Acraea acrita

Acraea acrita, the fiery acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in large parts of Africa.

Acraea acrita
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Acraea
Species:
A. acrita
Binomial name
Acraea acrita
Hewitson, 1865
Synonyms
  • Acraea (Acraea) acrita
  • Acraea acrita ab. pauperata Thurau, 1903
  • Acraea acrita ab. aquilia Thurau, 1903
  • Acraea acrita f. chaeribulula Strand, 1911
  • Acraea acrita ab. aquilina Strand, 1911
  • Acraea acrita f. msamwiae Strand, 1911
  • Acraea acrita f. lindica Strand, 1911
  • Acraea acrita ab. usaramensis Strand, 1911
  • Acraea acrita f. nyassicola Strand, 1911
  • Acraea acrita littoralis Eltringham, 1912
  • Acraea acrita f. megaspila Le Cerf, 1927
  • Acraea acrita acrita f. albomaculosa Le Doux, 1931
  • Acraea acrita acrita f. fusca Le Doux, 1932
  • Acraea acrita acrita f. nigromarginata Le Doux, 1932
  • Acraea ambigua Trimen, 1891
  • Acraea acrita var. bella Weymer, 1901

The wingspan is 45–55 mm. Adults are on wing year round, with a peak from February to June in southern Africa.[1]

The larvae feed on Passifloraceae, including Adenia species.

Subspecies
  • Acraea acrita acrita (Uganda, southern Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa)
  • Acraea acrita ambigua Trimen, 1891 (Zambia, southern Angola, Botswana, northern Namibia)

Taxonomy

Acraea acrita is the nominate member of the Acraea acrita species group. The clade members are:

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


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.