaland; German and British East Africa; Uganda, f. siginna Suff. (54 a) is characterized by having the black spots in the basal part of the hindwing united into a large, deep black patch, which also covers the base of celhdes 3 to 6. German and British East Africa, especially in the high-lying localities. [4]

Subspecies

Biology

The habitat consists of forests.

Both sexes are attracted to flowers. Adults are probably on wing year round.

The larvae feed on Vitis , Gossypium , Adenia and Kiggelaria species.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea terpsicore species group - but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [5]

References

  1. Distant, W.L. 1880. On some African species of lepidoptera belonging to the subfamily Nymphalinae. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1879: 703-709.
  2. "Acraea Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. "Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Acraeini". Archived from the original on 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  4. 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 .
  5. Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf Archived 2014-11-12 at the Wayback Machine