Pharsalus acraea | |
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Imago at Kakamega Forest, Kenya, and a larva from Lagos in Eltringham (1912) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Nymphalidae |
Genus: | Acraea |
Species: | A. pharsalus |
Binomial name | |
Acraea pharsalus | |
Synonyms | |
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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.
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]
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.
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.
It is a member of the Acraea pharsalus species group – but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [5]
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