Neptis nysiades

Neptis nysiades
Figure 4 (male) and 5 (female)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Neptis
Species:	N. nysiades
Binomial name
Neptis nysiades Hewitson, 1868 [1]

Neptis nysiades, the variable sailer, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola and Zambia. ^[2] The habitat consists of forests, including riparian forests.

Description

N. nysiades Hew. (48 e) agrees almost entirely in the markings with Neptis seeldrayersi , but is smaller, with an expanse of 44—48 mm., and can be most certainly distinguished by the first marginal line on the upperside of the forewing forming in cellule 1 b an acute angle proximad, which reaches the middle of vein 2; discal spots 3 and 4 on the forewing are more or less broadly separated. [then] Old Calabar to Angola. ^[3]

The larvae feed on Paullinia pinnata .

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Neptis agatha species group

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 .