''Acraea igola'', the dusky-veined 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 the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

along the coast to

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 ...

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 ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, north-eastern

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. 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 40–45 mm for males and 45–53 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round, with a peak from October to April. It is very scarce in dry months.

Description

''A. igola'' Trim, is very similar to the two preceding species, A. quirinalis'' , '' Acraea orestia">A. orestia'' "> Acraea quirinalis">A. quirinalis'' , '' Acraea orestia">A. orestia'' but the marginal band of the hindwing is not transparent and the cell is unspotted. Basal half of the forewing as far as the apex of the cell and vein 3 bright orange-yellow without spots; costal margin dusted with black to the base, apex, marginal band and veins 3-6; cellules 3-6 otherwise diaphanous; hindwing orange-yellow above with black dots and black marginal band 2-2.5 mm. in breadth; the red-yellow colour on the under surface much paler than on the upper; streaks on the interneural folds short, not reaching the distal margin. In the female the ground-colour is lighter, light ochre-yellow to cream-yellow and the marginal band not sharply defined. Zululand to German East Africa. - female f. ''maculiventris'' Sm. & Kirby has a duller, more brown-yellow ground-colour and the marginal band on the upperside of the hindwing not sharply defined, sometimes broader, sometimes narrower; beneath the hindwing is sometimes coloured as above, sometimes chocolate-brown at the base as far as the discal spots, and then light reddish to the red-brown marginal band. Among the type-form.

Biology

The larvae feed on ''Urera woodii'' and ''Urera trinervis''.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the ''Acraea masamba'' Acraea (butterfly)#Systematics and taxonomy, 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 igola''
at

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. igola Butterflies described in 1889 Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Roland Trimen {{Heliconiinae-stub