Acraea atergatis
Acraea atergatis and related species
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Acraea
Species:
A. atergatis
Binomial name
Acraea atergatis
Synonyms
  • Acraea (Acraea) atergatis
  • Acraea atergatis f. eichleri van Son, 1963

Acraea atergatis is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Haut-Lomani, Cataractes, Kinshasa), Angola, Zambia, north-western Zimbabwe, northern Botswana and Namibia.[3]

Description

A. atergatis Westw. (55 f) has two rather different seasonal forms. In both forms the wings above are bright uniform orange-yellow to the base, beneath in the dry-season form lighter and in the rainy-season form somewhat darker and more reddish than above; the black dots are arranged as in oncaea, but in the rainy-season form very large and thick; the forewing above is only narrowly black at the costal and distal margins, but without apical spot, and has strong black streaks in 3 to 6; the hindwing is a little blackened at the base of cellule 1 c and the cell; the seasonal forms differ particularly in the development of the marginal band of the hindwing; in the rainy-season form the black marginal band is on both surfaces about 1 mm. in breadth, above unspotted, beneath with narrow streak-like white marginal spots; in the dry-season form the marginal band is entirely absent or is only weakly indicated beneath, hence the marginal streaks of the under surface shade into the ground-colour without any dividing-line; the under surface of the hindwing has more or less distinct red spots. Angola; southern Congo region and Rhodesia. [4]

Biology

The habitat consists of open areas in deciduous woodland.

Adults are on wing year round. There are distinct seasonal forms.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea caecilia species group. See also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014.[5]


References

  1. ↑ Westwood,J.O, 1881 Entomology in, Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls in Oates, Matabeland : 331-365, pl. E-H
  2. ↑ "Acraea Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. ↑ "Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Acraeini". Archived from the original on 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  4. ↑ Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Grosschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Grosschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.Public Domain 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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