''Mimacraea marshalli'', Marshall's acraea mimic, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The habitat consists of '' Brachystegia'' woodland in hilly country at altitudes ranging from 1,200 to 1,700 metres, as well as open woodland. Adults feed from the secretions of scale insects ( Coccoidea species). They were noted to stroke the insects with their antennae while feeding from their secretions. Adults are on wing from October to May. The larvae feed on dark, blue-green (or black)

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

(

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...

) growing on tree trunks. They are brown, densely hairy and very mobile.

Subspecies

* ''Mimacraea marshalli marshalli'' (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, north-eastern and eastern Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Sankuru, Lualaba, South Kivu and Haut-Uele) * ''Mimacraea marshalli dohertyi'' Rothschild, 1901 (Kenya: highlands east of the Rift Valley, Tanzania: north to the Arusha district)

Mimicry

''M. marshalli'' is a Batesian mimic of another butterfly found in eastern Africa, '' Danaus chrysippus''.

References

Butterflies described in 1898 Poritiinae Taxa named by Roland Trimen Butterflies of Africa {{Poritiinae-stub