Acraea Hypoleuca
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''Acraea hypoleuca'', the Namibian 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 ...
in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in
Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
.


Description

''A. hypoleuca'' Trim. Expanse about 60 mm. Wings above orange-red; forewing above with dark marginal band, which encloses 8 large light marginal spots; discal dots in 1 b to 6, all rounded, that in 1 b near the distal margin, those in 2 to 4 in a line, those in 4 to 6 also in a line, placed almost vertically to the preceding; beneath as above, but with whitish subapical band. Hindwing above with white-spotted marginal band 2 mm. in breadth and distinct discal spots, beneath marked as above but with whitish ground colour and larger white marginal spots. Seems to be nearly allied to '' A. chilo'' and ''
Acraea zetes ''Acraea zetes'', the large spotted acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae which is native to sub-Saharan Africa. Range It is found in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, To ...
''. The only known specimen probably came from German South-West Africa.


Biology

The habitat consists of gullies and granite outcrops. Adults have been recorded feeding on the flowers of '' Psilocaulon'' species and '' Calicorema capitata''. They are on wing from December to June. The larvae feed on '' Adenia pechuelli''. The final
instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...
larvae are pale silvery grey with four large purplish black spots across each segment. The head is orange with pale ochreous marks.


Taxonomy

It is a member of the ''
Acraea zetes ''Acraea zetes'', the large spotted acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae which is native to sub-Saharan Africa. Range It is found in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, To ...
'' species group - but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre ''Acraea'
pdf
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References


External links


Images representing ''Acraea hypoleuca''
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 ...
Butterflies described in 1898 hypoleuca Endemic fauna of Namibia Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Roland Trimen {{Heliconiinae-stub