Butterflies of
Africa
Dimorphic Admiral
Antanartia dimorphica
HOWARTH, 1966
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
NYMPHALINAE
Tribe - NYMPHALINI
Antanartia dimorphica
© Peter
Bruce-Jones
Introduction
In appearance and behaviour
Antanartia could be thought of as the African "sister" genus to the
Neotropical Hypanartia, but phylogenetic analysis
has indicated that they are more closely related to
Vanessa
-
the Red Admirals and Painted
Ladies.
Antanartia
comprises of 5 species, 4 of which occur on the continental land mass, while the
other - borbonica, is found only on Mauritius,
Reunion and Madagascar.
Antanartia dimorphica has a disjointed
distribution, with a West African population in the mountains of Cameroon, and
an Eastern African range extending from Ethiopia south to Malawi and Transvaal.
Habitats
This is a montane species, found mostly in
forested areas or on scrubby farmland, at altitudes between about 800-2000m.
Lifecycle
The larval foodplant is Carduus ( Asteraceae ).
Adult behaviour
Males perch on the foliage of bushes
to await passing females. They usually hold their wings half-open
when perching, but will fully outspread them to bask on cool
mornings or in late afternoon.
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