Charaxes paphianus, the falcate red charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya.[3] The habitat consists of primary lowland evergreen forests.

Charaxes paphianus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Charaxinae
Tribe: Charaxini
Genus: Charaxes
Species:
C. paphianus
Binomial name
Charaxes paphianus
Synonyms
  • Charaxes paphianus renati Rousseau-Decelle, 1938
  • Philognoma falcata Butler, 1872
  • Palla falcata f. hamulosa Weymer, 1892

The larvae feed on Acacia species, including A. brevispica.

Short description

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Forewing with concave edge and sharp point and reddish-brown-yellow ground colour. The termen black edged with a width of 2–4 mm black; two black costal marks and some black discal flecks. The cross line of the underside forewing bent. Underside paler with a cross line separating a paler inner area from a less pale outer area; almost everywhere with grey satin.

Subspecies

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  • Charaxes paphianus paphianus (Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, northern Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  • Charaxes paphianus falcata (Butler, 1872)[4] (Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, western Cameroon)
  • Charaxes paphianus subpallida Joicey & Talbot, 1925 [5] (north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya)

Taxonomy

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Charaxes pleione is a member of the species group Charaxes paphianus. The supposed clade members are:

Realm

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Afrotropical realm

References

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  1. ^ Ward, C. , 1871. Descriptions of new species of diurnal lepidoptera from Madagascar Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 8: 120 (34-36, 58-60, 81-82, 118-122)
  2. ^ "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. ^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  4. ^ Butler, A.G. 1869-1874. Lepidoptera Exotica, or descriptions and illustrations of exotic lepidoptera [vi], 190; [vi]. London.
  5. ^ Joicey, J.J., & Talbot, G. 1925. Notes on some Lepidoptera, with descriptions of new forms.Annals and Magazine of Natural History (9) 16: 633-653.
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