Charaxes porthos, the Porthos untailed charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Tanzania.[3]

Charaxes porthos
Charaxes porthos - CAR
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Charaxinae
Tribe: Charaxini
Genus: Charaxes
Species:
C. porthos
Binomial name
Charaxes porthos
Synonyms
  • Charaxes midas Staudinger, 1891
  • Charaxes dunkeli Röber, 1939
  • Charaxes katangae Rousseau-Decelle, 1931

Description edit

Ch. porthos Smith. male Hindwing above with a blue transverse band 4–5 mm. in breadth, placed in the middle and continued on the forewing almost straight to vein 6 or 7, but then becoming gradually narrower and breaking up into spots. female unknown [at that date]. Cameroons to the Congo; very rare.[4]

 
Habitat in Nigeria

Biology edit

The habitat consists of lowland evergreen forests and drier forests.

Notes on the biology of porthos are given by Congdon and Collins (1998) [5]

Subspecies edit

  • C. p. porthos (eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ubangi, Mongala, Uele, Tshopo, Kinshasa, Sankuru)
  • C. p. dummeri Joicey & Talbot, 1922[6] (Uganda, north-western Tanzania)
  • C. p. gallayi van Someren, 1968[7] (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, western Nigeria)
  • C. p. katangae Rousseau-Decelle, 1931 [8](Democratic Republic of the Congo: Lualaba)

Taxonomy edit

Charaxes porthos is a member of the species group Charaxes lycurgus. The supposed clade members are:

Clade 1

Clade 2

References edit

  1. ^ Grose-Smith, H. 1883 Descriptions of three new species of Charaxes. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 20: 57-58.
  2. ^ DeutschEntomolZeit1891Taf2.jpg
  3. ^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  4. ^ Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 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.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Congdon , C., & Collins, S. 1998. Kielland’s butterflies of Tanzania. Supplement. African Butterfly Research Institute & Union des Entomologistes Belges, Nairobi & Tervuren, 143 pp.
  6. ^ Joicey , J.J., & Talbot, G. 1922. New forms of the genus Charaxes (Nymphalidae) from Africa and Malaya. Bulletin of the Hill Museum, Witley. 1: 335-338.
  7. ^ van Someren,V.G.L. 1968. Charaxes porthos Grose-Smith. A brief review of its distribution and subspeciation. Bulletin de l’Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire 30: 221-225.
  8. ^ Rousseau-Decelle, G. 1931. Une nouvelle espece de Charaxes africain. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 1931: 87-90.
  • 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] also as dunkeli

External links edit