Acraea bonasia

Acraea bonasia, the bonasia acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae which is native to the African tropics and subtropics.

Bonasia acraea
Imagos in Kakum National Park, Ghana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Acraea
Species:
A. bonasia
Binomial name
Acraea bonasia
Synonyms
  • Papilio bonasia Fabricius, 1775
  • Acraea (Actinote) bonasia
  • Papilio cynthius Drury, 1782
  • Acraea praeponina Staudinger, 1896
  • Acraea bonasia siabona Suffert, 1904
  • Acraea bonasia ab. implicata Schultze, 1923
  • Acraea bonasia ab. tristis Schultze, 1923
  • Acraea bonasia f. flavistrigata Le Cerf, 1927
  • Acraea bonasia bonasia ab. obscura Dufrane, 1945

Range

It is found in Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia.[3]

Description
For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

A. bonasia is nearly allied both to Acraea alicia and to Acraea sotikensis and all three probably belong to one species. From alicia, which Eltringham regards only as a form of bonasia, it differs in having the base of cellule 2 of the forewing black and from sotikensis it seems to me only to differ in having the light longitudinal stripe at the median of the forewing above completely united with the hindmarginal spot. On this ground I also refer praeponina Stgr. to sotikensis.

  • bonasia F. (56 b). Markings of the upper surface yellow-red; the black dots on the underside of the hindwing at least in the cell and cellule 7 connected by red spots or streaks; the marginal band on the underside of the hindwing with light streaks or lines at the veins. The female either only differs from the male in having light marginal spots on the upperside of the hindwing or (ab. cynthius Drury) has the light markings of the upper surface light yellowish. A common and widely distributed species. Sierra Leone to the Congo, Toro and German East Africa.
  • female ab. siabona Suff. differs in the yellow subapical band of the forewing and the broader, more variegated marginal band on the underside of the hindwing. Togo.
  • banka Eltr. differs in having the marginal bands of the under surface pure black without stripes and the black dots on the hindwing beneath united into a subbasal band. Abyssinia.
  • Larva bluish white with more or less developed dark longitudinal lines; the spines on segments 1 to 3 and 11 to 13 blackish, the rest light.[4]

Biology
Larvae (pale and dark forms),
illustrated in Eltringham (1912)

The habitat consists of forests.

Adult males mud-puddle and visit patches of urine and animal excrement.

The larvae feed on Clappertonia ficifolia, Triumfetta macrophilla, Triumfetta ruwenzorensis, Triumfetta brachyceras, Triumfetta and Hibiscus species.

Subspecies
  • Acraea bonasia bonasia — Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan (south), Uganda (west), Rwanda, Burundi, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania, north-eastern Zambia
  • Acraea bonasia banka Eltringham, 1912 — Ethiopia: highlands

Taxonomy

Acraea bonasia is the nominate member of the Acraea bonasia species group see Acraea.

Classification of Acraea by Henning, Henning & Williams, Pierre. J. & Bernaud

  • Hyalites (group bonasia) Henning, 1993 [5]
  • Acraea (Actinote) (subgroup bonasia) Pierre & Bernaud, 2013[6]
  • Telchinia (Telchinia) Henning & Williams, 2010 [7]
  • Acraea (Actinote) groupe serena sub group bonasia Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [8]

References
  1. Fabricius, J.C. 1775 Systema Entomologiae, sistens Insectorum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Adiectis Synonymis, Locis, Descriptionibus, Observationibus 1-832
  2. Acraea at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. "Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Acraeini". Archived from the original on 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  4. Aurivillius, [P. O.] C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13). Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. Henning, G. A., 1993 Phylogenetic notes on the African species of the subfamily Acraeinae. Part 2-3. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) Metamorphosis 4 (1): 5-18, (2): 53-68
  6. Pierre, J. & Bernaud, D., 2013 Nymphalidae XXIII. Acraea subgenus Acraea Butterflies of the World 39 : 1-8, pl. 1-28 Goecke & Evers
  7. Henning, G.A. & Williams, M.C. 2010 Taxonomic notes on the afrotropical taxa of the tribe Acraeini Boisduval, 1833 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae) Metamorphosis 21 (1) : 2-38
  8. Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf
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