Acraea Brainei
''Acraea brainei'', the Braine's acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in north-western Namibia. Biology The habitat consists of granite outcrops on hills and ridges. Both sexes feed from the flowers of ''Turnera oculata''. They are on wing from February to April. The larvae also feed on ''Turnera oculata ''Turnera oculata'' is a species of evergreen, woody shrub, bearing striking yellow flowers with a dark centre, and occurring in the Kaokoveld in the Namib Desert in northern Namibia and in southern Angola. It is one of some 130 species occurrin ...''. Taxonomy It is a member of the '' Acraea terpsicore'' species group - but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre ''Acraea'pdf/ref> References Butterflies described in 1986 brainei Endemic fauna of Namibia Butterflies of Africa {{Heliconiinae-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the large superfamily Papilionoidea, which contains at least one former group, the skippers (formerly the superfamily "Hesperioidea"), and the most recent analyses suggest it also contains the moth-butterflies (formerly the superfamily "Hedyloidea"). Butterfly fossils date to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago. Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle, as like most insects they undergo complete metamorphosis. Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae, known as caterpillars, will feed. The caterpillars grow, sometimes very rapidly, and when fully developed, pupate in a chrysalis. When metamorphosis is complete, the pupal skin splits, the adult insect climbs out, and after its wings have expanded and dried, it fli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nymphalidae
The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called brush-footed butterflies or four-footed butterflies, because they are known to stand on only four legs while the other two are curled up; in some species, these forelegs have a brush-like set of hairs, which gives this family its other common name. Many species are brightly coloured and include popular species such as the emperors, monarch butterfly, admirals, tortoiseshells, and fritillaries. However, the under wings are, in contrast, often dull and in some species look remarkably like dead leaves, or are much paler, producing a cryptic effect that helps the butterflies blend into their surroundings. Nomenclature Rafinesque introduced th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Although it does not border Zimbabwe, less than 200 metres (660 feet) of the Botswanan right bank of the Zambezi River separates the two countries. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the Commonwealth of Nations. The driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia has been inhabited since pre-historic times by the San, Damara and Nama people. Around the 14th century, immigrating Bantu peoples arrived as part of the Bantu expansion. Since then, the Bantu groups, the largest being the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Turnera Oculata
''Turnera oculata'' is a species of evergreen, woody shrub, bearing striking yellow flowers with a dark centre, and occurring in the Kaokoveld in the Namib Desert in northern Namibia and in southern Angola. It is one of some 130 species occurring mainly in South America, but with two species found in Africa - one in Namibia and Angola, and the other in tropical Africa. Description This species is up to 2.5 m tall with a woody stem some 30 mm thick at the base, and with short side branches. The plant has a dense covering of grey-green velvety hairs which may be stellate or simple. Its leaves are leathery and alternate, obovate, some 50 mm long and 25 mm broad with 5–7 pairs of shallow teeth along the margins. Veins on the lower surface are conspicuous. Mature leaves have two whitish oval glands on opposite sides of the leaf base. These glands have orange-coloured rims, and produce nectar (extrafloral nectary). Flowers are solitary with their pedicels distinctive ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Acraea Terpsicore
Acraea (Ancient Greek: means 'of the heights' from ''akraios'') was a name that had several uses in Greek and Roman mythology. *Acraea, the naiad daughter of the river-god Asterion near Mycenae, who together with her sisters Euboea and Prosymna acted as nurses to Hera. A hill Acraea opposite the temple of Hera near Mycenae derived its name from her. *Acraea and Acraeus are also epithets given to various goddesses and gods whose temples were situated upon hills, such as Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, and others.Ezechiel Spanheim Ezekiel, Freiherr von Spanheim (also Ézéchiel, and known as Baron Spanheim) (7/18 December 1629 – 14/25 November 1710) was a Genevan diplomat and scholar. Life He was born at Geneva, the eldest son of Friedrich Spanheim the Elder. After 16 ..., ''In Callimachi hymnos observationes, in Jov.'' 82. Notes References * Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Acraea (butterfly)
''Acraea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae) of the subfamily Heliconiinae. It seems to be highly paraphyletic and has long been used as a "wastebin taxon" to unite about 220 species of anatomically conservative Acraeini. Some phylogenetic studies show that the genus ''Acraea'' is monophyletic if '' Bematistes'' and Neotropical '' Actinote'' are included (see Pierre & Bernaud, 2009). Most species assembled here are restricted to the Afrotropical realm, but some are found in India, Southeast Asia, and Australia.Silva-Brandão et al. (2008) Biology The eggs are laid in masses; the larvae are rather short, of almost equal thickness throughout, and possessing branched spines on each segment, young larvae group together on a protecting mass of silk; the pupa is slender, with a long abdomen, rather wide and angulated about the insertion of the wings, and suspended by the tail only. '' A. horta'', '' A. cabira'', and '' A. terpsicore'' illustrate typic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Butterflies Described In 1986
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the large superfamily Papilionoidea, which contains at least one former group, the skippers (formerly the superfamily "Hesperioidea"), and the most recent analyses suggest it also contains the moth-butterflies (formerly the superfamily "Hedyloidea"). Butterfly fossils date to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago. Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle, as like most insects they undergo complete metamorphosis. Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae, known as caterpillars, will feed. The caterpillars grow, sometimes very rapidly, and when fully developed, pupate in a chrysalis. When metamorphosis is complete, the pupal skin splits, the adult insect climbs out, and after its wings have expanded and dried, it ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Endemic Fauna Of Namibia
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example ''Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. ''Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |