Butterflies of
Africa
Crescent-bordered Acraea
Acraea ventura
HEWITSON, 1877
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
HELICONIINAE
Tribe - ACRAEINI
Acraea
ventura,
Nechisar national park,
Ethiopia
© Peter
Bruce-Jones
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.
Acraea
ventura is found in eastern Africa from Ethiopia to Zambia.
Habitats
This species
usually inhabits open savannah, often in the vicinity of swamps or rivers, but
can also be encountered in forest clearings.
Lifecycle
The larval foodplant is
Cassia.
Adult behaviour
Males, as with many other
Acraea species, commonly settle on
damp ground to imbibe mineralised moisture. Females are usually
only seen when nectaring.
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