Acraea lygus

Acraea lygus, the lygus acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. The species was first described by Herbert Druce in 1875 from specimens collected by Joachim John Monteiro . It is found in south-west Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Zambia. In South Africa it is found from the savannah in Northern Cape to the Limpopo Province and the north-west provinces. It is an occasional migrant to Mpumalanga.

Lygus acraea
In Soutpansberg, South Africa
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Acraea
Species:	A. lygus
Binomial name
Acraea lygus H. Druce, 1875 [2][3]

Description

Very close to Acraea stenobea q.v. The wingspan is 48–55 mm for males and 50–56 mm for females.

Biology

Adults are on wing year round, but mainly from September to June.^[4]

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea caecilia species group. See also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 ^[5]