Acraea pseudegina

Acraea pseudegina is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, which is native to the African tropics and subtropics.

Acraea pseudegina
Mounted specimen of an imago from Somalia, and a late instar larva from Lagos, Nigeria, in Eltringham (1912)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Acraea
Species:	A. pseudegina
Binomial name
Acraea pseudegina Westwood, 1852[1]
Synonyms
Acraea abadima Ribbe, 1889 Acraea clarei Neave, 1904 Acraea natalica pseudegina f. stephanophora Le Cerf, 1927 Acraea natalica abadima f. inexpectata Le Doux, 1931

Description

A pair mating, Benin

Imago, feeding in Benin

Acraea pseudegina has a wingspan reaching about 45–55 millimetres (1.8–2.2 in). In this quite variable species the uppersides of the forewings are usually smoky black, with some black spots. Fringes are black except on the inner margins of both wings where they are yellowish. The uppersides of the hindwings have brick-red colour. An irregular row of nine spots shown by transparency from the underside crosses the discal area of the wings. The underside is similar to the upperside, but there is a series of black marking on the edge of the hindwings. It is very similar to Acraea natalica qv.

Distribution

This species can be found in Senegal, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, western Kenya, southern Ethiopia, Somalia and Angola.

Biology

The larvae feed on Passiflora and Cephalomma species.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea caecilia species group. See also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014^[2]