''Acraea zetes'', the large spotted acraea, is a
butterfly
Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
in the family
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 ha ...
which is native to
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...
.
Range
It is found in
Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
,
Gambia
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
,
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...
,
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
,
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
,
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
,
Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
,
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
,
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
,
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...
,
Benin
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
,
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
,
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...
,
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...
,
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
,
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
,
Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
,
Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
,
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
,
Malawi
Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
and
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
.
Description
''A. zetes'' is a common species in Africa, distributed from
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
to
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
and
Abyssinia
Abyssinia (; also known as Abyssinie, Abissinia, Habessinien, or Al-Habash) was an ancient region in the Horn of Africa situated in the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian independence, ...
; it develops several races and forms and is darkest in the north-west, gradually becoming lighter and lighter towards the south and east. Forewing with 2 black spots in the cell, one at its apex, large elongate discal dots in 3 to 6 and 10, rounded free discal dots in 1b and 2 and at least beneath with large yellow marginal spots in 1b to 6. Hindwing in addition to the confluent basal dots with a median dot and distinct discal dots, of which the one in 2 is placed close to the base of the cellule and that in 4 further distad than the rest; the black marginal band broad on both surfaces or at least beneath with light spots.
* ''zetes'' L. Forewing above dark blackish, unicolorous or beyond discal dots 3 to 6 a little lighter; discal dots little distinct on the dark ground. Hindwing above black to the apex of the cell, then with orange-red median band 5 to 6 mm. in breadth, in which only discal dots 3 to 5 are placed free, beneath with whitish ground colour and reddish spots in the basal area and on the marginal band. Sierra Leone to the
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
s; transitions to ''menippe''.
* ''menippe'' Drury (54 b). Forewing above with distinct red-yellow marginal spots and usually also with larger or smaller red-yellow spots in lb, 2 and the cell and with small whitish subapical band in 4 to 6; the red-yellow transverse band on the upperside of the hindwing 10 to 12 mm. in breadth. The female is larger and has the ground-colour black-grey on the forewing, grey-yellowish on the hindwing. Throughout
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
to
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
and
Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
.
* ''jalema'' Godt. is an intermediate form between ''menippe'' and ''acara''
now ''Acraea acara'' ">Acraea_acara.html" ;"title="now ''Acraea acara">now ''Acraea acara'' and has the forewing above black at the base to vein 2 and then a red-yellow transverse band about 12 to 13 mm. in breadth, which extends from the inner margin to the anterior margin of the cell, covers the base of cellules 2 and 3 and encloses 4 black spots (one in the cell, the median spot and discal dots 1b and 2); subapical band, as in menippe, short and narrow. Cameroons to Rhodesia.
* ''acara'' Hew. (54 b, c) [ now species ''Acraea acara'' ] is the South and East African race and only differs from ''jalema'' in having the red-yellow colour on the upper surface even more extended and particularly in the fore wing having a large red-yellow subapical band about 7 mm. in breadth in 4 to 6; forewing at the apex black for a breadth of about 6 mm. Natal to Rhodesia,
Nyassaland
Nyasaland () was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After ...
and
British East Africa
East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was a British protectorate in the African Great Lakes, occupying roughly the same area as present-day Kenya, from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Cont ...
* ab. ''mhondana'' Suff.
''Acraea acara'' Discal spots 4 to 6 of the forewing united with the black spot at the end of the cell. Among ''acara''. ab. ''caffra'' Fldr.
''Acraea acara'' (= ''tescea'' Suff.
''Acraea acara'' only differs from ''acara'' in having the upperside of the hindwing whitish in the middle.
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
;
Transvaal
Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; ...
.
* f. ''barberi'' Trim.
''Acraea barberi'' ">Acraea__barberi.html" ;"title="''Acraea barberi">''Acraea barberi'' differs from ''acara'' in the forewing above having at the apex a marginal band only 2 mm. in breadth; the black lunulate submarginal line on the upperside of the forewing is sometimes strongly developed, sometimes entirely absent, ab. ''trimeni'' Auriv. [ ''Acraea barberi'' ] Transvaal and Griqualand.
* ''sidamona'' Rothsch. and Jord. is similar to ''acara'' only differing in having the basal dots in the cell and in 1 b of the forewing free and the marginal dots on the underside of the forewing in 1b to 5 all completely bordered with black proximally. Abyssinia.
* The larva of ''zetes'' is orange-yellow with a dark red transverse band dorsally on each segment; head glossy red; spines black; lives in Natal on ''
Passiflora
''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae.
''Passiflora'' species are widely cultivated for their striking flowers, fla ...
''. Pupa reddish white with black markings.
Subspecies
*''Acraea zetes zetes'' — Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, northern Namibia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya, Malawi, Zambia
*''Acraea zetes annobona''
d'Abrera, 1980 — Equatorial Guinea: island of Annobon, São Tomé and Príncipe: island of São Tomé
*''Acraea zetes rudolfi''
Eltringham, 1929 — northern Kenya and possibly north-eastern Uganda
*''Acraea zetes sidamona''
Rothschild & Jordan, 1905 — Ethiopia
Biology
The habitat consists of open deciduous forests and woodland savanna.
The larvae feed on ''
Theobroma cacao
''Theobroma cacao'' (cacao tree or cocoa tree) is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the Malvaceae family. Its seedscocoa beansare used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. Although the tree is native to the tropi ...
'', ''
Basananthe zanzibaricum'', ''
Adenia cisampelloides'', ''
Adenia lobata'', ''
Barteria acuminata'', ''
Phyllobotryum spathulatum'', ''
Smeathmannia'', ''
Passiflora
''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae.
''Passiflora'' species are widely cultivated for their striking flowers, fla ...
'', ''
Deidama'', ''
Tacsonia'' and ''
Hydnocarpus
''Hydnocarpus'' is a genus of medium to large trees in the family Achariaceae; the genus was previously placed in the now defunct family Flacourtiaceae. Species have been recorded from Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Charact ...
'' species
Taxonomy
It is a member of the ''Acraea zetes''
species group
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
- but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014
[ Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre ''Acraea']
pdf
/ref>
Large spotted acraea (Acraea zetes anobonna) Sao Tome.jpg, ''A. z. anobonna'' upper side
Large spotted acraea (Acraea zetes anobonna) underside Sao Tome.jpg, and underside São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...
References
External links
Linnnaean collections
photos of the holotype
A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...
held by the Linnean Society
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...
''Acraea zetes''
Le Site des Acraea de Dominique Bernaud
Images representing ''Acraea zetes''
at Bold
Images representing ''Acraea zetes annobona'' at Bold
at Pteron
Butterflies described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
zetes
The Boreads () are the two "wind brothers" in Greek mythology. They consist of Zetes (also Zethes) () and Calaïs (). Their place of origin was Thrace, home of their father Boreas (god), Boreas (the North wind).
Description
Zetes and Calais w ...
Butterflies of Africa
{{Heliconiinae-stub