Acraea vesperalis, the rare musanga acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Description
A. vesperalis Smith (56 f). Fore wing broadly darkened at the apex and distal margin, semitransparent and with distinct dark transverse bands. Hind wing above light ochre-yellow with black-brown marginal band about 4 mm. in breadth, beneath dark ochre-yellow with long dark streaks on the interneural folds. Sierra Leone to the Congo and Uganda. - catori Beth. Baker. Ground-colour of the hindwing light yellow. Sierra Leone. Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Grosschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Grosschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.
Biology The habitat consists of forests.
The larvae feed on Musanga and Myrianthus species. Taxonomy It is a member of the Acraea pentapolis species group.- but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf
References
External links
Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 56 f Images representing Acraea vesperalis at Bold