__NOTOC__ ''Graphium ridleyanus'', the acraea swordtail, 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

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful 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 includes the larges ...

(swallowtails). It is found in eastern

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 ...

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

Sao Tome and Principe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U. ...

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

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 ...

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

, 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

DRC 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 ...

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

, southern

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

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 ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

, western

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 ...

and

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 ...

.Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Leptocercini
/ref> Its habitat consists of the forest/savanna transition zone.

Description

Hindwing rounded, without tail. Frons broadly yellow at each side, only narrowly black in the middle. Palpi unicolorous yellow. Wings above black and red, marked similarly to the species of the nymphalid genus ''

Acraea Acraea (Ancient Greek: means 'of the heights' from ''akraios'') was a name that had several uses in Greek and Roman mythology. *Acraea, the naiad daughter of the river-god Asterion near Mycenae, who together with her sisters Euboea and Prosymn ...

''. Forewing black, semitransparent in places, with a half-band of 5 red spotsin cellules 1 a—4 and two deep black transverse spots, margined with yellow at each side, in the cell; hindwing above red with black marginal band and base and a few black spots. From Lokoja on the Niger to Angola, Equatoria and Bukoba on the Victoria Nyanza. 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

Adults

mimic MIMIC, known in capitalized form only, is a former simulation computer language developed 1964 by H. E. Petersen, F. J. Sansom and L. M. Warshawsky of Systems Engineering Group within the Air Force Materiel Command at the Wright-Patterson AFB in ...

large brush-footed butterflies of the genus ''

'', such as '' Acraea egina'' and ''

Acraea perenna ''Acraea perenna'', the falcate acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae which is native to the African tropics and subtropics. Range It is found in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Republi ...

''. Males are known to

mud-puddle Mud-puddling, or simply puddling, is a behaviour most conspicuous in butterflies, but occurs in other animals as well, mainly insects; they seek out nutrients in certain moist substances such as rotting plant matter, mud and carrion and they suck ...

. The larvae feed on '' Popowia congoensis''.

Taxonomy

''Graphium eridleyanus'' belongs to a

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, ...

with six members. All have similar genitalia 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 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 ...

Etymology

The name honours "Mr. Ridley, a gentleman in the W African Coast Service whose love for our favourite science was displayed by a collection he made near the fort of Accra and sent to this country. He gave great promise of excelling in entomology, and fell a victim to the climate of W. Africa" according to Adam White, member of the entomological societies of London and Paris, assistant in the Zoology Department,

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, from: "Description of some apparently new Insects from the Congo, sent to England by Mr. Curror, Surgeon R. N., and the late Mr. John Cranch" (1843) ''

Annals and Magazine of Natural History The ''Journal of Natural History'' is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology. The journal was established in 1841 under the name ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' (''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'') a ...

'' 12:262-268.

References

* *Carcasson, R. H. 1960 "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". ''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society'
pdf
Key to East Africa members of the species group, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society ridley Butterflies of Africa Butterflies described in 1843 {{Papilionidae-stub

Description

Biology

Taxonomy

Realm

Etymology

See also

References