''Acraea nohara'', the light red 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 ...
. It is found from
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
north through
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 ...
to
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
.
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.
''A. nohara'' Bdv. (55 c). Wings above light reddish with the usual black dots, which in ab. ''junodi'' Oberth.
dondoensis''_Stevenson,_1934_.html" ;"title="Acraea_dondoensis.html" ;"title="subspecies ''Acraea dondoensis">dondoensis'' Stevenson, 1934 ">Acraea_dondoensis.html" ;"title="subspecies ''Acraea dondoensis">dondoensis'' Stevenson, 1934 are strongly but irregularly enlarged, and with black marginal band; marginal band of the forewing only 1 mm. in breadth, not widened at the apex, that of the hindwing. 1.5 to 2 mm. in breadth, not or indistinctly spotted ; veins on the upperside of the forewing edged with black towards the distal margin; discal dots 3 to 6 or at least 4 to 6 placed in a straight line, vertically to the costal margin; fore wing with a basal dot in 1 b; of the discal dots on the hindwing those in cellules 2 and 4 are placed somewhat nearer to the base than the rest. The under surface is lighter, but otherwise scarcely differs except in the light yellow marginal spots of the hindwing. In the female the ground-colour varies from light reddish to yellowish grey. - Larva yellow with dark longitudinal lines and black spines; lives on ''Wormskjoldia longepedunculata''. Pupa long and slender, whitish grey with black lines and yellow, black-margined spots on the abdomen. Natal, Transvaal, Zululand and Delagoa Bay ''halali'' Marsh, is smaller and has smaller discal dots, of which those in 1 b of the forewing and 3 and 5 of the hindwing are nearly always wanting; the marginal band of the fore wing is narrower than in the type-form. The female with grey-red to grey-yellow ground-colour. Mashonaland. -''pseudatolmis'' Eltr. [now species ''Acraea pseudatolmis'' ] is as small as ''halali'', which it closely resembles; the discal dots in cellules 3 and 5 of the hindwing and in 1 b of the forewing are, however, present and the dot in 4 of the forewing is narrow and transverse. Rhodesia. - ''punctellata'' Eltr.
ow_species_'' ow_species_''Acraea_punctellata''_">Acraea_punctellata.html"_;"title="ow_species_''Acraea_punctellata">ow_species_''Acraea_punctellata''_differs_from_the_type-form_in_its_broader_wings,_the_broader_marginal_band_of_the_hindwing_and_in_the_discal_dot_in_4_of_the_forewing,_which_does_not_stand_in_a_line_with_the_dots_in_5_and_6_but_more_distally._Except_that_the_discal_dot_in_cellule_3_of_the_hindwing_is_placed_nearer_to_the_base_it_agrees_entirely_with_''Acraea_guillemei.html" ;"title="Acraea_punctellata''_.html" ;"title="Acraea_punctellata.html" ;"title="ow species ''Acraea punctellata">ow species ''Acraea punctellata'' ">Acraea_punctellata.html" ;"title="ow species ''Acraea punctellata">ow species ''Acraea punctellata'' differs from the type-form in its broader wings, the broader marginal band of the hindwing and in the discal dot in 4 of the forewing, which does not stand in a line with the dots in 5 and 6 but more distally. Except that the discal dot in cellule 3 of the hindwing is placed nearer to the base it agrees entirely with ''Acraea guillemei">guillemei'' (55 c) and in my opinion belongs rather to this species than to ''nohara''. Nyassaland; Angoniland; German East Africa: Kigonsera.
Subspecies
*''Acraea nohara nohara'' (Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, northern Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape)
*''Acraea nohara halali''
Marshall, 1896 (Zimbabwe: Mashonaland, Manicaland)
*''Acraea nohara dondoensis''
Stevenson, 1934 (Mozambique)
Biology
Adults are on wing from October to November and from January to March in southern Africa.
The larvae feed on ''Basananthe sandersonii'' and ''Tricicleras longipedunculatum''.
Taxonomy
It is a member of the ''Acraea cepheus'' Acraea (butterfly)#Systematics and taxonomy, species group.
See also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014
[ Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre ''Acraea']
pdf
/ref>
References
External links
''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 55
''b''
Acraea (butterfly), nohara
Butterflies described in 1847
Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval
{{Heliconiinae-stub