''Charaxes dilutus'' 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 in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

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 ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. The habitat consists of tropical evergreen forests. The larvae feed on ''

Albizia gummifera ''Albizia gummifera'' is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae, native to sub-saharan Africa and Madagascar, and naturalized in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the large ...

'', ''

Albizia adianthifolia ''Albizia adianthifolia'' is a tree in the family Fabaceae. It is commonly known as the flat-crown. Its range extends from eastern South Africa to Tropical Africa. Description This is a large deciduous tree with a spreading, flat crown, growing ...

'' and ''

Scutia ''Scutia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rhamnaceae, native to the Galápagos, South America, Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, southern China and Southeast Asia. They are shrubs or sma ...

'' species. Notes on the biology of ''dilutus'' are given by Kielland, J. (1990).

Description

''dilutus'' Rothsch. is somewhat larger han ''Charaxes eupale'' , with the apical half of the forewing light green, less sharply defined proximally and terminating at or before the end of vein 1. Hindwing without dark marginal line and with the submarginal spots smaller or indistinct. In the interior of the Congo region and in Nyassaland. A full description is given by Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan (zoologist, born 1861), Karl Jordan, 1900 ''Novitates Zoologicae'' Volume 7:287-524

page 512 (for terms see ''Novitates Zoologicae'' Volume 5:545-60

Subspecies

*''Charaxes dilutus dilutus'' (Malawi, Zambia, eastern Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, southern and western Tanzania) *''Charaxes dilutus amanica'' Collins, 1990 (north-eastern Tanzania) *''Charaxes dilutus kasitu'' White & Grant, 1989 (Malawi: west-central to the Dzelanyama Range) synonym for '' Charaxes eupale'' *''Charaxes dilutus ngonga'' van Someren, 1974. (central Kenya, Uganda: south-west to Kigezi, Sudan) synonym for '' Charaxes eupale''

Similar species

''Charaxes dilutus'' is in the ''Charaxes eupale'' species group (

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, ...

). The clade members are *'' Charaxes subornatus'' *'' Charaxes eupale'' *''Charaxes dilutus'' *'' Charaxes montis'' *'' Charaxes minor'' *''

Charaxes schiltzei ''Charaxes schiltzei'' is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Similar species ''Charaxes subornatus'' is in the '' Charaxes eupale'' species group (clade). The ...

'' *'' Charaxes schultzei'' *'' Charaxes virescens'' Bouyer et al., 2008 erected the genus ''Viridixes'' Bouyer & Vingerhoedt, 2008 to accommodate species belonging to the ''eupale'' species group.Bouyer, T., Zakharov, E.V., Rougerie, R. & Vingerhoedt, E. 2008: Les Charaxes du groupe eupale: description d'un nouveau genre, révision et approche génétique (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Charaxinae).'' Entomologia Africana'' Hors Série 3: 1–32.

Realm

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 ...

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 ...

, 1974 Revisional notes on African ''Charaxes'' (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part IX. ''Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History'' (Entomology) 29 (8):415-487

*Bouyer, T., Zakharov, E., Rougerie, R. & Vingerhoedt, E. (2008): Les Charaxes du groupe eupale : description d’un nouveau genre, révision et approche génétique (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Charaxinae) ''Entomologica Africana'' Hors Série 3:1-32.

External links

ssp. ''diluta'' African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt
* ttps://archive.today/20130627225051/http://www.charaxes.be/systematic/systematique.html African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedtimages of ''eupale'' group
''Charaxes dilutus dilutus'' images
at

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 ...

''Charaxes dilutus amanica'' images
at BOLD
''Charaxes dilutus kasitu'' images
at BOLD
''Charaxes dilutus veneris'' images
at BOLD
Images of ''C. dilutus amanica''

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)
Images of ''C. dilutus ngonga''
(Albertine Rift Project)
African Butterfly Database
Range map via search (noting synonymy above on this page) Butterflies described in 1898 dilutus Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Walter Rothschild {{Charaxinae-stub