Charaxes druceanus

Charaxes druceanus, the silver-barred emperor or silver-barred charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found throughout tropical Africa.[2]

Silver-barred emperor
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Charaxes
Species:
C. druceanus
Binomial name
Charaxes druceanus
Butler, 1869 [1]
Synonyms
  • Charaxes cinadon Hewitson, 1870
  • Charaxes druceanus var. obscura Rebel, 1914
  • Charaxes druceanus kivuanus Jordan, 1925
  • Charaxes druceanus cryanae Le Cerf, 1932
  • Charaxes druceanus obscura f. nyungwe Turlin, 1980
  • Charaxes alicea Stoneham, 1931
  • Charaxes druceanus proximans f. lugari van Someren, 1939

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

The wingspan is 55–70 mm in males and 65–85 mm in females. Ch. druceanus Btlr. is above similar to Charaxes phraortes and Charaxes andranodorus, but has the basal part of the upper surface darker chestnut-brown, so that the median band is sharply defined proximally; the marginal spots of both wings are large and form on the hindwing a continuous band; the hindwing is not tailed at vein 3; the black submarginal band on both wings is considerably narrower than in phraortes and andranodorus. The ground-colour of the under surface is rust-brown and the white markings have a beautiful silver gloss; the black transverse markings in the basal part of the hindwing are much reduced and only represented by fine streaks; as in andranodorus cellules 7 and 8 each have only one black spot or transverse streak, and even this may sometimes be absent; the median band of the hindwing is posteriorly much narrowed and is unicolorous or only in cellules 2—4 with a black streak at its proximal side. Congo, Angola, Nyassaland, Zambesi, Transvaal, Natal.[3]

Biology

Its flight period is year-round.[4] The larvae feed on various Syzygium species (including Syzygium cordatum and Syzygium guineense), Bersama abyssinica,[2][4] Eugenia species, and Astropanax goetzenii.

Notes on the biology of druceanus are given by Pringle et al (1994) [5]

Habitat

Coastal belt and forest edges up to more than 5,000 m.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:[2]

  • C. d. brazza Turlin, 1987 [6] (Congo: Kinkala, Bela)
  • C. d. druceanus Butler, 1869 (South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal)
  • C. d. entabeni van Someren, 1963 [7] (South Africa: Limpopo Province to the Zoutpansberg)
  • C. d. katamayu Plantrou, 1982[8] (Kenya: south to the area east of the Rift Valley)
  • C. d. obscura Rebel, 1914 ([9] western Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, western Rwanda, western Burundi)
  • C. d. moerens Jordan, 1936[10] (South Africa: Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga, Eswatini)
  • C. d. praestans Turlin, 1989 [11] (north-eastern Tanzania)
  • C. d. proximans Joicey & Talbot, 1922 [12] (Democratic Republic of the Congo, eastern Angola, eastern Rwanda, eastern Burundi, southern and western Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, north-western Zimbabwe)
  • C. d. septentrionalis Lathy, 1926[13] (eastern Uganda, western Kenya, northern Tanzania)
  • C. d. solitaria Henning & Henning, 1992 [14](South Africa: north-east and north-west slopes of the Blouberg)
  • C. d. stevensoni van Someren, 1963 (western Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe)
  • C. d. teita van Someren, 1939 [15] (south-eastern Kenya, Tanzania: north to the Arusha-Moshi district)
  • C. d. vivianae Plantrou, 1982 (Sudan: south to the Imatong Mountains)
  • C. d. williamsi Plantrou, 1982 (Kenya: south-east to Mount Kasigau)

Taxonomy

Curle & Curle describe a hybrid of Charaxes druceanus and Charaxes brutus [16]

Historical attempts to assemble a cluster of presumably related species into a "Charaxes jasius Group" have not been wholly convincing. More recent taxonomic revision,[17] 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,[18] 26 are now considered together as The jasius Group.[17] 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,[18] and are considered as the jasius subgroup.[17] 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):[17]

Clade 1: jasius subgroup (7 species)

Clade 2: contains the well-populated three additional subgroups (19 species) of the jasius Group: called the brutus, pollux, and eudoxus subgroups.[17]

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

References
  1. Butler, A.G. 1869. Descriptions of new rhopalocera from the collection of Herbert Druce Esq. Cistula Entomologica 1: 1-16.
  2. "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. 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.
  4. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
  5. Pringle et al , 1994. Pennington’s Butterflies of Southern Africa, 2nd edition
  6. 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.
  7. Van Someren, V.G.L. 1963. Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae). Part I. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History)(Entomology) 13:195-242.
  8. Plantrou, J. 1982. Description de 9 sous-especes du genre Charaxes recemment decouvertes en Afrique (Lep. Nymphalidae). Miscellanea Entomologica 49: 101-115.
  9. Rebel, H. 1914. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Expedition R. Grauer nach Zentralafrika, Dezember 1909 bis 1911. Lepidopteren. Annalen des (K.K.) Naturhistorischen Museums.Wien. 28: 219-294.
  10. Jordan, K., 1936 . On two South African Charaxes (Lepid., Nymphalidae). Novitates Zoologicae 39: 330-333
  11. Turlin, B., 1989. In: Henning, 1989. The Charaxinae butterflies of Africa 127 (457 pp.). Johannesburg.
  12. Joicey , J.J., & Talbot, G. 1922. New forms of the genus Charaxes (Nymphalidae) from Africa and Malaya. Bulletin of the Hill Museum, Witley. 1: 335-338.
  13. Lathy, P.I. 1925. Notes sur les Charaxes de la collection de Madam G. Fournier Encyclopedie Entomologique (B.3 Lepidoptera) 1: 93-97.
  14. Henning, G.A., & Henning, S.F. , 1992. Metamorphosis 3 (3): 118 (115-120).
  15. van Someren, V.G.L. 1939. New and little-known Lepidoptera from Kenya and Uganda.Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society 14: 172-180.
  16. Curle, A.[I.], & Curle, N.[I.] 2004a. A description of a single male specimen of Charaxes assumed to be a hybrid of Charaxes brutus natalensis Staudinger, 1886 and Charaxes druceanus druceanus Butler, 1869 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Metamorphosis 15 (4): 165-169.
  17. Turlin, B. (2005). Bauer & Frankenbach (ed.). Butterflies of the World: Charaxes 1. Vol. 22. Keltern: Goecke & Evers. pp. 2–3. ISBN 3937783156.
  18. "Out of Africa again: A phylogenetic hypothesis of the genus Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) based on five gene regions". Aduse-Poku, Vingerhoedt, Wahlberg. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2009) 53;463–478
  • Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1963 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part I. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 195-242.
  • Van Someren, 1969 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology)75-166. Additional notes


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