Hypolimnas anthedon

Hypolimnas anthedon, the variable eggfly or variable diadem, is a species of Hypolimnas butterfly found in southern Africa.[1] There are four known subspecies, but it is very variable species with many morphs.

Hypolimnas anthedon
male H. a. anthedon Bobiri Forest, Ghana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Hypolimnas
Species:	H. anthedon
Binomial name
Hypolimnas anthedon (Doubleday, 1845)[1]
Synonyms
Diadema anthedon Doubleday, 1845 Diadema damoclina Trimen, 1869 Papilio dubius Palisot de Beauvois, [1813-1830] Diadema anthedon Doubleday, 1845 Hypolimnas dubia ab. cerberus Aurivillius, 1894 Hypolimnas daemona Staudinger, 1896 Hypolimnas daemona var. daemonides Staudinger, 1896 Hypolimnas dubius ab. latepicta Bartel, 1905 Hypolimnas dubius poensis Rothschild, 1918 Hypolimnas dubia dubia f. pseudodamoclina Dufrane, 1945 Hypolimnas dubia dubia ab. mariae Dufrane, 1945 Diadema wahlbergi Wallengren, 1857 Diadema mima Trimen, 1869 Euralia anthedon var. marginalis Butler, 1875 Hypolimnas angustilimbata Weymer, 1892 Hypolimnas mima f. millari Aurivillius, 1913 Panopea drucei Butler, 1874 Panopea bewsheri Butler, 1879 Panopea diffusa Butler, 1880 Hypolimnas madagascariensis Mabille, 1881 Hypolimnas lutescens Mabille, 1887 Hypolimnas limbata Crowley, 1890 Hypolimnas dubius mayottensis Rothschild, 1918 Hypolimnas dubia antelmei Le Cerf, 1928

The wingspan of the variable eggfly is 75–80  for males and 74–90  for females.[2]

Its flight period is year round, peaking in late summer.[2]

The larva of Hypolimnas anthedon eat: Fleurya species, Urera camerooensis, Urera camerooensis, Urtica, and Berkheya.[1][2]

Subspecies

• H. a. anthedon (southern Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania, northern and north-western Zambia)
• H. a. drucei (Butler, 1874) (Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius)
• H. a. wahlbergi (Wallengren, 1857) (Ethiopia, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya (east of the Rift Valley), eastern Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland )

• 
  H. a. drucei from Madagascar
• 
  Benin

References

1. Archived 2018-04-29 at the Wayback Machine "Hypolimnas Hübner, [1819]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.