Charaxes druceanus, the silver-barred emperor or silver-barred charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found throughout tropical Africa.
The wingspan is 55âÂÂ70 mm in males and 65âÂÂ85 mm in females. Ch. druceanus Btlr. is above similar to Charaxes phraortes and Charaxes andranodorus, but has the basal part of the upper surface darker chestnut-brown, so that the median band is sharply defined proximally; the marginal spots of both wings are large and form on the hindwing a continuous band; the hindwing is not tailed at vein 3; the black submarginal band on both wings is considerably narrower than in phraortes and andranodorus. The ground-colour of the under surface is rust-brown and the white markings have a beautiful silver gloss; the black transverse markings in the basal part of the hindwing are much reduced and only represented by fine streaks; as in andranodorus cellules 7 and 8 each have only one black spot or transverse streak, and even this may sometimes be absent; the median band of the hindwing is posteriorly much narrowed and is unicolorous or only in cellules 2âÂÂ4 with a black streak at its proximal side. Congo, Angola, Nyassaland, Zambesi, Transvaal, Natal.
Its flight period is year-round. The larvae feed on various Syzygium species (including Syzygium cordatum and Syzygium guineense), Bersama abyssinica, Eugenia species, and Astropanax goetzenii.
Notes on the biology of druceanus are given by Pringle et al (1994)
Coastal belt and forest edges up to more than 5,000 m.
Listed alphabetically:
Curle & Curle describe a hybrid of Charaxes druceanus and Charaxes brutus
Historical attempts to assemble a cluster of presumably related species into a "Charaxes jasius Group" have not been wholly convincing. More recent taxonomic revision, corroborated by phylogenetic research, allow a more rational grouping congruent with cladistic relationships. Within a well-populated clade of 27 related species sharing a common ancestor approximately 16 mya during the Miocene, 26 are now considered together as The jasius Group. One of the two lineages within this clade forms a robust monophyletic group of seven species sharing a common ancestor approximately 2-3 mya, i.e. during the Pliocene, and are considered as the jasius subgroup. The second lineage leads to 19 other species within the Jasius group, which are split into three well-populated subgroups of closely related species.
The jasius Group (26 Species):
Clade 1: jasius subgroup (7 species)
Clade 2: contains the well-populated three additional subgroups (19 species) of the jasius Group: called the brutus, pollux, and eudoxus subgroups.
Further exploration of the phylogenetic relationships amongst existing Charaxes taxa is required to improve clarity.