Butterflies of
Africa
Common Red
Charaxes
Charaxes lucretius
CRAMER, 1775
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
CHARAXINAE
Tribe - CHARAXINI
Charaxes lucretius,
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 and
Acacia scrub habitats.
Charaxes
lucretius is found across tropical Africa from Senegal to Uganda, western
Kenya and Zambia.
The illustrated subspecies C. l. lucretius flies from
Senegal to Cameroon.
The upper surface of the wings
of fulvescens are dark reddish-brown, with a broad
post-median orange-red band and a narrower submarginal band of the same colour.
These bands are broken by the dark veins, particularly on the forewings.
Habitats
This species inhabits primary and degraded rainforest at altitudes from sea
level to about 800m.
Lifecycle
The larval foodplants include
Hugonia ( Linaceae ) and
Annona ( Annonaceae ). The butterfly has also been observed ovipositing
on Trema ( Ulmaceae ).
Adult behaviour
Males
often patrol back and forth along forest roads and wider sunlit
trails in search of mammalian dung, on which they feed avidly. If
disturbed they generally return within a few minutes.
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