''Acraea doubledayi'' 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 ...

in 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 ...

. It is found in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

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 ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

Description

left, 200px, Figures 1 and 2 ''A. doubledayi'' Guer. (= ''gaekwari'' E. Sharpe) (55 e) may be easily known by the shape of the marginal band of the hindwing, the red-brown ground-colour of the upper surface and the strongly developed black markings, as well as by the small light or transparent spots in 4 to 6 of the fore wing behind the discal dots; under surface of the hindwing reddish yellow with large whitish marginal spots. In the type-form the forewing above has a broad black marginal band, which is formed by the union of the black submarginal streaks with the veins and the marginal line, reaches the light subapical band and encloses yellow marginal spots; both wings above darkened at the base. Abyssinia and Somaliland. - female ab. ''candida'' Eltr. female_f._of_''Acraea__sykesi''.html" ;"title="Acraea__sykesi.html" ;"title="female f. of ''Acraea sykesi">female f. of ''Acraea sykesi''">Acraea__sykesi.html" ;"title="female f. of ''Acraea sykesi">female f. of ''Acraea sykesi''differs in the white ground-colour of both wings. Niam-Niam. - ''arabica'' Eltr. has the wings more densely scaled with whitish, but not transparent, subapical band on the forewing; the wings above not or scarcely darkened at the base. Arabia. ''sykesi'' E. Sharpe has the ground-colour on the upper surface lighter, on the forewing only separated by a black line from the distal margin; the broad black marginal band is consequently entirely absent and the black submarginal streaks in cellules 2 to 5 are placed free in the ground-colour; the light subapical band of the forewing is indistinct or entirely absent. German and British East Africa; Uganda and Soudan.

Subspecies

*''Acraea doubledayi doubledayi'' (south-eastern Sudan, northern Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia) *''Acraea doubledayi azvaki'' d'Abrera, 1980 (south-western Saudi Arabia, Yemen)

Biology

The larvae feed on ''Adenia'' species.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the ''Acraea caecilia'' Acraea (butterfly)#Systematics and taxonomy, species group. See also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014.Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre ''Acraea'
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Etymology

The

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

honours

Edward Doubleday Edward Doubleday (9 October 1810 – 14 December 1849) was an English entomologist primarily interested in Lepidoptera. He is best known for ''The Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera: Comprising Their Generic Characters, a Notice of Their Habits and ...

References

External links

''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 55
''e'' and ''f'' Butterflies described in 1849 doubledayi {{Heliconiinae-stub