Elymniopsis

Elymniopsis
Elymniopsis bammakoo bammakoo, Ghana
Elymniopsis bammakoo rattrayi, Kibale Forest, Uganda
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Tribe:	Elymniini
Genus:	Elymniopsis Fruhstorfer, 1907
Species:	E. bammakoo
Binomial name
Elymniopsis bammakoo (Westwood, [1851]) [1]
Synonyms
Melanitis bammakooWestwood, [1851] Elymnias bammakoo Papilio phegeaFabricius, 1793 Elymnias phegea var. intermediaAurivillius, 1899 Elymnias phegea ab. angustataBartel, 1905 Elymniopsis bammakoo var. hybridaNiepelt, 1915 Papilio liseHemming, 1960 Elymnias rattrayiSharpe, 1902 Elymnias bammakoo rattrayi Elymnias ugandaeGrünberg, 1908

Elymniopsis is a monotypic butterfly genus in the family Nymphalidae. It contains only one species, Elymniopsis bammakoo, the African palmfly.

Range and habitat

It is found in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the DRC, Uganda and Tanzania. ^[2] The habitat consists of forests.

Description

Adults resemble Acraea poggei in flight. The white form of bammakoo mimics the female of Papilio cynorta .

Food

Adults are attracted to fermented bananas and have also been recorded imbibing sap from wounds in trees. The larvae feed on Elaeis guineensis , Phoenix reclinata and Raphia hookeri .

Subspecies

• Elymniopsis bammakoo bammakoo

Range: Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, DRC

• Elymniopsis bammakoo rattrayi(Sharpe, 1902)

Range: eastern DRC, western Uganda, north-western Tanzania

Elymniopsis bammakoo bammakoo & Elymniopsis bammakoo rattrayi (far right)

References

1. "Elymnias Hübner, 1818" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. "Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Elymniini". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-06-06.