Cymothoe alcimeda

Battling glider
female C. a. marieps Mbombela, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Cymothoe
Species:	C. alcimeda
Binomial name
Cymothoe alcimeda (Godart, [1824]) [1]
Synonyms
Nymphalis alcimedaGodart, [1824] Pallene eupithesDoubleday, [1848] Cymothoe alcimeda r. clarkiStevenson, 1940 Cymothoe alcimeda marieps f. penningtoniRydon, 1994 Cymothoe alcimeda race rhodesiaeStevenson, 1934 Cymothoe alcimeda transvaalica f. aurantifasciaRydon, 1994 Cymothoe alcimeda trimeni f. ochrotaeniaRydon, 1980 in d'Abrera, 1980 Cymothoe alcimeda trimeni f. griseoligataRydon, 1991

Cymothoe alcimeda, the battling glider, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The wingspan is 40–50 mm for males and 45–55 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round, but mainly in summer from October onwards. Peaks occur in November and from February to April. ^[2]

The larvae feed on Kiggelaria africana .

Subspecies

• Cymothoe alcimeda alcimeda (Western Cape to Knysna)
• Cymothoe alcimeda trimeniAurivillius, 1912 (Eastern Cape along Drakensberg escarpment to KwaZulu-Natal midlands)
• Cymothoe alcimeda clarkiStevenson, 1940 (Amatola range of Eastern Cape)
• Cymothoe alcimeda rhodesiaeStevenson, 1934 (eastern Zimbabwe (Vumba Mountains))
• Cymothoe alcimeda mariepsRydon, 1994 (south of Olifants River from Mariepskop to Barberton in Mpumalanga)
• Cymothoe alcimeda transvaalicaRydon, 1994 (Limpopo Province escarpment)

References

1. "Cymothoe Hübner, [1819]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN   978-1-86872-724-7.