__NOTOC__ ''Charaxes brutus'', the white-barred emperor or white-barred Charaxes, 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 ...

of 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 ...

. It is found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

(see subspecies section for detailed information). Charaxesbrutus

Its flight period is year-round. Notes on the biology of ''brutus'' are given by Larsen, T.B. (1991).

Description

Its average

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 60–75 mm in males and 75–90 mm in females. Both wings above black or black-brown with a common white or whitish yellow discal band, which on the forewing is broken up into spots towards the costal margin. Marginal spots wanting; but the hindwing has before the distal margin 2—4 small blue spots, 2 in cellule 1 c and one each in 2 and 3. The under surface has a continuous white discal band; the ground-colour of the basal part is red-brown with the black, white-edged markings peculiar to the genus, which stand out sharply; the marginal part is brown-yellow next to the discal band and then ornamented with large, triangular black spots, distally bordered with pale grey. The hindwing also at vein 3 with a distinct, but short tail. — ''brutus'' Cr. The discal band on the upper surface pure white, not or only indistinctly margined with blue, on the forewing also with a spot in cellule 7 and measuring 5 – 9 mm. in breadth in cellule 1 b. Sierra Leone to the Niger. — ''natalensis'' Stgr. differs only in having the discal band distinctly margined with blue and the small marginal spots somewhat more distinct than in the type-form. East Africa from Natal to Kilimandjaro. — ''angustus'' Rothsch. has the discal band much narrower, only 2. 5–4 mm. in breadth in cellule 1 b of the forewing, and the marginal spots of the forewing very small or entirely suppressed. Old Calabar to Angola. A full description is given by Rothschild, W. And Jordan, K., 1900 ''Novitates Zoologicae'' Volume 7:287-524

page 429 et seq. (for terms see ''Novitates Zoologicae'' Volume 5:545-60

Life history

Life-sized colour plates and description of the larval and pupal stages of ''C. brutus'' and additional related species, illustrated by Dr. V. G. L. van Someren, are readily available. hosted by Biodiversity Heritage Library, Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) The larvae feed on ''

Grewia ''Grewia'' is a large flowering plant genus in the mallow family (biology), family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. Formerly, ''Grewia'' was placed in either the family Tiliaceae or the Sparrmanni ...

'' species, '' Entandrophagma delevoi'', ''

Trichilia dregeana ''Trichilia dregeana'', commonly known as the forest natal-mahogany, is a tree in the family Meliaceae. These trees are found in forest areas from the Eastern Cape of South Africa to Tropical Africa. Description The 7 to 11 leaflets of the larg ...

'', '' Blighia unifugata'', '' Melai azedarach'', ''

Trichilia emetica ''Trichilia emetica'' is a tree in the family Meliaceae, commonly known as the Natal mahogany. It is an evergreen tree, with handsome glossy dark green leaves and a wide spreading crown. Its sweet-scented flowers attract bees and birds. Subspecie ...

'', and '' Ekebergia capensis''."''Charaxes'' Ochsenheimer, 1816"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognised: *''C. b. brutus'' (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, western Nigeria) *''C. b. alcyone'' Stoneham, 1943 (Kenya: east of Rift Valley, northern and eastern Tanzania) *''C. b. angustus'' Rothschild, 1900 (Eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, Northern Angola, Zaire, West Uganda) *''C. b. natalensis'' Staudinger, 1885 (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania) *''C. b. roberti'' Turlin, 1987Turlin, 1987; 20 Turlin, B. 1987. Descriptions de nouvelles sous-especes et d’une forme de ''Charaxes'' africains (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae). ''Bulletin de la Société Scientifique Naturelle'' No. 53: 19-25. (Pemba Island)

Related species

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 In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

of 27 related species sharing a common ancestor approximately 16 mya during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, 26 are now considered together as The ''jasius'' Group. One of the two lineages within this clade forms a robust

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

group of seven species sharing a common ancestor approximately 2-3 mya, i.e. during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58"Out of Africa again: A phylogenetic hypothesis of the genus ''Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)'' based on five gene regions"
. Aduse-Poku, Vingerhoedt, Wahlberg. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2009) 53;463–478 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: the ''jasius'' subgroup. Clade 2: contains the three well-populated additional subgroups (19 species) of the jasius Group, called the ''brutus'', ''pollux'', and ''eudoxus'' subgroups. *the ''brutus'' subgroup (4 Species) *''Charaxes brutus'' *'' Charaxes antiquus'' *'' Charaxes junius'' *'' Charaxes andara'' Further exploration of the phylogenetic relationships amongst existing ''Charaxes'' taxa is required to improve clarity.

References

Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren (1886 in Melbourne – 24 July 1976) was a zoologist and entomologist. Van Someren was born in Australia. He attended George Watson's College and studied zoology at University of Edinburgh. He was also a dentis ...

(1970). Revisional notes on African ''Charaxes'' (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part VI. ''Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology'' 197-25

External links

Species info
Images from Naturhistorisches Museum, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
''Charaxes brutus'' images
at ''Charaxes'' page

Consortium for the Barcode of Life The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) was an international initiative dedicated to supporting the development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for species identification. CBOL's Secretariat Office is hosted by the National Museum of ...

subspecies and forms
Images of ''C. brutus angustus''

Royal Museum for Central Africa The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) (; ; ), communicating under the name AfricaMuseum since 2018, is an ethnography and natural history museum situated in Tervuren in Flemish Brabant, Belgium, just outside Brussels. It was originally b ...

(Albertine Rift Project)
Images of ''C. brutus natalensis''
(Albertine Rift Project)
African Butterfly Database
Range map via search {{Taxonbar, from=Q1235599

brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

Butterflies described in 1779 Taxa named by Pieter Cramer Butterflies of Africa