Graphium ridleyanus

Graphium ridleyanus, the acraea swordtail, is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae (swallowtails). It is found in eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Central African Republic, the DRC, Chad, southern Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, western Tanzania and Zambia.[2] Its habitat consists of the forest/savanna transition zone.

Acraea swordtail
Female, upper and underwing
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Papilionidae
Genus:
Graphium
Species:
G. ridleyanus
Binomial name
Graphium ridleyanus
(White, 1843)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio ridleyanus White, 1843
  • Graphium (Arisbe) ridleyanus
  • Papilio ridleyanus ab. infuscatus Schultze, 1913
  • Papilio ridleyanus var. fumatus Niepelt, 1915
  • Papilio ridleyanus var. fumosus Holland, 1920
  • Papilio ridleyanus f. rosa Le Cerf, 1924
  • Papilio ridleyanus njami Röber, 1928
  • Papilio ridleyanus ab. semivitreus Schultze, 1930
  • Papilio (Cosmodesmus) ridleyanus ab. hecqueti Dufrane, 1946

Adults mimic large brush-footed butterflies of the genus Acraea, such as Acraea egina and Acraea perenna. Males are known to mud-puddle.

The larvae feed on Popowia congoensis.

Realm

Afrotropical realm

Etymology

The name honours "Mr. Ridley, a gentleman in the W African Coast Service whose love for our favourite science was displayed by a collection he made near the fort of Accra and sent to this country. He gave great promise of excelling in entomology, and fell a victim to the climate of W. Africa" according to Adam White, member of the entomological societies of London and Paris, assistant in the Zoology Department, British Museum, from: "Description of some apparently new Insects from the Congo, sent to England by Mr. Curror, Surgeon R. N., and the late Mr. John Cranch" (1843) Annals and Magazine of Natural History 12:262-268.

See also

References
  1. Graphium ridleyanus, Site of Markku Savela
  2. Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Leptocercini
  • Carcasson, R. H. 1960 "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society pdf Key to East Africa members of the species group, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society


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