Elymniopsis

Elymniopsis is a monotypic butterfly genus in the family Nymphalidae. It contains only one species, Elymniopsis bammakoo, the African palmfly.

Elymniopsis
Elymniopsis bammakoo bammakoo, Ghana
Elymniopsis bammakoo rattrayi, Kibale Forest, Uganda
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Nymphalidae
Genus:
Elymniopsis

Species:
E. bammakoo
Binomial name
Elymniopsis bammakoo
(Westwood, [1851])[1]
Synonyms
  • Melanitis bammakoo Westwood, [1851]
  • Elymnias bammakoo
  • Papilio phegea Fabricius, 1793
  • Elymnias phegea var. intermedia Aurivillius, 1899
  • Elymnias phegea ab. angustata Bartel, 1905
  • Elymniopsis bammakoo var. hybrida Niepelt, 1915
  • Papilio lise Hemming, 1960
  • Elymnias rattrayi Sharpe, 1902
  • Elymnias bammakoo rattrayi
  • Elymnias ugandae Grünberg, 1908

Range and habitat

It is found in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the DRC, Uganda and Tanzania.[2] The habitat consists of forests.

Description

Adults resemble Acraea poggei in flight. The white form of bammakoo mimics the female of Papilio cynorta.

Food

Adults are attracted to fermented bananas and have also been recorded imbibing sap from wounds in trees. The larvae feed on Elaeis guineensis, Phoenix reclinata and Raphia hookeri.

Subspecies
  • Elymniopsis bammakoo bammakoo
Range: Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, DRC
  • Elymniopsis bammakoo rattrayi (Sharpe, 1902)
Range: eastern DRC, western Uganda, north-western Tanzania
Elymniopsis bammakoo bammakoo & Elymniopsis bammakoo rattrayi (far right)

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elymniopsis.
Wikispecies has information related to Elymniopsis.
  1. "Elymnias Hübner, 1818" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Elymniini


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