Charaxes fournierae, the euphaedra charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.[3]
| Charaxes fournierae | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Charaxes |
| Species: | C. fournierae
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| Binomial name | |
| Charaxes fournierae | |
Biology edit
The habitat consists of lowland tropical moist broadleaf forests.[4] The nominate subspecies resembles Euphaedra adonina and Euphaedra justicia, while subspecies jolybouyeri is closest to Euphaedra sarcoptera. All three of these euphaedras fly high up on occasion.It is puzzling that a non-aposematic charaxes should apparently mimic species of non-aposematic Euphaedra [5]
Subspecies edit
- Charaxes fournierae fournierae (Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, western Democratic Republic of the Congo)
- Charaxes fournierae jolybouyeri Vingerhoedt, 1998[6] (Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana) considered a full species by Vingerhoedt et al.[7]
- Charaxes fournierae kigeziensis Howarth, 1969.[8] (Uganda: south-west to south-west Kigezi)
- Charaxes fournierae vandenberghei Collins, 1982 [9] (Rwanda: west to the Nyungwe Forest)
Discovery edit
"Around 1930, I trained a hunter, Mr. Pichot, a very intelligent and resourceful man, who, having gone to Africa, in turn educated many natives.Seeing the magnificent results he was obtaining, I asked him to look for me an extremely rare butterfly, of which there were perhaps two or three copies all over the world, the Charaxes Acraeoides. I specified that the female had never before been captured, and that consequently, if he ever provided me with one, I would immediately send him a few thousand francs.And one day, I received an enthusiastic letter: "I have the female, you will receive her shortly".I spent a few days of fever and a few nights of insomnia. Finally, the parcel arrived, and, to my amazement, I found that the butterfly so gloriously announced was not the female of the Charaxes Acraeoides, but the male of another Charaxes of an absolutely unknown species. Mr. Pichot's mistake was that the butterfly was indeed the size that could be assumed of a female of Acraeoides, but he did not understand that its colours, much more vivid, prevented it from being one. Madame Fournier, my best Parisian client, as soon as she saw this wonderful lepidopteran, never ceased [in her wish] to possess it. I sold it to her , not without first describing and baptizing it, by the name of its new owner. I named my rarity Charaxes Fournierae.Le Moult (Eugène), Mes chasses aux papillons, Editions Pierre Horay, 1955, p. 283-284.
Etymology edit
The name honours Aimée Fournier de Horrack.
Taxonomy edit
Charaxes acraeoides group.
the supposed clade members are:
- Charaxes acraeoides
- Charaxes fournierae rare
- Charaxes jolybouyeri (as subspecies above) rare
References edit
- ^ Le Moult, E. 1930. Description d’une nouvelle espece de Charaxes [Lep. Nymphalidae] du Congo Francais. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 1930: 171-173.
- ^ "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- ^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
- ^ Henning, S.F. 1988 [1989]. The Charaxinae butterflies of Africa. Aloe Books, Johannesburg, 1-457.
- ^ Larsen, T.B. 2005 Butterflies of West Africa. Apollo Books, Svendborg, Denmark: 1-595
- ^ Vingerhoedt, E. 1998. [Description of a new subspecies of Charaxes fournierae Le Moult, 1930 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae).] Entomologia Africana 3 (Supplement): 1-6
- ^ Vingerhoedt, Zakharov, Rougerie & Bouyer, 2010 Révision du statut des membres du groupe de Charaxes acraeoides, Druce 1908; approche intégrant morphologie, biogéographie et code barre ADN. Entomologia Africana n°15, volume 1, page : 36 à 48.
- ^ Howarth. G. An unrecognised subspecies of Charaxes fournierae Le Moult and the male of Charaxes lydiae Holland. Proceeding and Transactions of the London Entomological and Natural History Society (B), volume 38, page 152 and 153, Plate 2.
- ^ Collins, S.C. 1982. A new subspecies of Charaxes fournierae Le Moult 1930. Miscellanea Entomologica 49: 99-100.
- Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1974 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part IX. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Entomology) 29 (8):415-487. [1]
External links edit
- African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt Images and text including subspecies fournierae
- African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt Images and text jolybouyeri
- Charaxes fournierae images at Consortium for the Barcode of Life
- Charaxes fournierae fournierae images at BOLD
- Charaxes fournierae kigeziensis images at BOLD
- Charaxes fournierae vandeberghei images at BOLD Holotype
- Charaxes fournierae vandeberghei images at BOLD
- Charaxes fournierae jolybouyeri images at BOLD
- Images of C. fournierae vandenberghei Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project)
- African Butterfly Database Range map via search
- External images