Demon emperor
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Charaxes
Species:
C. phaeus
Binomial name
Charaxes phaeus
Synonyms
  • Charaxes etheocles etheocles f. coryndoni Rothschild, 1900
  • Charaxes etheocles f. imitatrix Niepelt, 1924

Charaxes phaeus, the demon emperor or dusky charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Africa.[3] (Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia , Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa)

Description

The wingspan is 48–56 mm in males and 50–60 mm in females. Very similar to Charaxes etheocles but forewing above with postdiscal spots only in cellules 3—7 [4] In males of Charaxes vansoni the two subapical spots on the forewing upperside are blue, whereas in Charaxes phaeus they are white and the ground colour of the hindwing underside is pale coppery brown, with the silvery sheen comparatively reduced, extending only from the base along the costa and cell [5] The male differs from that of Charaxes fionae in the paler underside, larger greenish spots on the upperside, and wider pale wing margins.[6] In f. coryndoni Rothsch. the postdiscal spots of the forewing are all present, those in la and lb joined to the blue basal area; forewing with small blue marginal spots; marginal streaks of the hindwing thick and greenish. Under surface with reddish grey ground-colour and weakly marked. Zambesi[7]

Biology

It flies year-round, with peaks from February to May and in spring.[8] The habitat consists of thornbush savanna (thornbush = Vachellia) andBrachystegia woodland (Miombo.

The larvae feed on Acacia nigrescens, Amblygonocarpus andongensis, Erythrophleum africanum, and Tamarindus indica.[3][8]

Notes on the biology of phaeus are given by Kielland (1990) and Pringle et al. (1994) [9][10]

Taxonomy

Charaxes phaeus is a member of the large species group Charaxes etheocles

References

  1. ↑ Coetzer, B.H.; Westrip, J.R.S. (2020). "Charaxes phaeus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T161322531A161322537. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T161322531A161322537.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Hewitson, W.C. 1877 Descriptions of three new species of butterflies from Delagoa Bay. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 14: 81-83.
  3. 1 2 "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  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.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ↑ Van Son, G. 1979. The butterflies of southern Africa. Part 4. Nymphalidae: Nymphalinae [Revised and edited by L. Vári]. Transvaal Museum Memoirs No. 22: i-x, 1–286.
  6. ↑ Kielland , J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. 1 2 Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
  9. ↑ Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.</refApollo Books, Svendborg, Denmark: 1-595
  10. ↑ Pringle et al , 1994. Pennington’s Butterflies of Southern Africa, 2nd edition


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