Charaxes etesipe

Charaxes etesipe
	C. e. etesipe from Cameroon - dorsal view
	C. e. etesipe from Cameroon - ventral view
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Clade:	Euarthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Charaxes
Species:	C. etesipe
Binomial name
	Charaxes etesipe; (Godart, 1824)[1]
Synonyms
	Nymphalis etesipe Godart, 1824; Nymphalis etheta Godart, 1824; Charaxes etesipe etesipe f. castoroides Poulton, 1926; Charaxes etesipe f. caeruleotincta Carpenter, 1945; Charaxes tavetensis Rothschild, 1894;

Charaxes etesipe, the savannah charaxes or scarce forest emperor, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.

Description

The wingspan is 35–38 millimetres (1.4–1.5 in) for male. The females are larger, reaching 37–45 millimetres (1.5–1.8 in).

The uppersides of the forewings are blackish blue with a greenish tint. The outer margin are generally denticulate (tooth like), with a series of white discal spots. In the hindwings of both sexes there are short tails and a complete series of large pale blue patches. The undersides of the wings are variegated with cream and drab colours.

Adults are on wing from August to October and from March to June. There are two generations per year.^[2]

The larvae of subspecies tavetensis feed on Afzelia quanzensis, Dalbergia nitidula, Securidaca longipeduncularis and Margaritaria discoidea. Other subspecies have been recorded on Entada and Afzelia quanzensis.

Distribution

This species can be found in tropical east and west Africa and in Madagascar.

Taxonomy

Charaxes etesipe is a member of the species group Charaxes etesipe

The clade members are:

Subspecies

C. e. etesipe (Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria, southern Chad, Cameroon, southern Sudan, northern Angola, Uganda, northern Kenya)
C. e. abyssinicus Rothschild & Jordan, 1900 (Ethiopia (west of Rift)
C. e. gordoni van Someren, 1935 (Kenya (north-eastern side of Mount Kenya))
C. e. hercules Turlin & Lequeux, 2002 (Uganda)
C. e. patrizii Storace, 1949 (Somalia)
C. e. pemba van Someren, 1966 (Pemba Island)
C. e. shaba Berger, 1981 (Zaire (Shaba))
C. e. tavetensis Rothschild, 1894 (Malawi, Mozambique, coast of Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa) perhaps a species

Subspecies gallery

C. e. abyssinicus from Ethiopia
C. e. etesipe from Cameroon - dorsal view
C. e. etesipe from Cameroon - ventral view

References

↑ "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
↑ Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.

Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren (1966). Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part III. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 45-101.

External links

Pteron World
Lepidoptera
Charaxes etesipe images subspecies and forma at Consortium for the Barcode of Life.
Charaxes tavetensis images at BOLD
Charaxes tavetensis tavetensis images at BOLD (verso)
Charaxes tavetensis pemba images at BOLD
Images of C. etesipe etesipe Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. etesipe gordoni (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. etesipe shaba (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. etesipe tavetensis (Albertine Rift Project)

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[1] "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms

[2] Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.