Charaxes acuminatus

Updated on Jan 11, 2024

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Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Nymphalidae Rank Species		Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Charaxes

Similar Charaxes guderiana, Charaxes xiphares, Charaxes ansorgei, Charaxes baumanni, Charaxes bohemani

Charaxes acuminatus, the pointed pearl charaxes or mountain pearl charaxes, is a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. It is found in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The habitat consists of montane forests mostly at altitudes above 1,800 meters.

Both sexes are attracted to fermenting fruit and sometimes also sap oozing from wounds in the trunks and branches of trees and shrubs. Males are also attracted to damp patches. Adults are on wing from September to June.

The larvae feed on Allophylus species (including A. alnifolius, A. chirindensis, A. abyssinicus, A. chaunostachys and A. africanus) and Bersama abyssinica.

Taxonomy

Charaxes varanes group. Subgenus Stonehamia (Hadrodontes) The group members are:

Charaxes varanes

Charaxes fulvescens very similar to varanes

Charaxes acuminatus very pointed forewing

Charaxes balfouri

Charaxes analava

Charaxes nicati

Charaxes bertrami perhaps subspecies of varanes

Charaxes saperanus

Charaxes defulvata

Subspecies

C. a. acuminatus (Tanzania, northern Malawi)

C. a. cottrelli van Someren, 1963 (north-western Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo: from the south-east to Shaba)

C. a. kigezia van Someren, 1963 (western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, north-western Tanzania)

C. a. kulalae van Someren, 1975 (northern Kenya)

C. a. mlanji van Someren, 1963 (southern Malawi)

C. a. nyika van Someren, 1963 (Malawi: Nyika Plateau, north-eastern Zambia)

C. a. oreas Talbot, 1932 (Kenya: central highlands east of the Rift Valley)

C. a. rondonis Kielland, 1987 (south-eastern Tanzania)

C. a. shimbanus van Someren, 1963 (south-eastern coast of Kenya)

C. a. stonehamiana Collins & Larsen, 1991 (western Kenya)

C. a. teitensis van Someren, 1963 (south-eastern Kenya, Tanzania: north to Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru)

C. a. thiryi Bouyer & Vingerhoedt, 2001 (Democratic Republic of Congo)

C. a. usambarensis van Someren, 1963 (north-eastern Tanzania)

C. a. vumba van Someren, 1963 (eastern Zimbabwe)

References

Charaxes acuminatus Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

Contents

Taxonomy

Subspecies

References