Charaxes xiphares

Charaxes xiphares, the forest king emperor or forest king charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is native to Afromontane forest in the eastern and southern Afrotropical realm.[1]

Forest king emperor
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Charaxes
Species:
C. xiphares
Binomial name
Charaxes xiphares
(Stoll, [1781])
Synonyms
  • Papilio xiphares Stoll, 1781
  • Charaxes xiphares bavenda f. ochremacula van Son, 1935
  • Charaxes xiphares bavenda f. cyanescens van Son, 1935
  • Charaxes cithaeron var. brevicaudatus Schultze, 1914
  • Charaxes desmondi van Someren, 1939
  • Charaxes xiphares draconis f. candida van Son, 1953
  • Charaxes xiphares kenwayi f. lutea van Son, 1953
  • Charaxes kulal van Someren, 1962
  • Charaxes maudei Joicey & Talbot, 1918
  • Charaxes xiphares xiphares f. occidentalis van Son, 1953
  • Charaxes xiphares penningtoni f. luminosa van Son, 1953
  • Charaxes xiphares staudei f. arikae Henning and Henning, 1992
  • Charaxes xiphares staudei f. louisae Henning and Henning, 1992
  • Papilio thyestes Stoll, 1790
  • Charaxes xiphares reducta Rothschild, 1929
  • Charaxes xiphares elatias Jordan, 1936
  • Charaxes xiphares walwandi f. namukanae Collins, 1989 in Henning, 1989

The wingspan is 65–80 mm for males and 70–95 mm for females.[2]

The larvae feed on Craibia brevecaudata, Scutia myrtina, Rhamnus prinoides, Cryptocarya woodii, Chaetachme aristata, and Drypetes gerrardii.[1][2]

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:[1]

  • C. x. bavenda van Son, 1935 – South Africa: Soutpansberg in Limpopo province
  • C. x. bergeri Plantrou, 1975 – DRC
  • C. x. brevicaudatus Schultze, 1914 – southern Tanzania
  • C. x. burgessi van Son, 1953 – DRC: Kivu, south-western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi
  • C. x. desmondi van Someren, 1936 – Kenya: south-east to the Taita Hills
  • C. x. draconis Jordan, 1936 – Swaziland and South Africa: Mpumalanga province
  • C. x. kenwayi Poulton, 1929 – South Africa: north-eastern Limpopo province
  • C. x. kiellandi Plantrou, 1976 – northern Tanzania
  • C. x. kilimensis van Someren, 1972 – northern Tanzania
  • C. x. kulal van Someren, 1962 – Kenya: north to Mount Kulal
  • C. x. ludovici Rousseau-Decelle, 1933 – northern Malawi, north-eastern Zambia
  • C. x. maudei Joicey & Talbot, 1917 – north-eastern Tanzania
  • C. x. nguru Collins, 1988 – eastern Tanzania
  • C. x. occidentalis Pringle, 1995 – South Africa: Western Cape province
  • C. x. penningtoni van Son, 1953 – South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal province
  • C. x. sitebi Plantou, 1981 – north-western Tanzania
  • C. x. staudei Henning & Henning, 1992 – South Africa: north-east and north-west slopes of Blouberg in Limpopo province
  • C. x. thyestes (Stoll, 1790) – South Africa: Eastern Cape province
  • C. x. upembana Plantrou, 1976 – DRC
  • C. x. vumbui van Son, 1936 – eastern Zimbabwe
  • C. x. walwandi Collins, 1989 – Kenya, Tanzania
  • C. x. wernickei Joicey & Talbot, 1926 – Cameroon
  • C. x. woodi van Someren, 1964 – southern Malawi
  • C. x. xiphares (Stoll, [1781]) – South Africa: Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces

Taxonomy

Charaxes tiridates group.

the supposed clade members are:

For a full list see Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013.[3]

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References
  1. Savela, Markku. "Charaxes xiphares (Stoll, [1781])". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  2. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
  3. "African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013". Archived from the original on 2013-06-27.
  • Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1964 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part II. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 181-235.
  • Van Someren, 1969 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 75-166. Additional notes
  • Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1972 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part VIII. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 215-264. Further notes
  • Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 31

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