Acraea aurivillii

Acraea aurivillii, the large alciope acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia.^[3] The habitat consists of forests.

Acraea aurivillii
Figures 9, 10 (male) and 11 (female) as Planema alicia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Acraea
Species:	A. aurivillii
Binomial name
Acraea aurivillii Staudinger, 1896 [1][2]
Synonyms
Acraea (Actinote) aurivillii Planema alicia Grose-Smith, 1900 Acraea aurivillii ab. latifasciata Grünberg, 1910 Acraea alciope ab. bakossua Strand, 1912 Acraea alciope f. tella Eltringham, 1912 Planema smithi Aurivillius, 1922 Acraea alciope bombensis Stoneham, 1937 Acraea alciope ochrextensa Stoneham, 1937 Acraea alciope f. flavifasciata Stoneham, 1937 Acraea alciope f. vidua Ungemach, 1932

The larvae feed on Laportea podocarpa, Urera flamigniana, Urera gravenreuthii, Urera thonneri, Pouzolzia denudata, Urera hypselodendron and Adenia species.

Subspecies

• Acraea aurivillii aurivillii (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, southern and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Uganda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania, Zambia)
• Acraea aurivillii schecana Rothschild & Jordan, 1905 (south-western Ethiopia)

Similar species

• Acraea alciope q.v. for differences

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea jodutta species group - but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 ^[4]

Etymology

The name honours the Swedish entomologist Per Olof Christopher Aurivillius.