Charaxes bernardus

Tawny rajah

upperside view

underside
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Charaxes
Species:	C. bernardus
Binomial name
*Charaxes bernardus* (Fabricius), 1793

Charaxes bernardus, the tawny rajah, is a butterfly that belongs to the rajahs and nawabs group, that is, the Charaxinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family. This species can be found in India, China, Indomalaya, and onwards to Indonesia.^[1]

Description

Charaxes bernardus has a wingspan of about 7–9 centimetres (2.8–3.5 in). The upperside of wings is reddish brown or pale brown-orange, with dark brown/black speckles at the wings tips and small black marks at the margin of the hind wings. On the underside of the wings there are irregular wavy or tawny brown speckles and whitish zigzag bands. Males and females are very similar in appearance.^[2]^[3]

Habits

It has been recorded as a migrant in South India and is known to mud-puddle.^[4]

Food plants

Known food-plants of this species include: Aglaia lawii,^[5] Aglaia roxburghiana (Meliaceae), Cinnamomum camphora, Litsea glutinosa, Litsea populifolia (Lauraceae), Sapium sebiferum (Euphorbiaceae), Adenanthera pavonina, Paraserianthes falcataria (= Falcataria moluccana), Tamarindus indica (Leguminosae), and Acronychia penduculata (Rutaceae).^[6]

Subspecies

Charaxes bernardus bernardus – present in China and Hong Kong
Charaxes bernardus acolus Fruhstorfer – eastern Sumatra
Charaxes bernardus agna Moore, 1878 – in Thailand and Burma
Charaxes bernardus ajax Fawcett, 1897 – western Sumatra
Charaxes bernardus bajula Staudinger, 1889 – Palawan
Charaxes bernardus baliensis Joicey & Talbot, 1922 – Bali
Charaxes bernardus basilisae Schröder & Treadaway, 1982 – Philippines
Charaxes bernardus baya (Moore, 1857) – Java and Bali
Charaxes bernardus crepax Fruhstorfer, 1914 – Malaysia and Singapore
Charaxes bernardus cybistia Fruhstorfer
Charaxes bernardus enganicus Fruhstorfer, 1904
Charaxes bernardus hainanus Gu, 1994 – Hainan
Charaxes bernardus hemana Butler, 1870 – Nepal
Charaxes bernardus hierax C. & R. Felder, [1867] – Assam and southern Yunnan.
Charaxes bernardus hindia Butler, 1872
Charaxes bernardus kangeanensis Hanafusa, 1990^[7]
Charaxes bernardus mahawedi Fruhstorfer – northern Indochina
Charaxes bernardus mirabilis Hanafusa, 1989^[7]
Charaxes bernardus mitschkei Lathy, 1913 – Nias
Charaxes bernardus phlegontis Fruhstorfer
Charaxes bernardus repetitus Butler, 1896 – Borneo
Charaxes bernardus siporanus Hanafusa, 1992^[8]
Charaxes bernardus siporaensis (Hanafusa, 1992)^[8]
Charaxes bernardus varenius Fruhstorfer^[1]

C. b. phlegontis
C. b. hierax (upperside)
C. b. hierax (underside)

Notes

1 2 Charaxes bernardus, Funet
↑ Butterflies Club
↑ Gallery of Bengkulu
↑ Mathew, G.; Binoy, C.F. (2002). "Migration of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) in the New Amarambalam Reserve Forest of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve" (PDF). Zoos' Print Journal 17 (8): 844–847. doi:10.11609/jott.zpj.17.8.844-7.
↑ Kunte, K. 2006. Additions to the known larval host plants of Indian butterflies. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 103(1):119-121
↑ nhm.ac.uk Caterpillar Host-Plant Database
1 2 Hanafusa, 1990: Ten new subspecies of Indonesian butterflies (Lep. Papilionidae, Satyridae, Nymphalidae). Futao 4: 12-15.
1 2 Hanafusa, H. 1992: Three new Nymphalid butterflies from Indonesia. Futao 9: 1-3.

References

Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed.) Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
Gaonkar, Harish (1996). Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a threatened mountain system. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
Gay, Thomas; Kehimkar, Isaac & Punetha, J.C. (1992). Common Butterflies of India. WWF-India and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India.
Haribal, Meena (1994). Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History.
Kunte, Krushnamegh (2005). Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press.
Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.