Butterflies of
Africa
Mabille's Red Glider
Cymothoe mabillei
OVERLAET, 1944
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
LIMENITIDINAE
Tribe - ADOLIADINI
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Cymothoe mabillei,
Bunso, 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.
There are several "red" species - anitorgis,
hartigi, haimodia,
coccinata, ogova,
excelsa, aramis,
mabillei and sangaris.
The illustrated species mabillei is hardly less
magnificent than sangaris, but the colour is fiery
orange-red, as opposed to the blood red of the latter. The female of
mabillei is similar to that of most other
Cymothoe species, with a whitish ground colour, a
dark brown basal area, and a series of large dark submarginal chevrons.
Cymothoe
mabillei is a west African species, found from Sierra Leone to Ghana.
Habitats
This is a rainforest species, found at
altitudes between about 100-700m.
Lifecycle
The
eggs are laid singly on Rinorea ( Violaceae ).
Adult behaviour
On sunny mornings males spend
their time high in the tree tops. The canopy walkway at Kakum in
Ghana provides great opportunities for observing the gorgeous
orange-red males of mabillei and
other Cymothoe species, as they glide
in wide circles around the topmost branches, pausing now and then
to bask on the upper foliage, or to nectar at arboreal flowers.
Later in the day they descend
to bask for long periods on leaves a few metres above ground level,
usually choosing "sunspots" where a leaf is illuminated by dappled
sunlight filtering through the foliage of the upper canopy. They
often spend an hour or more on their sunspot, and only move when
the changing position of the sun causes their chosen perch to be
cast in shadow.
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