''Amauris'' is a genus of

nymphalid 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 ...

butterflies 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

Danainae Danainae is a subfamily of the family Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterflies. It includes the Daniadae, or milkweed butterflies, who lay their eggs on various milkweeds on which their larvae (caterpillars) feed, as well as the clearwing butt ...

subfamily. ''Amauris niavius niavius'', ''Amauris echeria jacksoni'', and ''Amauris dominicanus'' are mimicked by ''

Papilio dardanus ''Papilio dardanus'', the African swallowtail, mocker swallowtail or flying handkerchief, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae (the swallowtails). The species is broadly distributed throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The British e ...

'' females. Other mimics of ''Amauris'' are found among other species of ''

Papilio ''Papilio'' is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, as well as the only representative of the tribe Papilionini. The word ''papilio'' is Latin for butterfly. It includes the common yellow swallowtail (''Papilio machaon''), ...

'', the nymphaline genus ''

Pseudacraea ''Pseudacraea'' is an Afrotropical butterfly genus in the subfamily Limenitidinae. Their placement in the tribe Limenitidini remains to be verified. Some of these species are mimics of Acraeinae and the present genus is thus known as false acra ...

'', and '' Hypolimnas anthedon''.

Species

* '' Amauris comorana'' – Comoro friar * '' Amauris nossima'' – Madagascan friar * '' Amauris phoedon'' – Mauritian friar * ''

Amauris niavius ''Amauris niavius'', the friar, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the forests of tropical Africa. The wingspan is 80–85 mm for males and 78–82 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round (with peaks in lat ...

'' – friar * '' Amauris tartarea'' – monk * '' Amauris ellioti'' – Ansorge's Danaid * ''

Amauris echeria ''Amauris echeria'', the chief, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Africa. The wingspan is 55–65 mm for males and 63–70 for females. Adults are on wing year round (with peaks in summer and autumn). The la ...

'' * '' Amauris vashti'' * '' Amauris crawshayi'' * '' Amauris damocles'' * '' Amauris hyalites'' * '' Amauris albimaculata'' – layman * '' Amauris ochlea'' – novice * '' Amauris dannfelti'' * '' Amauris inferna'' * '' Amauris hecate'' – dusky Danaid

External links

Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate 23 et seq."''Amauris'' Hübner, 1816"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' Danaini Nymphalidae genera Taxa named by Jacob Hübner Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Danainae-stub