Acraea pharsalus

Pharsalus acraea
	Imago at Kakamega Forest, Kenya, and a larva from Lagos in Eltringham (1912)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Acraea
Species:	A. pharsalus
Binomial name
	Acraea pharsalus; Ward, 1871
Synonyms
	Acraea (Actinote) pharsalus; Acraea pharsalus f. duplicatus Stoneham, 1943; Acraea pharsaloides Holland, 1892; Acraea pharsalus saluspha Suffert, 1904; Acraea pharsalus var. pharsaloides ab. pallidepicta Strand, 1911; Acraea pharsalus var. pharsaloides ab. nia Strand, 1911; Acraea pharsalus f. ruperti O'Neil, 1919;

Acraea pharsalus, the east African forest acraea or Pharsalus acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae which is native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa.

Range

It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique.^[3]

Description

A. pharsalus Ward. (56 d). Upper surface of both wings dusted with black at the base; forewing above very broadly black at the apex and distal margin with small whitish (occasionally reddish) subapical spots in 4 to 6 and large discal dots in 1b to 6, of which those in cellules 4 to 6 are scarcely distinguishable from the ground-colour; cell with a black spot in the middle and one at the apex; the middle of the forewing and the greater part of the hindwing above red, the hindwing with black marginal band; forewing beneath reddish grey, at the apex and distal margin yellowish with black veins and marginal streaks; hindwing beneath at the base and distal margin greenish light grey, in the middle slightly reddish with well developed basal and discal dots and large triangular spots at the distal margin on the interneural folds. Larva above red-yellow, beneath lighter, with black dorsal line and small black striae at the anterior and posterior margin of each segment; head and spines black. Pupa light yellowish with black markings. Senegal to Angola, Nyassaland and Uganda.

pharsaloides Holl. (= saluspha Suff.) is the East African race and only differs in having the light subapical band of the forewing much larger and red, connected with the red ground-colour by a spot of the same colour in 3; hence the black discal dots in cellules 3 to 6 appear as independent spots; the base of both wings above is less dusted with black than in the type-form. In the female the ground-colour of the upper surface is often grey-yellowish. Angola, German and British East Africa.
ab. pallidepicta Strand Subapical band of the forewing whitish. German East Africa.
ab. nia Strand, forms in certain respects the transition to vuilloti, as the hindwing has a light yellowish patch in the same position as in the latter. German East Africa: Amani.
vuilloti Mab. [now species Acraea vuilloti ](56 d). The ground-colour of the forewing is often completely broken up into spots and the hindwing has a large white spot at the inner margin in cellules 1b to 2 (to 3). Hindwing also beneath with dark marginal band. Marginal streaks thick, but not triangular. German East Africa.
rhodina Rothsch. Forewing as in vuilloti; hindwing also similarly marked, but without white area. Abyssinia.^[4]

Biology

The habitat consists of forests and riverine vegetation in Guinea savanna.

Adults have been recorded from July to September.

The larvae feed on Theobroma cacao, Tectona grandis, Ficus exasperata, Ficus aspersifolia, Ficus sycomorus, Laportea peduncularis, Fleurya ovalifolia and Boehmeria species.

Subspecies

Acraea pharsalus pharsalus — Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea: Bioko and Annobón, Angola, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya, Tanzania, northern Zambia
Acraea pharsalus carmen Pyrcz, 1991 — Equatorial Guinea: island of Príncipe
Acraea pharsalus pharsaloides Holland, 1892 — eastern Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique
Acraea pharsalus rhodina Rothschild, 1902 — Ethiopia, Sudan: south to the Boma plateau

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea pharsalus species group – but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 ^[5]

References

^ Ward, C. 1871. Description of new species of African diurnal lepidoptera. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 8: 34-36; 58-60; 81-82; 118-122.
^ "Acraea Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Acraeini". Archived from the original on 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
^ 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.
^ Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf

External links

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[1] Ward, C. 1871. Description of new species of African diurnal lepidoptera. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 8: 34-36; 58-60; 81-82; 118-122.

[funet-2] "Acraea Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms

[ATBUT-3] "Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Acraeini". Archived from the original on 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2012-06-05.

[4] 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.

[5] Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf

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