Acraea axina
Species of butterfly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Acraea axina, the little acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in south-west Africa, in KwaZulu-Natal, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Transvaal, Botswana, and Malawi.
| Little acraea | |
|---|---|
| |
| Acraea axina in Seitz (1925) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Acraea |
| Species: | A. axina |
| Binomial name | |
| Acraea axina | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description
The wingspan is 35–40 mm for males and 36–44 mm for females. A. axina Westw. (55 e) is a small species, only measuring 30 to 50 mm., and recalls oncaea and in many respects also doubledayi; the wings above have the ground-colour reddish-yellow or grey-yellow, at the base, especially on the hind wing, blackish; fore wing at the apex and distal margin narrowly black with black veins and short black streaks on the folds in 3 to 5; marginal band of the hindwing above deep black, unspotted, 1 mm. in breadth, beneath with semicircular whitish marginal spots; wings beneath light yellowish with orange- yellow or reddish spots; beyond discal dots 4 to 6 on the forewing the ground-colour is usually somewhat lighter. Angola and Damaraland to Rhodesia and Nyassaland. [4]
Taxonomy
It is a member of the Acraea caecilia species group. See also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014.[5]
Biology
Adults are on wing year round, with a peak from September to May. There are multiple generations per year.[6]
