''Graphium angolanus'', the Angola white lady, is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful Butterfly, butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includ ...

(swallowtails). It is found in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

.''Graphium angolanus''
funet.fi

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 65–70 mm in males and 70–75 mm in females.Hindwing tailless, angled at the extremities of the veins. Frons with a white or red dot or streak at each side. Palpi white. Wings above white and black, beneath at the base red or red-brown. The underside of the wings has the same white ground-pattern in all the species f this group On the forewing this consists of 8 submarginal spots placed close to the margin; 9 discal spots (in 1 a—8), of which those of cellules 5, 6 and 8 are almost always small and double, and four transverse spots or bands in the cell. The hindwing has beneath a broad white transverse band, which at the costal margin extends at least to vein 2, covers almost the whole of the cell and is separated from the white inner marginal area lb by a dark longitudinal streak in cellule 1 c. In the broad, dark submarginal band the hindwing has 6 submarginal spots, of which those of cellules 1—4 are sometimes divided, and 3—4 subdiscal spots in cellules 2— 5; these may also be double and arranged in two rows. The hairs of the inner marginal fold of the hindwing of the 3 are long and yellowish white. Diagnostic- Apex of the cell of the forewing with two white spots, one in the upper and one in the lower angle. Hindwing beneath without red spots in the marginal band; both wings above with white spots in the marginal band.The discal spot in cellule 3 is entirely absent or is small and quite free, not reaching the base of the cellule; cell of the forewing without white hindmarginal spot or with only a very small one. Abdomen with a broad yellow lateral stripe at each side.From the Congo region southwards to Natal and eastwards to British East Africa, ab. ''lapydes Suff''. only differs from ''angolanus'' in that the cell of the forewing has a hindmarginal spot, which however only reaches vein 3; German East Africa: Kilossa. The full- grown larva has not only on the first and the penultimate segment, but also on the second and third two widely separated spines. The long hump on the mesothorax of the pupa is obliquely inclined forwards and extends almost as far as the tip of the head
External images
from Royal Museum of Central Africa.

Biology

The fight period is year-round, peaking in November and February. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s feed on ''

Annona senegalensis ''Annona senegalensis'', commonly known as African custard-apple, wild custard apple, wild soursop, abo ibobo (Yoruba language), (Mandinka language), and (Wolof language) is a species of flowering plant in the custard apple family, Annonaceae. ...

'', '' Sphedamnocarpus pruriens'', '' Uvaria'' species, '' Landolphia buchannani'', and '' Landolphia ugandensis''.

Subspecies

*''Graphium angolanus angolanus'' (Angola, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, coast of Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, northern Botswana, northern Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Comoros) *''Graphium angolanus baronis'' Ungemach, 1932 Ungemach, H. 1932. Contribution a l’etude des Lepidopteres d’Abyssinie. ''Memoires de la Societe des Sciences Naturelles (et Physiques) du Maroc'' 32: 1-122.(Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cameroon, Congo, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, western Kenya, Tanzania)

Taxonomy

''Graphium angolanus'' belongs to a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

with six members. All have similar genitalia. The pattern is black with white marks above and with brick-red areas beneath. In ''G. endochus'' the white areas above are extensive and cover most of the wings and in ''G. ridleyanus'' the marks are usually bright red not white. The clade members are: *''Graphium angolanus'' (Goeze, 1779) *'' Graphium endochus'' (Boisduval, 1836) *'' Graphium morania'' (Angas, 1849) *'' Graphium taboranus'' (Oberthür, 1886) *'' Graphium schaffgotschi'' (Niepelt, 1927) *'' Graphium ridleyanus'' (White, 1843)

Realm

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

References