Charaxes pythodoris

Charaxes pythodoris
Figures 18 and 19
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Subfamily:	Charaxinae
Tribe:	Charaxini
Genus:	Charaxes
Species:	C. pythodoris
Binomial name
Charaxes pythodoris Hewitson, 1873. [1] [2]
Synonyms
Charaxes nesaeaGrose-Smith, 1889 Charaxes pythodoris f. pallidaCarpenter, 1934 Charaxes pythodoris f. geraldiStoneham, 1964

Charaxes pythodoris, the powder-blue charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. ^[3]

Description

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

Ch. pythodoris. Distal margin of the hindwing uniformly rounded without tail-appendages, but shortly dentate at the extremities of the veins. Abdomen white above. Both wings above black (only the fore wing at the base of the costal margin brownish) with broad blue and white transverse band, which on the hindwing almost reaches the base, but is distally irregularly dentate and only extends a little beyond the apex of the cell. The transverse band of the forewing is similar to that of smaragdalis but begins at the middle of the hindmargin, forms large spots in la and lb and is then broken up into two spots each in cellules 2-—7. the distal ones blue and the proximal nearly white; the proximal spot in cellule 4 is placed much nearer to the base than the rest; forewing without marginal spots; hindwing with a row of small white or bluish submarginal dots, but its marginal spots indistinct or absent. Under surface almost uniform yellow-brown with fine black transverse streaks. — pythodoris Hew. has the black marginal band on the upperside of the hindwing narrower about 10mm. in breadth at vein 6; the blue transverse band of the forewing always undivided in cellules la and lb. Angola and the southern part of the Congo region. — In nesaea Smith the black marginal band on the upperside of the hindwing is broader, about 14 mm. in breadth at vein 6; the blue spot in cellule lb of the forewing usually more or less divided into two spots. German and British East Africa. — Both forms are very rare. ^[4]

Biology

The habitat consists of drier forests, riparian forests, heavy savanna and light arid savanna (where forest-crowned hills or thickets occur).

The larvae feed on Craibia brownii , Craibia laurentii , Craibia brevicaudata and Craibia affinis . Notes on the biology of pythodoris are given by Kielland (1990) and Larsen (1991). ^{[5] [6]}

Taxonomy

Charaxes tiridates group.

The supposed clade members are:

• Charaxes tiridates
• Charaxes numenes - similar to next
• Charaxes bipunctatus - similar to last
• Charaxes violetta
• Charaxes fuscus
• Charaxes mixtus
• Charaxes bubastis
• Charaxes albimaculatus
• Charaxes barnsi
• Charaxes bohemani
• Charaxes schoutedeni
• Charaxes monteiri
• Charaxes smaragdalis
• Charaxes xiphares
• Charaxes cithaeron
• Charaxes nandina
• Charaxes imperialis
• Charaxes ameliae
• Charaxes pythodoris
• ? Charaxes overlaeti

For a full list see Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013. ^[7]

Subspecies

• C. p. pythodoris (Angola, north-western Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Ethiopia, Uganda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania)
• C. p. davidiPlantrou, 1973 ^[8] (Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana)
• C. p. knoopaePlantrou, 1982 ^[9] (western Nigeria)
• C. p. nesaeaGrose-Smith, 1889 ^[10] (coast of Kenya, north-eastern Tanzania) rare
• C. p. occidensvan Someren, 1963 (Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic)
• C. p. pallidavan Someren, 1963 ^[11] (central Tanzania)
• C. p. sumbuensisHenning, 1982 (Zambia: southern Lake Tanganyika)
• C. p. ventersiHenning, 1982 ^[12] (Malawi: gorges and valleys down the sides of the Zomba Plateau)

References

1. Hewitson, W.C. 1873b. Descriptions of three new species of Rhopalocera from Angola. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 10: 57-58.
2. "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
3. "Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
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. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
5. Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.</refApollo Books, Svendborg, Denmark: 1-595
6. Larsen , T.B. 1991 The Butterflies of Kenya and their Natural History. Oxford University Press, Oxford: i-xxii, 1-490.
7. "African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013". Archived from the original on 2013-06-27.
8. Plantrou, J. 1973. Note sur les Charaxes de l’Afrique occidentale, 1 (Lep. Nymphalidae).Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 78 (7-8): 268-276.
9. Plantrou, J. 1982. Description de 9 sous-especes du genre Charaxes recemment decouvertes en Afrique (Lep. Nymphalidae). Miscellanea Entomologica 49: 101-115.
10. Grose-Smith, H. 1889. Descriptions of twenty-four new species of butterflies captured by Mr. Last in the neighbourhood of Mombasa, East Coast of Africa, in the collection of Mr. H. Grose-Smith. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (6) 3: 121-137.
11. Van Someren, V.G.L. 1963. Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae). Part I. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) ..(Entomology) 13:195-242.
12. Henning, S.F. 1982 Description and biology of two new subspecies of Charaxes pythodoris Hewitson (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae). Miscellanea Entomologica 49: 75-82.

• Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1963 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part I. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 195–242.
• Van Someren, 1969 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology)75-166. Additional notes

External links

• Images of C. p. knoopae Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project)
• Images of C. p. pythodoris (Albertine Rift Project)
• Charaxes pythodoris images at Consortium for the Barcode of Life
• C. p. pythodoris images at BOLD
• C. p. nesaea images at BOLD