Charaxes violetta

Violet-spotted emperor
Male figures 1 and 2, female figure 8
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Charaxes
Species:
C. violetta
Binomial name
Charaxes violetta

Charaxes violetta, the violet-spotted emperor or violet-spotted charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Africa.[2]

Species is double brooded from August to October and April to June.[3]

Larvae feed on Blighia unijugata and Deinbollia species.[2][3]

In Adalbert Seitz's Fauna Africana

Full description

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

The wingspan is 65–70 mm for males and 75–85 mm for females. Both sexes above almost exactly like the corresponding sexes of cithaeron, but differing in the presence of a fine, nearly straight transverse line in the middle of the hindwing beneath, distally margined with white, in the male narrowly, in the female for a breadth of 2–3 mm. Delagoa Bay to Nyassaland and Mombasa.Larva green, sprinkled with minute yellowish dots; horns on the head bluish or violet; the dorsal spots grey or rust-coloured.[4]

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:[2]

  • C. v. maritima van Someren, 1966 (coast of Kenya, Tanzania: north-east to the coast)
  • C. v. melloni Fox, 1963[5] (Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe, Malawi, eastern Tanzania)
  • C. v. meru van Someren, 1966[6] (Kenya: north-eastern slopes of Mount Kenya and in the Njombeni Hills)
  • C. v. violetta Grose-Smith, 1885 (southern Mozambique, South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal)

Realm

Afrotropical realm

Taxonomy

Charaxes tiridates group.

The supposed clade members are:

For a full list see Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013.[7]

References

  1. ^ Grose-Smith, H. 1885. Descriptions of two new species of butterflies. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 21: 247-248.
  2. ^ a b c "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. ^ a b Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
  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. ^ Fox, R.M. 1963. New African butterflies. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 36: 213-224.
  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. ^ "African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013". Archived from the original on 2013-06-27.