Butterflies of
Africa
Smoky Bematistes
Acraea vestalis
FELDER & FELDER, 1865
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
HELICONIINAE
Tribe - ACRAEINI
Acraea vestalis vestalis,
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.
Acraea
vestalis is distributed from Senegal to western Tanzania.
Habitats
This species inhabits both primary and degraded forest, at altitudes between
about 100-600m.
Lifecycle
The larva has been bred in captivity on
Adenia ( Passifloraceae ) but the foodplants used
in the wild are unknown.
Acraea vestalis
vestalis, Likpe Hills, Ghana / Togo
border
Adult behaviour
Males seek sunspots, where dappled sunlight filters through the
canopy onto low foliage. They use these as look-out posts from
which to survey and intercept passing females. Both sexes nectar
at a wide range of wild flowers. Males can also be encountered
imbibing moisture from damp soil along sunny paths and tracks.
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