Neptis metella

Neptis metella
Figure 6
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Neptis
Species:	N. metella
Binomial name
Neptis metella (Doubleday, 1848) [1]
Synonyms
Limenitis metellaDoubleday, 1848 Neptis gratillaMabille, 1880 Neptis metella ab. brunniSchultze, 1916 Neptis metella f. vinalliEltringham, 1929

Neptis metella, the yellow-base sailer, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, from Nigeria to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Uganda, Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania. ^[2] The habitat consists of forests.

Description

N. metella Dbl. Hew. (48 c) is the only African species in which the underside of the hindwing proximally to the median band is yellow with numerous sharply defined, rounded blackish spots. The cell of the forewing at its hindmargin with long white longitudinal stripes, slightly widened distally; the hindmarginal spot very small, discal spots 2 and 3 rather large, not or narrowly separated from one another, cliscal spots 4—6 small and separated; marginal line 1 is placed far from the distal margin and consists of small, irregularly arranged, free spots, closely approximated to the discal spots; marginal line 4 is absent on both wings above and is only weakly marked beneath; median band of the hindwing 3–4 mm. in breadth, on the under surface distally bounded by black spots; the first margined line of the hindwing dull and separated by large, free blackish spots from the second marginal line, which is broader and whiter. Sierra Leone to the southern Congo and the Victoria Nyanza. —• gratilla Mab. only differs in the larger and more sharply prominent white markings. Madagascar ^[3] Images BOLD

Biology

The larvae feed on Acalypha neptunica pubescens .

Subspecies

• Neptis metella metella (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria to Democratic Republic of the Congo, western Uganda, southern Sudan, north-western Tanzania)
• Neptis metella flavimaculaJackson, 1951 (Uganda: east to the western slopes of Mount Elgon, western Kenya)

Taxonomy

It is the nominotypical member of the metella Species groupThe species of this group differing from other Neptis with a 'white discal band in having the base of the hind¬ wing beneath spotted, not banded with white. The first marginal band of the forewing forms at vein 4 a sharp angle proximad.

The members are

• Neptis metella
• Neptis saclava

References

1. "Neptis Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Limenitidini
3. 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 .