Pseudacraea lucretia

Pseudacraea lucretia, the false diadem or false chief, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Africa.

False chief
Male P. l. lucretia Bobiri Forest, Ghana
Female P. l. protacta Kakamega Forest, Kenya
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Pseudacraea
Species:	P. lucretia
Binomial name
Pseudacraea lucretia (Cramer, 1775)[1]
Synonyms
Papilio lucretia Cramer, 1775 Panopea tarquinia Trimen, 1868 Papilio sulpitia Fabricius, 1793 Panopaea apaturoides Felder & Felder, [1867] Pseudacraea apaturoides Pseudacraea drusilla Saalmüller, 1878 Pseudacraea comorana Oberthür, 1890 Pseudacraea serena Mabille, 1890 Panopea expansa Butler, 1878 Pseudacraea delagoae Trimen & Bowker, 1887 Panopea heliogenes Butler, 1896 Pseudacraea lucretia expansa f. xantha Poulton, 1926 Pseudacraea lucretia kenyae Poulton, 1926 Pseudacraea lucretia expansa f. particolor Talbot, 1943 Pseudacraea gamae Joicey & Talbot, 1927 Panopea protracta Butler, 1874 Pseudacraea lucretia ab. ramosa Schultze, 1920 Pseudacraea lucretia protracta morph pseudolucretia Bernardi, 1965 Panopea tarquinea Trimen, 1868 Panopea walensensis Sharpe, 1896 Pseudacraea lucretia var. expansa ab. eliana Strand, 1911

Male P. l. protacta

The wingspan is 60–72 mm for males and 65–68 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round, with a peak from January to July.[2]

The larvae feed on Mimusops obovata, Mimusops zeheri, Mimusops caffra, Englerophytum magalismontanum, E. natalense and Chrysophyllum viridifolium.

Subspecies

• Pseudacraea lucretia lucretia (Senegal to Nigeria)
• Pseudacraea lucretia apaturoides (C. & R. Felder, [1867]) (Madagascar)
• Pseudacraea lucretia comorana Oberthür, 1890 (Comoro Islands: Anjouan)
• Pseudacraea lucretia expansa Butler, 1878 (South Africa (Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga) Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, east of the Rift Valley in Tanzania and Kenya)
• Pseudacraea lucretia gamae Joicey & Talbot, 1927 (São Tomé and Príncipe: Principe)
• Pseudacraea lucretia karthalae Collins, 1991 (Comoro Islands: Grand Comore Island)
• Pseudacraea lucretia protracta (Butler, 1874) (Cameroon to Angola, Zaire, Uganda, southern Sudan, western Tanzania, western Kenya)
• Pseudacraea lucretia tarquinia (Trimen, 1868) (Eastern Cape to northern KwaZulu-Natal)
• Pseudacraea lucretia walensensis (Sharpe, 1896) (southern Ethiopia)

References

1. "Pseudacraea Westwood, [1850]" 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.