''Acraea cabira'', the yellow-banded acraea, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

that is native to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is for males and for females. The male and female are very similar in colour. The upper surface of the wings is near black with large yellow patches on the forewing and hindwing. There is some reddish brown on the veins near the base of the forewings. The underside has patches of yellow corresponding to the upper side. The base of the undersurface of the wing has orange-brown markings with black spots. The margin of the wing on the undersurface has black lines on an orange-brown background.Williams, M. (1994). ''Butterflies of Southern Africa; A Field Guide''. .

Technical Description

''A. cabira'' may be known by the hindmarginal spot on the upper side of the forewing completely covering the base of cellule 2 and reaching the cell in 1 b also; the light spot in 1 b is, however, proximally cut off obliquely and hence much narrower at vein 1 than at vein 2, so that the hindmarginal spot assumes a peculiar shape. The median band of the hind wing is widened in cellules 4 and 5 and on the under surface the hindwing has always broad red streaks in the cell and in cellule 8 and at the distal margin the whitish marginal spots are proximally prolonged into red, black-edged streaks and the veins bordered by grey lines. Forewing beneath reddish to yellow-brown in the cell and at the base of cellule 1 b-In the typeform ''cabira'' Hpff. the markings of the upper surface are light yellow and the hindmarginal spot of the forewing above is prolonged more or less basad along the hindmargin of the cell. In the figured specimen (56 c) this prolongation is so minute that the example belongs rather to ''natalensis''. Congo to the Cape and Uganda. - f. ''apecida'' Oberth. (56 c) only differs in having the median band of the hindwing and the hindmarginal spot of the forewing more or less suffused with red; also the subapical band of the fore wing is occasionally reddish. Congo and German East Africa. - f. ''abrupta'' Grunb. agrees with ''apecida'' above, but differs beneath in the marginal band of the hindwing being almost uniform black without light and dark streaks and in the absence of the red spots between the basal dots. Sesse Islands. - ''natalensis'' Stgr. (56 c) only differs from the type-form in not having the hindmarginal spot on the upper side of the forewing prolonged towards the base but terminating at the origin of vein 2. Natal to German East Africa. - ab. ''biraca'' Suff, differs in having the hindmarginal spot on the upper side of the forewing prolonged in 1 b to the base. Nyassaland.

Distribution

It is found from the eastern subtropical forest areas of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, through

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, and to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, the Congo and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Life cycle

Larvae

The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e feed on ''

Triumfetta ''Triumfetta'' is a genus of plants in the family Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, ...

'' (including '' T. tomentosa''), '' Hemannia'', ''

Hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

'' and '' Cephalomma'' species. When young, they group together on a mass of silk that they spin on the food plant, but as they grow older they venture out alone to different parts of the food plant.

Pupae

The pupae have a whitish to yellowish background with two rows of yellow and black markings down the back, but the pupa becomes dark coloured close to hatching. The wing areas have fine black veining on a whitish to yellowish background, but the black and yellow wings show through the shell of the pupa near hatching.

Adults

Adults are on wing year round but are more common in warmer months. They have a slow, weak flight pattern and stay close to the ground, favouring sunny areas in forest clearings or on the edges of forest. The adults feed on nectar from flowers.

Gallery

Taxonomy

''Acraea cabira'' is a member of the ''Acraea bonasia''

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

; see ''

Acraea Acraea (Ancient Greek: means 'of the heights' from ''akraios'') was a name that had several uses in Greek and Roman mythology. *Acraea, the naiad daughter of the river-god Asterion near Mycenae, who together with her sisters Euboea and Prosymn ...

''. Classification of Acraea by Henning, Henning & Williams, Pierre. J. & Bernaud *''Hyalites'' (group ''bonasia'') Henning, 1993 *''Telchinia'' (''Telchinia'') Henning & Williams, 2010 *''Acraea'' (''Actinote'') (subgroup ''bonasia'') Pierre & Bernaud, 2013 *''Acraea'' (''Actinote'') groupe ''serena'' sub group '' bonasia'' Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre ''Acraea'
pdf
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References

*Bernaud & Pierre, 2007. - ''Acraea cabira'', ''A. sotikensis'' et espèces voisines. Révision et premiers états. Lambillonea, CVII, 1bis, supplément II, Mai 2007: 1-1
online

External links

''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 56
''c'' as ''cabira'' , ''apecida'' and ''natalensis''
Images representing ''Acraea cabira''
at

Bold In typography, emphasis is the strengthening of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text, to highlight them. It is the equivalent of prosody stress in speech. Methods and use The most common methods in W ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4674846 Butterflies described in 1855

cabira Cabira or Kabeira (; el, τὰ Κάβειρα) was a town of ancient Pontus in Asia minor, at the base of the range of Paryadres, about 150 stadia south of Eupatoria or Magnopolis, which was at the junction of the Iris and the Lycus. Eupatoria ...

Taxa named by Carl Heinrich Hopffer