Charaxes legeri, the St. Leger's charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Burkina Faso, northern Benin, northern Nigeria and southern Niger.[3] The habitat consists of woodland savanna at altitudes between 600 and 1,700 meters.
| Charaxes legeri | |
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| Charaxes legeri from N. Nigeria | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Charaxes |
| Species: | C. legeri
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| Binomial name | |
| Charaxes legeri | |
Taxonomy
editD’Abrera (1980) [4] and Henning (1989) [5] suggested that Charaxes legeri might be a hybrid between Charaxes epijasius and Charaxes castor Larsen (2005) [6] however, argues that Charaxes legeri is a distinct species.
Related species
editHistorical attempts to assemble a cluster of presumably related species into a "Charaxes jasius Group" have not been wholly convincing. More recent taxonomic revision,[7] corroborated by phylogenetic research, allow a more rational grouping congruent with cladistic relationships. Within a well-populated clade of 27 related species sharing a common ancestor approximately 16 mya during the Miocene,[8] 26 are now considered together as The jasius Group.[7] One of the two lineages forms a robust clade of seven species sharing a common ancestor approximately 2-3 mya, i.e. during the Pliocene,[8] and are considered as the jasius subgroup.[7]
The jasius Group (26 Species)
Clade 1: jasius subgroup (7 species):[7]
- Charaxes jasius
- Charaxes epijasius [stat.rev.2005][7]
- Charaxes legeri
- Charaxes saturnus [stat.rev.2005][7]
- Charaxes pelias
- Charaxes castor
- Charaxes hansali
Clade 2: contains the well-populated three additional subgroups (19 species) of the jasius Group, called the brutus, pollux, and eudoxus subgroups.[7] Further exploration of the phylogenetic relationships amongst existing Charaxes taxa is required to improve clarity.
Natural history
editThe larvae feed on Sorghum bicolor [= roxburghii ] and Annona species.
References
edit- ^ Plantrou , J. 1978. Description d’une espece du genre Charaxes nouvellement decouverte au Nigeria (Lep. Nymphalidae). Bulletin de la Société Lepidopteristes Francais 1: 187-194.
- ^ "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- ^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
- ^ D’Abrera, B. L. 1980. Butterflies of the Afrotropical Region. Lansdowne Editions, Melbourne
- ^ Henning, S.F. 1988 [1989]. The Charaxinae butterflies of Africa. Aloe Books, Johannesburg, 1-457.
- ^ Larsen, T.B. 2005 Butterflies of West Africa. Apollo Books, Svendborg, Denmark: 1-595
- ^ a b c d e f g Turlin, B. (2005). Bauer & Frankenbach (ed.). Butterflies of the World: Charaxes 1. Vol. 22. Keltern: Goecke & Evers. pp. 2–3. ISBN 3937783156.
- ^ a b "Out of Africa again: A phylogenetic hypothesis of the genus Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) based on five gene regions" Archived 2019-07-25 at the Wayback Machine. Aduse-Poku, Vingerhoedt, Wahlberg. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2009) 53;463–478
External links
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Media related to Charaxes legeri at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Charaxes legeri at Wikispecies- Charaxes legeri images and public data on Bold Systems 4 at Consortium for the Barcode of Life
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