Acraea wigginsi
Species of butterfly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Acraea wigginsi, the Wiggins' acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae which is native to tropical Africa.
| Wiggins' acraea | |
|---|---|
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| Imago illustrated in Seitz (1900) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Acraea |
| Species: | A. wigginsi |
| Binomial name | |
| Acraea wigginsi | |
| Synonyms | |
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Range
It is found in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya.[3]
Description
A. wigginsi Neave. Forewing above blackish at the costal margin, in the apical part and at the distal margin, with a broad white subapical band in cellules 3 to 6, 9 and 10 and often also with yellow marginal spots; the cell and cellules 1a to 2 red-yellow as far as the marginal band; a black dot in the cell and a transverse spot at its apex and also discal dots in 1b to 5 or at least in 1b to 3; hindwing above golden yellow with narrow, yellow-spotted marginal band; forewing beneath as above, but lighter and at the distal margin grey with black veins; hindwing beneath light yellow with narrow white-spotted marginal band, which is proximally accompanied by gold-yellow quadrate spots, and between the discal and basal dots with an irregularly broken red transverse band, in addition with a red spot at the base of cellules 1c and 8. The female only differs in having the red-yellow colour on the forewing above less extended. Expanse 46 to 56 mm. British East Africa and Uganda.[4]
Subspecies
- Acraea wigginsi wigginsi — Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ituri, Uganda, western Kenya
- Acraea wigginsi occidentalis Bethune-Baker, 1926 — Cameroon
Biology
The habitat consists of grassy edges of sub-montane forests at altitudes above 1,500 meters.
The larvae feed on Cassia zambesiacus and Kotschya strigosa.
Taxonomy
It is a member of the Acraea rahira species group – but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014.[5]
