Bebearia brush-footed butterflies . The species are confined to the Afrotropical ecozone mainly in the Guinean Forests of West Africa and the Congolian forests.
The genus Bebearia closely resembles the allied genus Euphaedra in appearance. The females ,especially, are very similar on their uppersides. The undersides of Bebearia however are invariably cryptically patterned and often resemble dead leaves. In Euphaedra the underside is usually yellow with black spots and pink basal patches.Euphaedra have orange palpi while those of Bebearia are brown.In Euphaedra the forewing apex is always rounded and not falcate. The member species are diverse.
The type species of the genus is Euryphene iturina Karsch .
Defining species groups is a convenient way of subdividing well-defined genera with a large number of recognized species. Bebearia species are so arranged in assemblages called "species groups" but (not superspecies, but an informal phenetic arrangement). These may or may not be clades. As molecular phylogenetic studies continue, lineages distinct enough to warrant some formal degree of recognition become evident and new groupings are suggested, but consistent ranking remains a problem.
Subgenus Apectinaria Hecq, 1990 The tentyris species-group Bebearia abesa (Hewitson, 1869) Bebearia absolon (Fabricius, 1793) Bebearia amieti Hecq, 1994 Bebearia carshena (Hewitson, 1871) Bebearia dallastai Hecq, 1994 Bebearia languida (Schultze, 1920) Bebearia lucayensis Hecq, 1996 Bebearia mandinga (C. & R. Felder, 1860) Bebearia micans Hecq, 1987 Bebearia osyris (Schultze, 1920) Bebearia oxione (Hewitson, 1866) Bebearia partita (Aurivillius, 1895) Bebearia subtentyris (Strand, 1912) Bebearia tentyris (Hewitson, 1866) Bebearia zonara (Butler, 1871) The comus species-group Bebearia cinaethon (Hewitson, 1874) Bebearia comus (Ward, 1871) Bebearia ikelemba (Aurivillius, 1901) The mardania species-group Bebearia cocalia (Fabricius, 1793) Bebearia cocalioides Hecq, 1990 Bebearia guineensis (C. & R. Felder, 1867) Bebearia mardania (Fabricius, 1793) Bebearia orientis (Karsch, 1895) Bebearia senegalensis (Herrich-Schäffer, 1850) The sophus species-group Bebearia sophus (Fabricius, 1793) The barce species-group Bebearia barce (Doubleday, 1847) The staudingeri species-group Bebearia staudingeri (Aurivillius, 1893) The plistonax species-group Bebearia arcadius (Fabricius, 1793) Bebearia plistonax (Hewitson, 1874) The elpinice species-group Bebearia elpinice (Hewitson, 1869) Bebearia hassoni Hecq, 1998 Unknown species-group Bebearia paludicola Holmes, 2001 Subgenus Bebearia The brunhilda species-group Bebearia allardi Hecq, 1989 Bebearia brunhilda (Kirby, 1889) Bebearia chriemhilda (Staudinger, 1895) Bebearia congolensis (Capronnier, 1889) Bebearia cottoni (Bethune-Baker, 1908) Bebearia dowsetti Hecq, 1990 Bebearia fontainei Berger, 1981 Bebearia fulgurata (Aurivillius, 1904) Bebearia hargreavesi D'Abrera, 1980 Bebearia laetitioides (Joicey & Talbot, 1921) Bebearia schoutedeni (Overlaet, 1954) The severini species-group Bebearia aurora (Aurivillius, 1896) Bebearia discors Hecq, 1994 Bebearia improvisa Hecq, 2000 Bebearia juno Hecq, 1990 Bebearia kiellandi Hecq, 1993 Bebearia laetitia (Plötz, 1880) Bebearia oremansi Hecq, 1994 Bebearia peetersi Hecq, 1994 Bebearia phranza (Hewitson, 1865) Bebearia severini (Aurivillius, 1898) Bebearia tessmanni (Grünberg, 1910) The flaminia species-group Bebearia bioculata Hecq, 1998 Bebearia defluera Hecq, 1998 Bebearia denticula Hecq, 2000 Bebearia ducarmei Hecq, 1988 Bebearia flaminia (Staudinger, 1891) Bebearia intermedia (Bartel, 1905) Bebearia liberti Hecq, 1998 Bebearia maximiana (Staudinger, 1891) Bebearia nivaria (Ward, 1871) The phantasia species-group Bebearia demetra (Godart, 1819) Bebearia leptotypa (Bethune-Baker, 1908) Bebearia maledicta (Strand, 1912) Bebearia phantasia (Hewitson, 1865) Bebearia phantasiella (Staudinger, 1891) Bebearia phantasina (Staudinger, 1891) Bebearia tini Oremans, 1998 The cutteri species-group Bebearia ashantina (Dudgeon, 1913) Bebearia barombina (Staudinger, 1895) Bebearia baueri Hecq, 2000 Bebearia braytoni (Sharpe, 1907) Bebearia chilonis (Hewitson, 1874) Bebearia chloeropis (Bethune-Baker, 1908) Bebearia cutteri (Hewitson, 1865) Bebearia eliensis (Hewitson, 1866) Bebearia equatorialis Hecq, 1989 Bebearia faraveli Oremans, 1998 Bebearia innocua Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1889 Bebearia jolyana Hecq, 1989 Bebearia luteola (Bethune-Baker, 1908) Bebearia makala (Bethune-Baker, 1908) Bebearia octogramma (Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1889) Bebearia picturata Hecq, 1989 Bebearia raeveli Hecq, 1989 Unknown species-group Bebearia fontaineana Hecq, 1987 Bebearia inepta Hecq, 2001 Bebearia occitana Hecq, 1989 Bebearia omo Larsen & Warren, 2005 Bebearia warrengashi Hecq, 2000 Unknown Subgenus Bebearia castanea (Holland, 1893) Bebearia ducalis (Grünberg, 1912) Bebearia ivindoensis van de Weghe, 2007 Bebearia lopeensis van de Weghe, 2007 Bebearia pulchella Hecq, 2006 Bebearia romboutsi Hecq, 2001 Bebearia vandeweghei Hecq, 2005 
