''Charaxes contrarius'' 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 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 along the coasts of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and

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 ...

.Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini
/ref> The habitat consists of lowland forests, heavy coastal woodland and riverine vegetation at altitudes of near sea-level up to 700 meters. The larvae feed on ''

Albizia ''Albizia'' is a genus of more than 160 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, America and A ...

'' species.

Subspecies

*''C. c. contrarius'' - Coastal and Eastern parts of Kenya and Tanzania. *''C. c. lukosi'' Rydon, Congdon & Collins, 2007 - Inland at Kitonga Gorge, Lukosi R., in Udzungwa Mts., Tanzania

Taxonomy

''Charaxes contrarius'' is a member of the large species group ''Charaxes etheocles'' Closely related to ''

Charaxes etheocles ''Charaxes etheocles'', the demon charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the C ...

'', ''

Charaxes grahamei ''Charaxes grahamei'' is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Tanzania, where it inhabits the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika. The habitat consists of lowland and sub-montane forests. The larvae probably feed on '' Scutia'' s ...

'' and ''

Charaxes petersi ''Charaxes petersi'', the Peters' demon charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana. The habitat consists of primary lowland evergreen forests. It is a scarce species o ...

''. The female has two main forms Kielland, J. 1990 . ''Butterflies of Tanzania''. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.

References

Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren (1886 in Melbourne – 24 July 1976) was a zoologist and entomologist. Van Someren was born in Australia. He attended George Watson's College and studied zoology at University of Edinburgh. He was also a dentist ...

, 1969 Revisional notes on African ''Charaxes'' (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. ''Bulletin of the British Museum'' (Natural History) (Entomology)75-16

External links

African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt
taxonomy, images
''Charaxes contrarius'' images
at ''Charaxes'' page

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 ...

subspecies and forms
Images of ''C. contrarius''

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 ...

(Albertine Rift Project)
African Butterfly Database
Range map via search Butterflies described in 1969 contrarius {{Charaxinae-stub