Charaxes paphianus

Charaxes paphianus, the falcate red charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya.^[3] The habitat consists of primary lowland evergreen forests.

Charaxes paphianus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Subfamily:	Charaxinae
Tribe:	Charaxini
Genus:	Charaxes
Species:	C. paphianus
Binomial name
Charaxes paphianus Ward, 1871[1][2]
Synonyms
Charaxes paphianus renati Rousseau-Decelle, 1938 Philognoma falcata Butler, 1872 Palla falcata f. hamulosa Weymer, 1892

The larvae feed on Acacia species, including A. brevispica.

Short description

Forewing with concave edge and sharp point and reddish-brown-yellow ground colour. The termen black edged with a width of 2–4 mm black; two black costal marks and some black discal flecks. The cross line of the underside forewing bent. Underside paler with a cross line separating a paler inner area from a less pale outer area; almost everywhere with grey satin.

Subspecies

• Charaxes paphianus paphianus (Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, northern Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Charaxes paphianus falcata (Butler, 1872)^[4] (Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, western Cameroon)
• Charaxes paphianus subpallida Joicey & Talbot, 1925 ^[5] (north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya)

Taxonomy

Charaxes pleione is a member of the species group Charaxes paphianus. The supposed clade members are:

• Charaxes paphianus, nominate
• Charaxes pleione

Realm

Afrotropical realm