Acraea vesperalis

Acraea vesperalis, the rare musanga acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.^[3]

Acraea vesperalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Acraea
Species:	A. vesperalis
Binomial name
Acraea vesperalis Grose-Smith, 1890 [1][2]
Synonyms
Acraea (Actinote) vesperalis Acraea catori Bethune-Baker, 1904 Acraea vesperalis ab. punctula Strand, 1914 Acraea vesperalis ab. picta Schouteden, 1919

Description

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

A. vesperalis Smith (56 f). Fore wing broadly darkened at the apex and distal margin, semitransparent and with distinct dark transverse bands. Hind wing above light ochre-yellow with black-brown marginal band about 4 mm. in breadth, beneath dark ochre-yellow with long dark streaks on the interneural folds. Sierra Leone to the Congo and Uganda. - catori Beth. Baker. Ground-colour of the hindwing light yellow. Sierra Leone. ^[4]

Biology

The habitat consists of forests.

The larvae feed on Musanga and Myrianthus species.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea pentapolis species group.- but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 ^[5]