Butterflies of
Africa
Green Charaxes
Charaxes eupale
DRURY, 1773
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
CHARAXINAE
Tribe - CHARAXINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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Charaxes
eupale, male, Amedzofe, Likpe Hills, Ghana |
Introduction
The Charaxinae are a
group of robust, medium to large Nymphalids characterised by having a rapid and
powerful flight, stout bodies, triangular forewings, and a habit of feeding
at dung and carrion.
They
are represented in the neotropics by genera including
Consul, Memphis, Prepona
and Agrias;
in the Oriental and Australian regions by
Polyura
and Charaxes,
and in Africa by Charaxes, Palla
and Euxanthe.
The
genus Charaxes
contains 179 African species, one of which,
C. jasius,
extends it's range as far north as the Mediterranean coast of Europe. Most are
forest-dwellers, but several are adapted to savannah or
Acacia scrub habitats.
Charaxes
eupale, and the very
similar species subornatus,
occur from Senegal through the African forest zone to western Kenya and
Tanzania. The green colouration of their wings, legs, antennae and proboscises
are produced by pigments - in most other green butterflies these colours are produced
structurally by light refracting from ridges on the surface of the scales, or
from a lattice within them.
Habitats
This species occurs in lowland tropical rainforest at altitudes between sea
level and about 800m.
Lifecycle
The egg is barrel-shaped and carries a series of ridges and
keels around the upper part. It is laid singly on leaves of the foodplant.
The
caterpillar when fully grown is smooth-skinned, green, and marked with a pair of
ocelli half way along the back. It has a large head adorned with a
pair of recurved horns. The larval foodplants are
Albizia
( Leguminosae ) and Scutia
( Rhamnaceae ).
Adult behaviour
Both sexes spend much of their
lives high in the forest canopy, but males are regularly
encountered at ground level. They are usually seen singly or in
two's and three's, but I
have heard reports of as many as 30 attending monkey droppings on
a forest track.
More often they are found as singletons amidst
mixed aggregations with other Charaxes
species, imbibing fluids from carrion, mammalian dung, bird
droppings or urine-soaked soil. Both sexes also feed occasionally at sap runs
on trees, or at rotting fruit.
The butterflies
have serrated leading edges to the forewings, which are used to
jostle and "elbow" other butterflies when feeding at carrion or
dung. The serrations also act to strengthen the wings, which in
combination with the powerful thoracic muscles provide the means
to propel the butterflies with great speed and agility.
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