Pseudopontia paradoxa

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Pseudopontia paradoxa
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Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pieridae
Genus: Pseudopontia
Species:
P. paradoxa
Binomial name
Pseudopontia paradoxa
(Felder, 1869)
Synonyms
  • Globiceps paradoxaFelder & Felder, 1869
  • Pseudopontia calabaricaPlötz, 1870
  • Pseudopontia cepheusEhrmann, 1894

Pseudopontia paradoxa is a species of butterfly found only in wet forests of tropical Africa. It was traditionally thought to be the only species (monotypic) in the genus Pseudopontia and the subfamily Pseudopontiinae. However, a recent study showed there are at least five species of Pseudopontia which can be distinguished genetically and by details of wing veins. Each is found primarily in a different part of Africa, though several of the species have overlapping geographic distributions.

Contents

It is considered paradoxical because, despite being a true butterfly ( Papilionoidea ), its antennae do not have the characteristic clubbed ends which are otherwise diagnostic of butterflies ( Rhopalocera ).

The larvae feed on Pseuderanthemum tunicatum , Rhopalopilia marquesii and Rhopalopilia pallens . [1]

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1850

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