Butterflies of
Africa
Western Yellow Glider
Cymothoe aubergeri
PLANTROU, 1977
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
LIMENITIDINAE
Tribe - ADOLIADINI
Cymothoe aubergeri,
male, Kakum, Ghana
Introduction
There
are 72 described species in the genus Cymothoe, a
group of large and magnificent butterflies commonly known as Gliders. The genus
is entirely Afrotropical in distribution.
The males vary in colour,
ranging from the pure white of caenis, and the deep
ochreous yellow and chocolate brown of fumana, to
the fabulous and aptly named Blood Red Glider sangaris.
Cymothoe
aubergeri is considered to be endemic to Ghana and eastern Cote d'Ivoire,
although a single specimen was collected in 2003 from Guinea.
Habitats
This species is restricted to a few of the
wetter rainforests, e.g. at Kakum, where it is encountered fairly
frequently.
Lifecycle
This
is entirely unknown at present.
Adult behaviour
Males of
aubergeri and most other Cymothoe
species spend much of their time in the sub canopy. At Kakum for
example I have spent entire mornings on the canopy walkway,
watching singletons of
mabillei, aubergeri and
egesta gliding around
the upper branches. Fortunately they also descend to ground level occasionally, and with
luck aubergeri can be observed closely as
it feeds at decaying vegetable matter on the forest floor.
Cymothoe aubergeri,
male, Kakum, Ghana
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