White-barred emperor
Charaxes brutus natalensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Charaxes
Species:
C. brutus
Binomial name
Charaxes brutus
(Cramer, [1779])[1][2]
Synonyms
  • Papilio brutus Cramer, 1779
  • Papilio cajus Herbst, 1790
  • Charaxes brutus alcyone f. nigribasalis Sevastopulo, 1973
  • Charaxes brutus augustus f. fractifascia Le Cerf, 1923
  • Charaxes brutus augustus ab. nigrescens Le Moult, 1933
  • Charaxes brutus var. natalensis Staudinger, 1885

Charaxes brutus, the white-barred emperor or white-barred Charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Africa (see subspecies section for detailed information).

Its flight period is year-round.[3] Notes on the biology of brutus are given by Larsen, T.B. (1991).[4]

Description

Its average wingspan is 60–75 mm in males and 75–90 mm in females. Both wings above black or black-brown with a common white or whitish yellow discal band, which on the forewing is broken up into spots towards the costal margin. Marginal spots wanting; but the hindwing has before the distal margin 2—4 small blue spots, 2 in cellule 1 c and one each in 2 and 3. The under surface has a continuous white discal band; the ground-colour of the basal part is red-brown with the black, white-edged markings peculiar to the genus, which stand out sharply; the marginal part is brown-yellow next to the discal band and then ornamented with large, triangular black spots, distally bordered with pale grey. The hindwing also at vein 3 with a distinct, but short tail. — brutus Cr. The discal band on the upper surface pure white, not or only indistinctly margined with blue, on the forewing also with a spot in cellule 7 and measuring 5 – 9 mm. in breadth in cellule 1 b. Sierra Leone to the Niger. — natalensis Stgr. differs only in having the discal band distinctly margined with blue and the small marginal spots somewhat more distinct than in the type-form. East Africa from Natal to Kilimandjaro. — angustus Rothsch. has the discal band much narrower, only 2. 5–4 mm. in breadth in cellule 1 b of the forewing, and the marginal spots of the forewing very small or entirely suppressed. Old Calabar to Angola.[5]

A full description is given by Rothschild, W. And Jordan, K., 1900 Novitates Zoologicae Volume 7:287-524. page 429 et seq. (for terms see Novitates Zoologicae Volume 5:545-601 )

Life history

Life-sized colour plates and description of the larval and pupal stages of C. brutus and additional related species, illustrated by Dr. V. G. L. van Someren, are readily available.[6] The larvae feed on Grewia species, Entandrophagma delevoi, Trichilia dregeana, Blighia unifugata, Melai azedarach, Trichilia emetica, and Ekebergia capensis.[3][7]

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognised:

  • C. b. brutus (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, western Nigeria)
  • C. b. alcyone Stoneham, 1943[8] (Kenya: east of Rift Valley, northern and eastern Tanzania)
  • C. b. angustus Rothschild, 1900[9] (Eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, Northern Angola, Zaire, West Uganda)
  • C. b. natalensis Staudinger, 1885[10] (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania)
  • C. b. roberti Turlin, 1987[11] (Pemba Island)

Historical attempts to assemble a cluster of presumably related species into a "Charaxes jasius Group" have not been wholly convincing. More recent taxonomic revision,[12] corroborated by phylogenetic research, allow a more rational grouping congruent with cladistic relationships. Within a well-populated clade of 27 related species sharing a common ancestor approximately 16 mya during the Miocene,[13] 26 are now considered together as The jasius Group.[12] One of the two lineages within this clade forms a robust monophyletic group of seven species sharing a common ancestor approximately 2-3 mya, i.e. during the Pliocene,[13] and are considered as the jasius subgroup.[12] The second lineage leads to 19 other species within the Jasius group, which are split into three well-populated subgroups of closely related species.

The jasius Group (26 species).[12]

Clade 1: the jasius subgroup.

Clade 2: contains the three well-populated additional subgroups (19 species) of the jasius Group, called the brutus, pollux, and eudoxus subgroups.[12]

Further exploration of the phylogenetic relationships amongst existing Charaxes taxa is required to improve clarity.

References

  1. ↑ Cramer, P. [1779-1780]. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen Asia, Africa en America. Amsteldam & Utrecht. 3: 176 pp
  2. ↑ "Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
  3. 1 2 Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
  4. ↑ Larsen, T.B. 1991The Butterflies of Kenya and their Natural History. Oxford University Press, Oxford: i-xxii, 1-490.
  5. ↑ 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.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ↑ van Someren, V.G.L.; Rogers, Rev. K. St. A. (1928). "The Butterflies of Uganda and Kenya (Part 7) Family Nymphalide - Charaxidi" (PDF). Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society. 31–32: 111–113 & 149–153. hosted by Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL)
  7. ↑ "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  8. ↑ Stoneham, H.F. 1943 New forms of lepidoptera of the sub-family Charaxidinae, from East Africa. Bulletin of the Stoneham Museum (46): 2 pp.
  9. ↑ Rothschild, W., & Jordan, K. 1900. A monograph of Charaxes and the allied prionopterous genera. Novitates Zoologicae 7: [i-iv], 287-524.
  10. ↑ Staudinger, O. 1885 in Staudinger, O. and Schatz, E. 1884-1888. Exotische Schmetterlinge 1: vi + 1-333. Bayern
  11. ↑ Turlin, 1987; 20 Turlin, B. 1987. Descriptions de nouvelles sous-especes et d’une forme de Charaxes africains (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae). Bulletin de la Societe Scientifique Naturelle No. 53: 19-25.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Turlin, B. (2005). Bauer & Frankenbach (ed.). Butterflies of the World: Charaxes 1. Vol. 22. Keltern: Goecke & Evers. pp. 2–3. ISBN 3937783156.
  13. 1 2 "Out of Africa again: A phylogenetic hypothesis of the genus Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) based on five gene regions" Archived 2019-07-25 at the Wayback Machine. Aduse-Poku, Vingerhoedt, Wahlberg. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2009) 53;463–478
  • Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren (1970). Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part VI. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 197-250.


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