Acraea boopis

Acraea boopis, the rainforest acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini, from Mozambique to Kenya and in Tanzania.

Acraea boopis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Acraea
Species:
A. boopis
Binomial name
Acraea boopis
Synonyms
  • Acraea admatha f. boopis Wichgraf, 1914

The wingspan is 45–52 mm for males and 49–58 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round, with peaks from November to March in southern Africa.[3]

The larvae feed on Celastraceae species, including Cassine tetragonal, Maytenus acuminate, Maytenus heterophylla and Rawsonia lucida.

Subspecies
  • Acraea boopis boopis (South Africa in Afromontane and higher lowland forest in Eastern Cape, then along the escarpment through KwaZulu-Natal, also in Mpumalanga and Limpopo)
  • Acraea boopis ama Pierre, 1979 (Kenya, northern Tanzania)
  • Acraea boopis choloui Pierre, 1979 (Malawi) May be a full species.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea terpsicore species group - but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [4]

References
  1. Wichgraf, F. 1914. Neues aus der afrikanischen Lepidopteren-Fauna. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitung 1914: 345-353.
  2. "Acraea Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
  4. Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf
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