Charaxes xiphares

Forest King Emperor

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Charaxes
Species:	C. xiphares
Binomial name
*Charaxes xiphares* (Stoll, [1781])
Synonyms
Papilio xiphares Stoll, 1781 Charaxes xiphares bavenda f. ochremacula van Son, 1935 Charaxes xiphares bavenda f. cyanescens van Son, 1935 Charaxes cithaeron var. brevicaudatus Schultze, 1914 Charaxes desmondi van Someren, 1939 Charaxes xiphares draconis f. candida van Son, 1953 Charaxes xiphares kenwayi f. lutea van Son, 1953 Charaxes kulal van Someren, 1962 Charaxes maudei Joicey & Talbot, 1918 Charaxes xiphares xiphares f. occidentalis van Son, 1953 Charaxes xiphares penningtoni f. luminosa van Son, 1953 Charaxes xiphares staudei f. arikae Henning and Henning, 1992 Charaxes xiphares staudei f. louisae Henning and Henning, 1992 Papilio thyestes Stoll, 1790 Charaxes xiphares reducta Rothschild, 1929 Charaxes xiphares elatias Jordan, 1936 Charaxes xiphares walwandi f. namukanae Collins, 1989 in Henning, 1989

The Forest King Emperor or Forest King Charaxes (Charaxes xiphares) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found southern Africa (Afrotropical ecozone) ^[1]

The wingspan is 65–80 mm in males and 70–95 mm in females.^[2]

The larvae feed on Craibia brevecaudata, Scutia myrtina, Rhamnus prinoides, Cryptocarya woodii, Cryptocarya woodii, Scutia myrtina, Chaetachme aristata, and Drypetes gerrardii.^[1]^[2]

Taxonomy

Charaxes tiridates group

the supposed clade members are

For a full list see Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013 ^[3]

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically.^[1]

C. x. bavenda van Son, 1935 (South Africa: Limpopo Province to the Zoutpansberg)
C. x. bergeri Plantrou, 1975 (Democratic Republic of Congo)
C. x. brevicaudatus Schultze, 1914 (southern Tanzania)
C. x. burgessi van Son, 1953 (Democratic Republic of Congo: Kivu, south-western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi)
C. x. desmondi van Someren, 1936 (Kenya: south-east to the Teita Hills)
C. x. draconis Jordan, 1936 (South Africa: Mpumalanga, Swaziland)
C. x. kenwayi Poulton, 1929 (South Africa: Limpopo Province to the north-east)
C. x. kiellandi Plantrou, 1976 (northern Tanzania)
C. x. kilimensis van Someren, 1972 (northern Tanzania)
C. x. kulal van Someren, 1962 (Kenya: north to Mount Kulal)
C. x. ludovici Rousseau-Decelle, 1933 (northern Malawi, north-eastern Zambia)
C. x. maudei Joicey & Talbot, 1917 (north-eastern Tanzania)
C. x. nguru Collins, 1988 (eastern Tanzania)
C. x. occidentalis Pringle, 1995 (South Africa: Western Cape Province)
C. x. penningtoni van Son, 1953 (South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal)
C. x. sitebi Plantou, 1981 (north-western Tanzania)
C. x. staudei Henning & Henning, 1992 (South Africa: Limpopo Province to the north-east and north-west slopes of the Blouberg)
C. x. thyestes (Stoll, 1790) (South Africa: Eastern Cape Province)
C. x. upembana Plantrou, 1976 (Democratic Republic of Congo)
C. x. vumbui van Son, 1936 (eastern Zimbabwe)
C. x. walwandi Collins, 1989 (Kenya, Tanzania)
C. x. wernickei Joicey & Talbot, 1926 (Cameroon)
C. x. woodi van Someren, 1964 (southern Malawi)
C. x. xiphares (Stoll, [1781]) (South Africa: Eastern Cape Province, Western Cape Province)

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Charaxes, funet.fi
↑ 2.0 2.1 Woodhall, Steve. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town:Struik Publishers, 2005
↑ "African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013".

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charaxes antamboulou.

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.
Van Someren, 1969 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology)75-166. Additional notes
Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1972 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part VIII. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology)215-264. Further notes
Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 31

External links

Images of C. xiphares bergeri Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. xiphares burgessi (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. xiphares desmondi (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. xiphares kiellandi (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. xiphares maudei (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. xiphares walwandi (Albertine Rift Project)

Consortium for the Barcode of Life images