Charaxes phaeus, the demon emperor or dusky charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Africa."Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms (Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa)
Description The wingspan is 48–56 mm in males and 50–60 mm in females. Very similar to Charaxes etheocles but forewing above with postdiscal spots only in cellules 3—7 Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart. In males of Charaxes vansoni the two subapical spots on the forewing upperside are blue, whereas in Charaxes phaeus they are white and the ground colour of the hindwing underside is pale coppery brown, with the silvery sheen comparatively reduced, extending only from the base along the costa and cell Van Son, G. 1979. The butterflies of southern Africa. Part 4. Nymphalidae: Nymphalinae [Revised and edited by L. Vári]. Transvaal Museum Memoirs No. 22: i-x, 1–286. The male differs from that of Charaxes fionae in the paler underside, larger greenish spots on the upperside, and wider pale wing margins.Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363. In f. coryndoni Rothsch. the postdiscal spots of the forewing are all present, those in la and lb joined to the blue basal area; forewing with small blue marginal spots; marginal streaks of the hindwing thick and greenish. Under surface with reddish grey ground-colour and weakly marked. ZambesiAurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.
Biology It flies year-round, with peaks from February to May and in spring. The habitat consists of thornbush savanna (thornbush = Vachellia) andBrachystegia woodland (Miombo.
The larvae feed on Acacia nigrescens, Amblygonocarpus andongensis, Erythrophleum africanum, and Tamarindus indica.
Notes on the biology of phaeus are given by Kielland (1990) and Pringle et al. (1994) Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.Apollo Books, Svendborg, Denmark: 1-595Pringle et al, 1994. Pennington's Butterflies of Southern Africa, 2nd edition
Taxonomy Charaxes phaeus is a member of the large species group Charaxes etheocles
References
External links Images of C. phaeus Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project) Charaxes phaeus images at Consortium for the Barcode of Life