Butterflies of
Africa
Long-tailed
Admiral
Antanartia schaeneia
HOWARTH, 1966
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
NYMPHALINAE
Tribe - NYMPHALINI
Antanartia schaeneia,
Wondo Genet, Ethiopia
© Peter
Bruce-Jones
Introduction
Antanartia are closely related to Vanessa - the Red Admirals
and Painted Ladies.
There are 5
Antanartia species, 4 of which are restricted to the
African continental land mass, while the
other - borbonica, is found only on Mauritius,
Reunion and Madagascar.
Antanartia schaeneia is distributed from Ethiopia
to south eastern Africa.
Habitats
In Ethiopia this is a montane species, but
it is found at lower altitudes in southern Africa.
Lifecycle
The larval foodplants include Australina,
Boehmeria, Pouzolzia
and Urtica ( Urticaceae ).
Adult behaviour
Males perch on the foliage of bushes to await passing females.
They will aggressively intercept any largish passing butterfly.
When perching they usually hold their wings half-open, but they
will bask with wings fully outspread on cool mornings or when temperatures drop
late in the afternoon.
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