Charaxes acuminatus, the pointed pearl charaxes or mountain pearl charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Description
Characterized, as the specific name implies, by the acuminate forewings Forewing with the distal margin deeply excised and long, sharp, falcate apex. The orange or red-brown spots in the black marginal area small or indistinct. German East Africa.
Biology
The habitat consists of afromontane forests usually at altitudes above .
Notes on the biology of acuminatus are given by Larsen, T.B. (1991) and Kielland, J. (1990).
The larvae feed on Allophylus species (including A. alnifolius, A. chirindensis, A. abyssinicus, A. chaunostachys and A. africanus) and Bersama abyssinica.
Taxonomy
Charaxes varanes group. Subgenus Stonehamia (Hadrodontes) The group members are:
Subspecies
- C. a. acuminatus (Tanzania, northern Malawi)
- C. a. cottrelli <small>van Someren, 1963</small> (north-western Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo: from the south-east to Shaba)
- C. a. kigezia <small>van Someren, 1963</small> (western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, north-western Tanzania)
- C. a. kulalae <small>van Someren, 1975</small> (northern Kenya)
- C. a. mlanji <small>van Someren, 1963</small> (southern Malawi)
- C. a. nyika <small>van Someren, 1963</small> (Malawi: Nyika Plateau, north-eastern Zambia)
- C. a. oreas <small>Talbot, 1932</small> (Kenya: central highlands east of the Rift Valley)
- C. a. rondonis <small>Kielland, 1987</small> (south-eastern Tanzania)
- C. a. shimbanus <small>van Someren, 1963</small> (south-eastern coast of Kenya)
- C. a. stonehamiana <small>Collins & Larsen, 1991</small> (western Kenya)
- C. a. teitensis <small>van Someren, 1963</small> (south-eastern Kenya, Tanzania: north to Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru)
- C. a. thiryi <small>Bouyer & Vingerhoedt, 2001</small> (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- C. a. usambarensis <small>van Someren, 1963</small> (north-eastern Tanzania)
- C. a. vumba <small>van Someren, 1963</small> (eastern Zimbabwe)
See also
References
External links