Butterflies of
Africa
Iridescent Forester
Euphaedra phaetusa
BUTLER, 1866
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
LIMENITIDINAE
Tribe - ADOLIADINI
Euphaedra
phaetusa, Bobiri forest, Ghana
Introduction
The
genus
Euphaedra
comprises of a yet to be discerned number of large and very beautiful
forest-dwelling butterflies, all found on the African continent. Hecq puts the total number of species as high as 154, but this is challenged
by a number of other workers who believe that many of these are merely
local forms or subspecies. Some workers also believe that a large number of
hybrids occur, but one has to ask why this should happen with
Euphaedra, but not with other genera ?
The butterflies all share a common wing shape, and most have a similar pattern on
the upperside - typically the basal areas of the wings ( particularly the
hindwings ) have large patches of metallic blue, green, orange or red scales;
and most species also have a cream or orange sub-apical bar.
The undersides of some species are quite plain, but others such as
phaetusa have prominent black spots on a vivid
yellowish ground colour. Some species including sarcoptera and
zaddachii are even more beautiful, with bright
crimson patches at the base of the wings.
Euphaedra
phaetusa is distributed from Guinea to western Nigeria.
Habitats
As with all Euphaedra
species, this is a rainforest species. It survives best in good quality forests,
but can also be found in mildly degraded or secondary forests.
Lifecycle
The
larval foodplant is suspected to be Blighia (
Sapindaceae ).
Adult behaviour
Both sexes are strongly attracted to clusters of fallen
fruits, particularly
Ficus, and patrol back and
forth along forest paths in search of them. It is not unusual for
groups of up to 30 Euphaedra
and Bebearia butterflies of
various species to aggregate at such feeding sites.
The butterflies are often
seen basking with wings outspread, either in sunspots on the
forest floor, or on the foliage of bushes in light gaps.
Despite the vividly coloured underside, the butterfly is remarkably difficult to
see when at rest on the forest floor, among yellowing leaf litter.
Euphaedra
phaetusa, Bobiri forest, Ghana
|
