''Charaxes zelica'', the zelica untailed charaxes, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

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 Guinea, Ivory Coast,

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

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 nort ...

, the Republic of the Congo, 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 ...

, 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 ...

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

, Sudan,

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

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

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 possibly

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

. The habitat consists of forests with altitudes of . Adult males feed on otter and bird droppings and both sexes are attracted to fermented fruit. The larvae feed on ''

Pterocarpus santalinoides ''Pterocarpus santalinoides'' is a tree species in the legume family (biology) (Fabaceae); it is locally known as ''mututi''. It has a remarkable bi-continental distribution, native to tropical western Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gam ...

'', ''

Paullinia pinnata ''Paullinia pinnata'' is a flowering plant species in the genus of ''Paullinia'' found in South America and Africa. The long flexible stems of ''P. pinnata'' are used to poison fish in shallow pools, as described by the English naturalist Henry ...

'', ''

Albizia zygia ''Albizia zygia'' is a fast growing medium-sized tree species within the Fabaceae family that is commonly found in West and Central Africa. Description The species grows up to 30 meters tall. Its branches are ascending and wide spreading form ...

'', '' Lonchocarpus cyanescens'', ''

Dalbergia ''Dalbergia'' is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Dalbergia'' clade (or tribe): the Dalbergieae. ...

'', ''

Millettia ''Millettia'' is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae. It consists of about 150 species, which are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The genus was formerly known by the name ''Pongamia'', but that name was r ...

'', ''

Dichapetalum ''Dichapetalum'' is a genus in the plant family Dichapetalaceae. The plants are tropical lianas native mainly to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Malesia, the West Indies, Australia and Latin America. Some species are known to be poisonous due ...

'' and '' Trachyphrynium'' species.

Description

Original description: Descriptions are also provided van Someren. Differs from the related '' Charaxes lycurgus'' in the straighter hindwing distal border

Subspecies

*''C. z. zelica'' (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, western Nigeria) *''C. z. depuncta'' Joicey & Talbot, 1921 (southern Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya) *''C. z. rougeoti'' Plantrou, 1978 (eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Angola) *''C. z. toyoshimai'' Carcasson, 1964Carcasson, R.H. 1964. New butterflies from the Kigoma area of western Tanganyika.''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society & Coryndon Museum'' 24 (4): 62-67. (north-western Tanzania)

Taxonomy

''Charaxes zelica'' is a member of the

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

'' Charaxes lycurgus''. The supposed clade members are: Clade 1 *'' Charaxes lycurgus'' - nominate *'' Charaxes porthos'' *''Charaxes zelica'' Clade 2 *'' Charaxes mycerina'' *'' Charaxes doubledayi''

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
Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 32

External links

Images of ''C. z. zelica''

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. z. rougeoti''
(Albertine Rift Project)
Images
at Bold ''C. z. depuncta'' one verso (underside)
Bold images
of ''C. z. rougeoti''
Bold images
of ''C. z. zelica''

on Butterflies of Africa {{Taxonbar, from=Q5074134 Butterflies described in 1869 Butterflies of Africa zelica Taxa named by Arthur Gardiner Butler