Acraea pharsalus

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Pharsalus acraea
Ward's glorious acraea (Acraea pharsalus).jpg
Eltringham1912TransEntSocLondPlate6, 7 Acraea pharsalus pharsalus.jpg
Imago at Kakamega Forest, Kenya, and a larva from Lagos in Eltringham (1912)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Acraea
Species:
A. pharsalus
Binomial name
Acraea pharsalus
Ward, 1871 [1] [2]
Synonyms
  • Acraea (Actinote) pharsalus
  • Acraea pharsalus f. duplicatusStoneham, 1943
  • Acraea pharsaloidesHolland, 1892
  • Acraea pharsalus salusphaSuffert, 1904
  • Acraea pharsalus var. pharsaloides ab. pallidepictaStrand, 1911
  • Acraea pharsalus var. pharsaloides ab. niaStrand, 1911
  • Acraea pharsalus f. rupertiO'Neil, 1919

Acraea pharsalus, the east African forest acraea or Pharsalus acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae which is native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa.

Contents

Range

It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique. [3]

Description

A. pharsalus Ward. (56 d). Upper surface of both wings dusted with black at the base; forewing above very broadly black at the apex and distal margin with small whitish (occasionally reddish) subapical spots in 4 to 6 and large discal dots in 1b to 6, of which those in cellules 4 to 6 are scarcely distinguishable from the ground-colour; cell with a black spot in the middle and one at the apex; the middle of the forewing and the greater part of the hindwing above red, the hindwing with black marginal band; forewing beneath reddish grey, at the apex and distal margin yellowish with black veins and marginal streaks; hindwing beneath at the base and distal margin greenish light grey, in the middle slightly reddish with well developed basal and discal dots and large triangular spots at the distal margin on the interneural folds. Larva above red-yellow, beneath lighter, with black dorsal line and small black striae at the anterior and posterior margin of each segment; head and spines black. Pupa light yellowish with black markings. Senegal to Angola, Nyassaland and Uganda.

Biology

The habitat consists of forests and riverine vegetation in Guinea savanna.

Adults have been recorded from July to September.

The larvae feed on Theobroma cacao , Tectona grandis , Ficus exasperata , Ficus aspersifolia , Ficus sycomorus , Laportea peduncularis , Fleurya ovalifolia and Boehmeria species.

Subspecies

Taxonomy

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

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References

  1. Ward, C. 1871. Description of new species of African diurnal lepidoptera. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 8: 34-36; 58-60; 81-82; 118-122.
  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 2012-06-05.
  4. 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.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