Charaxes penricei

Scarce savanna charaxes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Charaxinae
Tribe: Charaxini
Genus: Charaxes
Species:
C. penricei
Binomial name
Charaxes penricei
Synonyms
  • Charaxes peculiaris Lathy, 1906
  • Charaxes penricei ab. flavus Lathy, 1925
  • Charaxes penricei penricei ab. paraperpullus White, 1978
  • Charaxes penricei f. dealbata Joicey and Talbot, 1922
  • Charaxes penricei tanganyikae f. caerulescens van Someren, 1969

Charaxes penricei, the scarce savanna charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Zimbabwe.[3]

Description

The original description written by Walter Rothschild is on page 460 of Rothschild, W. and Jordan, K. (1898). A monograph of Charaxes and the allied prionopterous genera. Novitates Zoologicae Volume 5:545-601 [1]; 1899 Volume 6: 220-286 [2]: 1900 Volume 7:287-524. [3] Descriptions and plates (monochrome photos). Seitz- Ch. penricei Rothsch. Male: the under surface is marked almost as in etesipe ; but above the transverse band, as in the female of etesipe, is placed nearly in the middle of the hindwing and further from the distal margin than in etesipe male ; it is white or bluish white and from vein 2 of the hindwing to vein 2 of the forewing broad and continuous, then broken up into small spots, two each in cellules 2, 3 and 6 and one each in cellules 4, 5, 7 and in the cell; the ground-colour of the upper surface is bluish black. The female is unknown. This rare species has hitherto only been found in Angola. — peculiaris Lathy only differs from the type-form in having the black colour replaced by greenish. Rhodesia.[4] Similar to Charaxes etesipe but upperside median band further from the wing margins [5]

Subspecies

  • Charaxes penricei penricei (eastern Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, southern Tanzania, Malawi, eastern Zimbabwe)
  • Charaxes penricei dealbata van Someren, 1966[6](Congo, north-western Angola, western Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  • Charaxes penricei tanganyikae van Someren, 1966 (western Tanzania)

Biology

The habitat consists of savanna, especially Brachystegia woodland (Miombo).

The larvae feed on Entada species and Securidaca longipedunculata.

Notes on the biology of penricei are given by Pringle et al (1994). .[7]

Taxonomy

Closely related to Charaxes cacuthis and Charaxes etesipe [8]

Charaxes penricei is a member of the species group Charaxes etesipe.

The clade members are:

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charaxes penricei.
Wikispecies has information related to Charaxes penricei.
  1. ^ Rothschild, 1900 in Rothschild, W., & Jordan, K. 1900. A monograph of Charaxes and the allied prionopterous genera. Novitates Zoologicae 7: [i-iv], 287-524.
  2. ^ "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. ^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
  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. ^ Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.
  6. ^ Van Someren, V.G.L. 1966. Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae). Part III. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 18: 45-101.
  7. ^ Pringle et al , 1994. Pennington’s Butterflies of Southern Africa, 2nd edition
  8. ^ Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363
  • Van Someren, Victor Gurney Logan (1966). Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part III. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 45-101.[4]
  • Van Someren, Victor Gurney Logan (1969). Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 75-166. [5] Additional notes.