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''Sevenia boisduvali'', the Boisduval's tree nymph, is a butterfly 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 ...
. There are four subspecies; all native to Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
Description
The following is a description for ''S. b. boisduvali'': The wingspan of Boisduval's tree nymph is 40–45 mm.Williams, M. (1994). ''Butterflies of Southern Africa: A Field Guide''. . The upper surface of the wings of the male are uniform dark brown, with small dark spots near the fringe of the hindwings. The female has an overall lighter brown colour on the upper surface, and orange-brown markings near the tips of the forewings. The dark spots near the fringe of the hindwings are more pronounced in females. The undersurface of the hindwings of both sexes are variegated grey and brown, and have an arc of seven dark spots encircled firstly by a greyish ring, and then an orange-brown ring. The undersurface of the forewing is orange brown with a row of four black spots near the tip. The female forewing also has two dark brown bands.Distribution and habitat
Boisduval's tree nymph is found in the warmer, forested areas of Africa. The four subspecies are found in different regions: *''S. b. boisduvali'' favours coastal forests, but may also be found in temperate forests. This subspecies is found fromCape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
,Southern African Butterfly Conservation Assessment: Species summary & distribution map: ''Sevenia boisduvali boisduvali''. http://sabca.adu.org.za, retrieved 22 June 2010 along the east coast of South Africa,Hyde, M.A. & Wursten, B. (2010). Flora of Zimbabwe: Butterfly species: ''Sevenia boisduvali boisduvali''. http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/insect-display.php?insect_species_id=400630, retrieved 22 June 2010 through Swaziland and Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, to eastern Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
. They are most common in the low-altitude (coastal) areas of KwaZulu-Natal and in eastern Mpumalanga, South Africa.
*''S. b. omissa'' (Rothschild, 1918) is found from 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 ...
to 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 ...
, 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 ...
, and western Kenya
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, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
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, capital = Nairobi
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.
*''S. b. kaffana'' (Rothschild & Jordan, 1903) is found in Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
.
*''S. b. insularis'' (Joicey & Talbot, 1926) is found on São Tomé
São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities.
History
Álvar ...
.
Life cycle
Eggs
The female lays a group of eggs on the undersurface of a leaf of the larval food plant. The eggs are yellowish at first, but change to brown as the larvae develop within.
Larvae
The larval food plants inSouthern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
are ''Sclerocroton integerrimus
''Sclerocroton integerrimus'', the duiker berry, is a tree in the family Euphorbiaceae, from Southern Africa.
Taxonomy
This species was originally named as two species; ''Sclerocroton integerrimus'' Hochst. (1845) and ''S. reticulatus'' Hochs ...
'' (''Sapium integerrimum'') and the jumping-seed tree ('' Sclerocroton ellipticus''). In Kenya, the larva have been recorded on ''Excoecaria
''Excoecaria'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, formally described by Linnaeus in 1759. The genus is native to the Old World Tropics (Africa, southern Asia, northern Australia, and assorted oceanic islands).
Etymology
Genus name, '' ...
'', ''Phyllanthus
''Phyllanthus'' is the largest genus in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number of species in this genus vary widely, from 750David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book.'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University P ...
'', ''Macaranga
''Macaranga'' is a large genus of Old World tropical trees of the family Euphorbiaceae and the only genus in the subtribe Macaranginae (tribe Acalypheae). Native to Africa, Australasia, Asia and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, t ...
'', ''Kigelia
''Kigelia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. The genus consists of only one species, ''Kigelia africana'', which occurs throughout tropical Africa. The so-called sausage tree grows a poisonous fruit that is up to long, ...
'' and ''Sterculia
''Sterculia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae: subfamily Sterculioideae (previously placed in the now obsolete Sterculiaceae). Members of the genus are colloquially known as tropical chestnuts. ''Sterculia'' ma ...
''.Larsen, Torben B. (1996). ''The Butterflies of Kenya and their natural history''. The larvae are gregarious
Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies.
Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp ...
and at first only eat the upper layer of the leaves, working from the tip to the base, and leaving a pale green dead leaf behind. As they grow older, the larvae begin to eat the entire leaf, starting at the leaf margin
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...
. Sometimes the larvae defoliate individual trees.
The full-grown larvae attach their rear ends to a leaf or branch with a small patch of silk and hang with their heads down. After about a day or so, they shed their skin to reveal a pupa.
Pupae
After shedding its skin, the pupa hardens and remains in a fairly rigid position. However the pupa can twist from side to side when disturbed. The pupae are variable in colour; being green, or creamy brown with small dark markings, or brownish and dark patterned. The pupa takes about ten days to mature and hatch into a butterfly.Adults
Once the butterfly has emerged from the shell of its pupa, it hangs with its wings downward. The wings inflate, unfurl and dry into shape. Adult Boisduval's tree nymphs usually keep to semi-shaded areas provided by trees. They often sit head downwards on the stems or larger branches of trees, usually with the wings held closed. The adults feed on fermented fruit and on tree sap, and the males are known to land on damp patches of ground to suck up moisture.Predators
Assassin bug
The Reduviidae are a large cosmopolitan family of the order Hemiptera (true bugs). Among the Hemiptera and together with the Nabidae almost all species are terrestrial ambush predators: most other predatory Hemiptera are aquatic. The main example ...
s feed on the larvae.
Life cycle gallery
Emergence from pupa gallery
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sevenia Boisduvali boisduvali Butterflies described in 1857