Charaxes kirki

Charaxes kirki
Charaxes kirki daria
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Charaxes
Species:	C. kirki
Binomial name
Charaxes kirki Butler, 1881 [1][2]
Synonyms
Charaxes etheocles f. rogersi Poulton, 1919 Charaxes etheocles etheocles f. albifascia Poulton, 1926 Charaxes etheocles etheocles f. handari Poulton, 1926 Charaxes etheocles suk Carpenter & Jackson, 1950 Charaxes etheocles f. kirkoides Carpenter and Jackson, 1950 Charaxes etheocles f. intermedia Carpenter and Jackson, 1950 Charaxes etheocles f. achaemenesopsis Carpenter and Jackson, 1950

Charaxes kirki is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.^[3]

Description

f. kirki Btlr. Hindwing above with broad white median band, with the proximal border bluish and the distal somewhat yellowish, marginal streaks olive, in cellules 4-6 orange. The two rows of spots on the forewing are joined together in cellules la-3 and only in cellules 4-7 more or less completely separated; the band formed by them is yellowish white to ochre-yellow. German and British East Africa. ^[4]

Biology

The habitat consists of savanna and dry forests.

The larvae feed on Acacia mellifera, Albizia adianthifolia, Albizia coriaria, Albizia schimperiana, Entada abyssinica, Entada leptostachys, Entada africana, Entada phaseoloides, Tamarindus indica, Acacia afra, Albizia sassa, Albizia gummifera and Entada gigas.

Notes on the biology of kirki are provided by Kielland (1990) and Larsen (1991) ^{[5] [6]}

Taxonomy

Charaxes kirki is a member of the Charaxes etheocles species group.

Subspecies

• Charaxes kirki kirki (central and eastern Kenya, central, northern and eastern Tanzania, Pemba Island)
• Charaxes kirki daria Rothschild, 1903 ^[7] (Ethiopia: east of the Rift Valley)
• Charaxes kirki suk Carpenter & Jackson, 1950^[8] (Uganda: central and north to the area west of Lake Rudolf)

References

1. Butler, A.G., 1881 On two new species of butterflies from East Africa. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 18: 145-146.
2. "Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
3. "Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
4. Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
5. Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.
6. Larsen, T.B. 1991 The Butterflies of Kenya and their Natural History. Oxford University Press, Oxford: i-xxii, 1-490.
7. Rothschild, W & Jordan, K. 1903 Lepidoptera collected by Oscar Neumann in northeast Africa. Novitates Zoologicae 10: 491-542.
8. Carpenter, G.D.H., and Jackson, T.H.E. 1950. New butterflies from East Africa and the Ituri Forest. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London (B) 19: 97-108.

External links

• Images of C. kirki daria Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project)
• Images of C. kirki suk (Albertine Rift Project)
• Charaxes kirki images at Consortium for the Barcode of Life
• Charaxes kirki kirki images at BOLD
• Charaxes kirki daria images at BOLD