Acraea boopis, the rainforest acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini, from Mozambique to Kenya and in Tanzania.
| Acraea boopis | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Acraea |
| Species: | A. boopis
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| Binomial name | |
| Acraea boopis | |
| Synonyms | |
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The wingspan is 45–52 mm for males and 49–58 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round, with peaks from November to March in southern Africa.[3]
The larvae feed on Celastraceae species, including Cassine tetragonal, Maytenus acuminate, Maytenus heterophylla and Rawsonia lucida.
Subspecies edit
- Acraea boopis boopis (South Africa in Afromontane and higher lowland forest in Eastern Cape, then along the escarpment through KwaZulu-Natal, also in Mpumalanga and Limpopo)
- Acraea boopis ama Pierre, 1979 (Kenya, northern Tanzania)
- Acraea boopis choloui Pierre, 1979 (Malawi) May be a full species.
Taxonomy edit
It is a member of the Acraea terpsicore species group - but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [4]
References edit
- ^ Wichgraf, F. 1914. Neues aus der afrikanischen Lepidopteren-Fauna. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitung 1914: 345-353.
- ^ "Acraea Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- ^ Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
- ^ Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf
External links edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Acraea boopis.
Wikispecies has information related to Acraea boopis.
- Images representing Acraea boopis ama at Bold
- Images representing Acraea choloui at Bold
- Acraea boopis fiche Dominique Bernaud
- Acraea boopis site Dominique Bernaud
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