Euphaedra Harpalyce

''Euphaedra harpalyce'', the common blue-banded forester, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea Gabon, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia.Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Adoliadini
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Description

''E. harpalyce'' Cr. Both wings above uniform black-brown, with small white apical spot on
the forewing and a bright blue transverse band on the hindwing, which is broad at the anal angle, anteriorly becoming narrower terminates at vein 6 or 7 and is sometimes continued more or less far on the forewing also. The under surface is rather uniform light green or grey-green with 1–3 black dots in the cells. In the type-form the subapical band of the forewing is entirely absent in the male and very narrow and yellowish in the female. Sierra Leone to Cameroons. In ab. ''lakuma'' Btlr. the subapical band of the forewing is very narrow in the male but in the female 4–5 mm. in breadth.

''E. spatiosa'' Mab. ynonym and subspecies of ''harpalyce''Both wings above uniform dark olive-brown, in the apical half of the fore wing blackish with yellow subapical band and white apical spot. The under surface is green with one black dot (occasionally 2 or 3) in the cells and two dull, dark, not very distinct transverse bands beyond the middle; the subapical band of the forewing only shows through faintly. The female may attain an expanse of 100 mm. and is the largest of all the ''Euphaedra'' species. Cameroons to the Congo and Uganda.Aurivillius, .O.. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. ''Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde'' Band 13: Abt. 2, ''Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter'', 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.

Biology

The habitat consists of lowland forests, riparian forests and secondary forests.

Both sexes are attracted to fermenting fruit.

The larvae feed on '' Phialodiscus unijugatus'', '' Paullinia pinnata'', ''Blighia sapida'', '' Lecaniodiscus cupanioides'', '' Deinbollia fulvotomentella'', '' Blighia unijugata'' and '' Allophylus'' species.

Subspecies

*''E. h. harpalyce'' (Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, western Cameroon)
*''E. h. dowsetti'' Hecq, 1990 (Rwanda)
*''E. h. evanescens'' Hecq, 1995 (Nigeria: Mambilla Plateau)
*''E. h. serena'' Talbot, 1928 (Democratic Republic of the Congo: Shaba, Zambia)
*''E. h. spatiosa'' (Mabille, 1876) (Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, north-western Tanzania)
*''E. h. sudanensis'' Talbot, 1929 (southern Sudan, northern Uganda)
*''E. h. vana'' Hecq, 1991 (Bioko)

Gallery

Image:Kanyo1.jpg, ''E. h. spatiosa''
Image:Kanyo2.jpg, ''E. h. spatiosa''
Blue-banded forester (Euphaedra harpalyce harpalyce) male.jpg, male ''E. p. palyce''
Kakum National park, Ghana
Common blue-banded forester (Euphaedra harpalyce spatiosa) female.jpg, female ''E. h. spatiosa''
Kibale National Park, Uganda

References

Butterflies described in 1777
harpalyce

{{Limenitidinae-stub