Acraea alciope

Acraea alciope, the Hewitson's acraea or alciope acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae which is native to the African tropics and subtropics.

Hewitson's acraea
Male and female imagos
both in Ghana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Acraea
Species:
A. alciope
Binomial name
Acraea alciope
Synonyms
  • Acraea (Actinote) alciope
  • Planema macarina Butler, 1868
  • Acraea cydonia Ward, 1873
  • Acraea alciope f. cretacea Eltringham, 1912
  • Acraea alciope f. fumida Eltringham, 1912
  • Acraea alciope f. edea Strand, 1914
  • Acraea alciope f. lomana Strand, 1914
  • Acraea alciope alciope ab. alberici Dufrane, 1945
  • Acraea alciope alciope f. vulpinopsis Birket-Smith, 1960

Range

It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, south-western Uganda and Zambia.[3]

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

Acraea alciope Hew. (57 e). The female has developed several forms, but the male varies little. In the male the hindwing and the transverse band of the fore wing are light ochre-yellow and the dark marginal band on the upperside of the hindwing about 4 mm. in breadth. In the female the transverse band of the forewing is brown-yellow and distally incised; the hindwing is brown-yellow and has a broad dark marginal band as in the male. Ivory Coast to the Congo and Uganda.

  • female-ab. macarina Btlr. (57 e) only differs from the typical male in having the dark marginal band on the upperside of the hindwing absent or at least posteriorly very narrow. Gold Coast to the Congo.
  • female-ab. bakossua Strand [unavailable name]. Transverse band of the forewing in the anterior third white, narrower than usual. Cameroon mountains.
  • female-ab. cretacea Eltringh. has a whitish transverse band on the forewing. Lagos.
  • female-ab. fumida Eltringh. has both wings dark brown and almost without markings. Lagos.
  • female-ab. aurivillii Stgr. (57e) [now species Acraea aurivillii]. Transverse band of the forewing orange-yellow, hindwing blackish with a white median band 5 mm. in breadth. Cameroons to Uganda.
  • female-ab. latifasciata Grunb. [now Acraea aurivillii ab. latifasciata Grünberg, 1910] only differs from aurivillii in having the transverse band of the forewing not incised on the distal side, but almost entire-margined and broader. Sesse Islands.
  • female-ab. fella Eltringh.[Acraea aurivillii] Transverse band of the fore wing orange-yellow; hindwing yellow-brown with the dark marginal band sharply defined but narrow and gradually decreasing in breadth towards the anal angle. Uganda.
  • schecana Rothsch. & Jord. [now Acraea aurivillii ssp. schecana Rothschild & Jordan, 1905] seems to be a separate race occurring in Abyssinia; the male has the transverse band of the forewing lighter and the marginal band of the hindwing broader; female unknown.[4]

Biology

The habitat consists of forests.

The larvae feed on Theobroma cacao, Fleurya and Musanga species.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea jodutta species group – but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [5]

References
  1. Hewitson, W.C. 1851-1856. Illustrations of new species of exotic butterflies 1: v, [1-124]. London.
  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 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. Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf


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