Acraea circeis, the white acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko, the Republic of the Congo, northern Angola and the south-western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[3]

White acraea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Acraea
Species:
A. circeis
Binomial name
Acraea circeis
(Drury, 1782) [1][2]
Synonyms
  • Papilio circeis Drury, 1782
  • Acraea (Actinote) circeis
  • Papilio mandane Fabricius, 1793
  • Papilio opis Herbst, 1793
  • Acraea leona Staudinger, 1896
  • Acraea igola leonina Bethune-Baker, 1903
  • Acraea servona f. reversa Eltringham, 1912
Figure 2

Description

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A. circeis Drury is very similar to the type-form of the preceding [ A. parrhasia servona ] Godart, 1819, merely differing in having the forewing black-scaled only at the margins and on the veins, otherwise almost transparent, while the light yellow median band of the hindwing is of uniform breadth with the distal boundary almost straight. Sierra Leone to North Angola. [4]

Biology

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The habitat consists of forests.

The larvae feed on Urera oblongifolia.

Taxonomy

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It is a member of the Acraea circeis species group- but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [5]

References

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  1. ^ Drury, D. 1782. Illustrations of Natural History 3: xxvi, 1-769 + 2pp. London.
  2. ^ "Acraea Fabricius, 1807" 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 Grosschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Grosschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf
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