''Charaxes superbus'', the superb white 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 ...

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

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

, the north-western part of the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

and 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 ...

.Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini
/ref>

Description

''Ch. superbus'' Arn. Schultze is very similar to ''

nobilis ''Nobilis'' is a contemporary fantasy tabletop role-playing game created by Jenna K. Moran, writing under the name R. Sean Borgstrom. The player characters are "Sovereign Powers" called ''the Nobilis''; each Noble is the personification of an ...

'', but differs in having the forewing narrower with the distal margin little excised, in the larger, dull sulphur-yellow marginal spots of the forewing, in the blue-grey band, up to 4 mm. in breadth, which in cellules 2-6 separates the median band of the hindwing from the black marginal band, in the larger and more complete white transverse spots in the cell of the forewing beneath, in the black, white-spotted marginal band on the underside of the hindwing, which is only half as broad as in ''nobilis'' (about 5 mm.) and is proximally bounded by an orange-yellow band 5 mm. in breadth in cellule 2, and in the white markings in the apical half of the fore wing beneath. In ''superbus'' the median band on the underside of the forewing covers the base of cellule 3 and then follows a white band, about 5 mm. in breadth, in cellules 3-6, a broad transverse spot, formed as in ''nobilis'' , in cellules 5-7 and finally before the distal margin in cellules lb-7 seven crescentic spots of uniform breadth, of which those in cellules lb and 2 are orange and the rest silvery white. Cameroons. Schultze observed this beautiful species drinking in a native latrine. Aurivillius, .O.. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. ''Die GroÃŸschmetterlinge der Erde'' Band 13: Abt. 2, ''Die exotischen GroÃŸschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter'', 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.

Biology

The habitat consists of

evergreen forests An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zon ...

Taxonomy

Charaxes nobilis ''Charaxes nobilis'', the noble white charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The species was first described by Herbert Druce in 1873. It is found in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, t ...

'' group. The supposed

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, ...

members are: *''

'' - very like next *''Charaxes superbus'' - very like last

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

External links

''Charaxes superbus'' 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 ...

Butterflies described in 1909

superbus Superbus (Latin for superb, proud, arrogant) may refer to: * Superbus (band), a French pop-rock band formed in 1999 * 18596 Superbus, a Main-belt asteroid discovered on January 21, 1998 * Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (before 535 BC – 496 BC), th ...

{{Charaxinae-stub