Butterflies of
Africa
White Acraea
Acraea circeis
DRURY, 1782
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
HELICONIINAE
Tribe - ACRAEINI
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Acraea
circeis, Aburi, Ghana |
Introduction
There
are about 220 species in the genus Acraea, all
Afrotropical in distribution, with the exception of 3 species (
violae and issoria
from the Oriental region, and andromacha from Australia
& Papua New Guinea ). The vast majority of species are found in the forests and
savannahs of East Africa, while about 60 are found in West Africa.
All
Acraea species have elongate forewings and rounded hindwings. The wings
are thinly scaled and in many species are semi-transparent.
The scales wear off very easily so that insects more than 4 or 5
days old have a glassy or greasy appearance. The majority of species
have a predominantly brownish or greyish ground colour, marked with bands or
patches of red or orange.
Acraea circeis is
unusual in having white bands instead.
Acraea
circeis is distributed from Sierra Leone to Congo and northern Angola.
Habitats
This species inhabits open or degraded forest, and can
also be seen in arboretums and parks.
Lifecycle
The larval foodplant is
Urera ( Urticaceae ).
Adult behaviour
Often several males can be seen
flying around a particular bush or tree. e.g. at Aburi
botanical gardens in Ghana, where the illustrated butterfly was
photographed in December, there were at least 20
circeis males competing in
territorial battles around a small tree. Males will intercept any other butterfly species, and
also bees and wasps, as well as their own species.
Both sexes nectar at flowering bushes
and shrubs.
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