Charaxes etheocles, the demon charaxes, is a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. It is found in Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. The habitat consists of evergreen forests.
The larvae feed on Scutia myrtina, Celtis durandii, Griffonia simplicifolia, Albizia gummifera, Celtis gomphophylla, Bandeiraea, Cathormion, Dalbergia and Entada species.
Charaxes etheocles etheocles (Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, western and eastern Nigeria)
Charaxes etheocles carpenteri van Someren & Jackson, 1957 (central and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, south-western Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, north-western Tanzania, northern Zambia)
Charaxes etheocles evansi van Someren & Jackson, 1957 (Kenya: highlands west of the Rift Valley) may be a full species
Charaxes etheocles ochracea van Someren & Jackson, 1957 (Nigeria, southern Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, possibly Angola) perhaps a full species
Charaxes etheocles is a member of the species group Charaxes etheocles. The supposed clade members are:
Clade 1
Charaxes anticlea
Charaxes opinatus
Charaxes baumanni
Charaxes thysi
Charaxes hildebrandti
Charaxes blanda
Clade 2
Charaxes etheocles nominate very variable
Charaxes kheili
Charaxes guderiana
Charaxes ethalion
Unplaced but in etheocles clade
Charaxes northcotti
Charaxes pembanus
Charaxes usambarae
Charaxes contrarius
Charaxes petersi
Charaxes marieps
Charaxes karkloof
Charaxes martini
Charaxes gallagheri
Charaxes alpinus
Charaxes nyikensis
Charaxes mccleeryi
Charaxes grahamei
Charaxes aubyni
Charaxes chepalunga
Charaxes virilis
Charaxes fulgurata
Charaxes berkeleyi
Charaxes baileyi
Charaxes manica
Charaxes pseudophaeus
Charaxes chintechi
Charaxes protomanica
Charaxes ethalion very variable
Charaxes pondoensis
Charaxes viola very variable
Charaxes phaeus
Charaxes vansoni
Charaxes loandae
Charaxes variata
Charaxes brainei
Charaxes cedreatis
Charaxes mafuga
For a full list of this species group see Vingerhoedt African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains
Afrotropical ecozone
