Amauris niavius

Amauris niavius, the friar, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the forests of tropical Africa.

Amauris niavius
Male, dorsal side
Ventral side, Bobiri Forest, Ghana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Amauris
Species:
A. niavius
Binomial name
Amauris niavius
Synonyms
  • Papilio niavius Linnaeus, 1758
  • Amauris obliterata Dufrane, 1948
  • Amauris partita Talbot, 1941
  • Amauris dominicanus Trimen, 1879
Amauris niavius - museum specimen

The wingspan is 80–85 mm for males and 78–82 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round (with peaks in late summer and autumn).[1]

The larvae feed on Cynanchum (including C. medium, C. nigrum and C. vincetoxicum), Gymnema (including G. sylvestre), Marsdenia, Secamone, Vincetoxicum (syn. Tylophora) and Ipomoea. Larvae of subspecies dominicanus feed on Gymnema sylvestre.[2]

Subspecies
  • Amauris niavius niavius (from western Kenya to Zaire, Angola, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Fernando Pó (Macías Nguema Island))
  • Amauris niavius dominicanus Trimen, 1879 (Natal, Mozambique, from Rhodesia to Malawi, eastern Tanzania and Kenya east of the Rift Valley)
  • Amauris niavius aethiops Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (Ethiopia, northern Uganda, southern Sudan)

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amauris niavius.
Wikispecies has information related to Amauris niavius.
  1. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
  2. "Amauris Hübner, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms


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