Charaxes cithaeron
| Blue-spotted Emperor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Figure 2 male, 3 female | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Charaxes |
| Species: | C. cithaeron |
| Binomial name | |
| Charaxes cithaeron C. & R. Felder, 1859 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Blue-spotted Emperor or Blue-spotted Charaxes (Charaxes cithaeron) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in south-east Africa.[1]
The wingspan is 70–80 mm in males and 85–95 mm in females. Flight period is year-round.[2]
Larvae feed on Trema orientalis, Albizia adianthifolia, Celtis africana, Cola natalensis, Chaerachme aristata, Bafia racemosa, Afzelia quanzensis, Milletia sutherlandi, Maytenus senegalensis, and Craibia brevecaudatus.[1][2]
Full description
A full description is given by Rothschild, W. And Jordan, K., 1900 Novitates Zoologicae Volume 7:287-524. page 379-382 (for terms see Novitates Zoologicae Volume 5:545-601 )
Habitat
Forested areas from the coastal belt to the Kenya Highlands.
Taxonomy
Charaxes tiridates group
the supposed clade members are
- Charaxes tiridates
- Charaxes numenes similar to next
- Charaxes bipunctatus similar to last
- Charaxes violetta
- Charaxes fuscus
- Charaxes mixtus
- Charaxes bubastis
- Charaxes albimaculatus
- Charaxes barnsi
- Charaxes bohemani
- Charaxes schoutedeni
- Charaxes monteiri
- Charaxes smaragdalis
- Charaxes xiphares
- Charaxes cithaeron
- Charaxes nandina
- Charaxes imperialis
- Charaxes ameliae
- Charaxes pythodoris
- ? Charaxes overlaeti
For a full list see Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013 [3]
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically.[1]
- C. c. cithaeron C. & R. Felder, 1859 (Tanzania, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland)
- C. c. joanae van Someren, 1964 (Zambia, northern Zimbabwe and possibly the Tukuyu District of Tanzania)
- C. c. kennethi Poulton, 1926 (coast of Kenya, eastern Tanzania)
- C. c. nairobicus van Son, 1953 (Kenya: central highlands east of the Rift Valley)
- C. c. nyasae van Someren, 1964 (Malawi)
References
- Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 31
- Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1964 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part II. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology)181-235.
External links
- Charaxes cithaeron images at Charaxes page Consortium for the Barcode of Life subspecies and forms
- Images of C. cithaeron cithaeron Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project)
- Images of C. cithaeron kennethi (Albertine Rift Project)
- Images of C. Cithaeron nairobicus (Albertine Rift Project)
- African Butterfly Database Range map via search