Butterflies of
Africa
Dimorphic Acraea
Acraea lycoa
GODART, 1819
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
HELICONIINAE
Tribe - ACRAEINI
|
 |
|
Acraea
lycoa lycoa, female, Likpe Hills, Ghana / Togo border |
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. The basal area of the underside hindwings of most
species is marked with a pattern of small black spots. Females of several species
including lycoa are marked instead with white.
Acraea
lycoa is distributed from Sierra Leone to n.w. Tanzania.
Habitats
This species inhabits open or degraded rainforest, and can be seen in glades, along
roadsides and in village gardens. It is also quite tolerant of drier, more
open habitats, e.g. the savannah / forest transition zone, but only encroaches
into these areas in numbers during the rainy season.
Lifecycle
The
larval foodplants include Aneleima ( Commelinaceae
)
Fleurya and Pouzolzia
( Urticaceae ).
Acraea
lycoa lycoa, male, Wli Falls, Ghana / Togo border
Adult behaviour
The drab males are easily overlooked, but females are
encountered commonly, flying around
Eupatorium and other wild flowers in open sunny areas
within forest.
|
