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''Charaxes castor'', the giant emperor or giant charaxes, 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 throughout the
Afrotropical realm
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...
below the
Sahel
The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...
."''Charaxes'' Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
The flight period is year-round but more common in late summer to autumn.
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 75–85 mm in males and 85–105 mm in females. The ground-colour of the upper surface deep black, as in ''
Charaxes brutus
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''Charaxes brutus'', the white-barred emperor or white-barred Charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Africa (see subspecies section for detailed information).
Its flight period is year-round. Notes on the ...
'' ; the median band is light ochre-yellow, on the forewing anteriorly double, being composed in cellules 2—6 of two more or less completely separated spots, on the hindwing short and triangular, reaching at most to vein 3. On the under surface the white-bordered markings of the basal area are deep black. — ''castor'' Cr. has a light orange-yellow median band and the light marginal spots of the forewing are absent or very small; the ground-colour of the under surface is in the basal part red-brown or pure black (= ab. ''godarti'' Auriv.). Senegambia to the Congo and Uganda. — ''flavifasciatus'' Btlr. is the East African race, which occurs from Delagoa Bay and Nyassaland to Somaliland and only differs in the lighter median band and the more distinct marginal spots on the upperside of
the forewing; in this form also the ground-colour in the basal part of the under surface is sometimes red-brown, sometimes pure black (= ab. ''reimeri'' Rothsch.). — ''comoranus'' Rothsch. agrees with the West African form as regards the colour of the discal band on the upper surface, but differs in the transverse band which accompanies the white discal band of the upper surface on its distal side; this is yellow on the forewing and red-brown on the hindwing and — unlike that of all the continental forms — broken up into spots. Island of Great Comoro.
A full description is given by
Walter Rothschild
Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was present ...
and Karl Jordan, 1900 ''Novitates Zoologicae'' Volume 7:287-524 page 436 et seq. (for terms see ''Novitates Zoologicae'' Volume 5:545-60
File:Charaxes castor femelle dorsal.jpg, alt=C. castor Female dorsal, from Maka, Central African Republic, ''C. castor'' Female dorsal, from Maka, Central African Republic
File:Charaxes castor male ventral.jpg, alt=C. castor Male ventral, from the Central African Republic, ''C. castor'' Male ventral, from the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
File:Charaxes castor cramer.JPG, alt=C. castor male, ''C. castor'' male
Natural History
Life-sized colour plates and description of the larval and pupal stages of ''C. castor'' and additional related species, illustrated by Dr. V. G. L. van Someren, are readily available. hosted by Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL)
Biology
The habitat is forest and savanna. Notes on the biology of ''castor'' are given by Pringle et al (1994), Larsen, T.B. (1991), Larsen, T.B. (2005) and Kielland, J. (1990),
Larval foodplants
Larvae feed on ''
Bridelia micrantha
''Bridelia micrantha'', the mitzeeri or the coastal golden-leaf, is a tree in the family Phyllanthaceae and is native to tropical and southern Africa as well as to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
Description
A medium to tall tree (u ...
'', ''
Afzelia quanzensis
''Afzelia quanzensis'' (pod mahogany, af, peulmahonie, ve, mutokota, zu, inkehli) is a protected tree in South Africa. This deciduous tree can grow up to 20m in height, and has smooth, grey bark, which can flake in irregular patches. It has glo ...
'', ''
Tragia
''Tragia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread across North and South America, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent, northern Australia, and to various islands in the Caribbean ...
'' spp., ''
Gymnosporia
''Gymnosporia'' is an Old World genus of plants, that comprise suffrutices, shrubs and trees. It was formerly considered congeneric with ''Maytenus'', but more recent investigations separated it based on the presence of achyblasts (truncated bra ...
'' spp., ''
Maytenus senegalensis
''Maytenus'' ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. Members of the genus are distributed throughout Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Micronesia and Australasia, the Indi ...
'', ''
Schotia brachypetala
''Schotia brachypetala'', the weeping boer-bean, is a leguminous flowering tree in the family Fabaceae (bean family/pod-bearing family/legumes) and the subfamily Detarioideae. The woodland tree is native to Africa south of the Zambezi River, w ...
'', ''
Bridelia micrantha
''Bridelia micrantha'', the mitzeeri or the coastal golden-leaf, is a tree in the family Phyllanthaceae and is native to tropical and southern Africa as well as to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
Description
A medium to tall tree (u ...
'' and ''
Cassia fistula
''Cassia fistula'', commonly known as golden shower, purging cassia, Indian laburnum, or pudding-pipe tree,U. S. Department of Agriculture, William Saunders; Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture; ...
''.
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically.
*''C. c. arthuri'' van Someren, 1971 (Pemba island)
*''C. c. castor'' (Cramer,
775
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Year 775 (Roman numerals, DCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 775 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domi ...
(throughout African range)
*''C. c. comoranus'' Rothschild, 1903 .(Comoros)
*''C. c. flavifasciatus'' Butler, 1895 Butler, A. G 1895 On collections of Lepidoptera from British Central Africa and Lake Tanganyika ''Proc. zool. Soc. Lond.'' 1895 (2) : 250-270, pl. 15-1 Full text /ref> (eastern Kenya, northern and eastern Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland)
Related Species
Historical attempts to assemble a cluster of presumably related species into a "''Charaxes jasius'' Group" have not been wholly convincing. More recent taxonomic revision, corroborated by phylogenetic research, allow a more rational grouping congruent with cladistic relationships. Within a well-populated
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
of 27 related species sharing a common ancestor approximately 16 mya during the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
, 26 are now considered together as The ''jasius'' Group. One of the two lineages forms a robust clade of seven species sharing a common ancestor approximately 2-3 mya, i.e. during the
Charaxes jasius
''Charaxes jasius'', the two-tailed pasha, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is the only European species of the genus ''Charaxes''. Divergence of the Mediterranean species ''C. jasius'' from the last common ancestor it shared with its ...
''
*''
Charaxes epijasius
''Charaxes epijasius'', the cream-bordered charaxes or Sahel charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It flies through most of the Savannah of the Afrotropical realm except southern Africa.
Description
''Charaxes epijasius'' is a medi ...
Charaxes legeri
''Charaxes legeri'', the St. Leger's charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Burkina Faso, northern Benin, northern Nigeria and southern Niger. The habitat consists of woodland savanna at altitudes between 600 ...
''
*''
Charaxes saturnus
''Charaxes saturnus'', the foxy charaxes or koppie charaxes, is a butterfly that flies through most of the Savannah of the Eastern and Southern Afrotropical realm, and also occurs in suitable forest habitat locations including the forest belt of w ...
Charaxes pelias
''Charaxes pelias'', the protea emperor or protea charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, and is endemic to the Cape Provinces in South Africa.Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1963 Revisional notes on African ''Charaxes'' (Lepidopter ...
''
*''Charaxes castor''
*''
Charaxes hansali
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''Charaxes hansali'', the cream-banded charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman.
Description
''Ch. hansali'' Fldr. clos ...
''
Clade 2: contains the well-populated three additional subgroups (19 species) of the jasius Group, called the ''brutus'', ''pollux'', and ''eudoxus'' subgroups. Further exploration of the phylogenetic relationships amongst existing ''Charaxes'' taxa is required to improve clarity.
Consortium for the Barcode of Life
The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) was an international initiative dedicated to supporting the development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for species identification. CBOL's Secretariat Office is hosted by the National Museum of ...
Royal Museum for Central Africa
The Royal Museum for Central Africa or RMCA ( nl, Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika or KMMA; french: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale or MRAC; german: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika or KMZA), also officially known as the AfricaMuse ...