Acraea acara
Species of butterfly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Acraea acara, commonly known as the acara acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae which is native to East and southern Africa.
| Acara acraea | |
|---|---|
| |
| Male | |
_female_(11625310144).jpg) | |
| Female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Acraea |
| Species: | A. acara |
| Binomial name | |
| Acraea acara | |
| Synonyms | |
Description
See Acraea zetes for diagnosis The wingspan is 55–66 mm for males and 60–72 mm for females.
Range and habitat
It is found in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Katanga in the southern DRC, Malawi, Tanzania, and eastern Kenya. In South Africa its range has expanded southwards since 2014, becoming more widespread in the Eastern Cape.[2] The habitat consists of forests and woodland.[3][4]
Subspecies
There are two subspecies:
- Acraea acara acara – eastern Kenya, Tanzania, DRC: Shaba, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape
- Acraea acara melanophanes Le Cerf, 1927 – northern Namibia
Taxonomy
It is a member of the Acraea zetes species group- but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 [5]
