''Charaxes candiope'', the green-veined emperor or green-veined 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 common in sub-Saharan Africa.

Biology

The habitat is forest and savanna excluding arid savanna. It also occurs in gardens and agricultural areas. Notes on the biology of ''candiope'' are given by Pringle et al. (1994), Larsen, T.B. (1991), Larsen, T.B. (2005) and Kielland, J. (1990). Flight period is from October to June.

Description

The

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 45–55 mm in males and 50–60 mm in females. The basic colour of the upperside wings is tawny or orange tawny, with a basal area slightly paler or pale ochre yellow. The unscaled veins and the costal edge of forewing are green. The hindwings have a submarginal black band with a series of tawny ochreous or whitish interstitial spots. The undersides of the forewings are clayish, slightly ochreous, while the hindwings are sepia colour. Forewings are rather falcate, while the hindwings have two small tails protruding from the lower edge.

Full description

A full description is given by

Walter Rothschild Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoologist, and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was present ...

and Karl Jordan, 1900 ''Novitates Zoologicae'' volume 7:287-524

page 364 et seq. (for terms see ''Novitates Zoologicae'' volume 5:545-60

Life history

Larvae have large green bodies and heads decorated with horns. They feed on '' Croton sylvaticus'', '' Croton gratissimus'', and '' Croton megalocarpus''.

Distribution

This species can be found in most of the

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

(

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 ...

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

Taxonomy

''Charaxes candiope'' group. The group members are:Bernard Turlin, 2007 ''Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the world'' Part 25 Nymphalidae XII, Charaxes II. Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Keltern: Goecke & Evers; Canterbury: Hillside Books. *''Charaxes candiope'' *'' Charaxes antamboulou'' like next *'' Charaxes cowani'' like last *'' Charaxes velox'' *'' Charaxes thomasius''

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 ...

, 1974 Revisional notes on African ''Charaxes'' (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part IX. ''Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History'' (Entomology) 29 (8):415-487
Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 32

External links

''Charaxes candiope'' images
at

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 ...

Images of ''C. candiope candiope''

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)
Biodiversity Explorer

Tolweb

OutdoorphotoAfrican Butterfly Database
Range map via search candiope Butterflies described in 1824 Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Godart {{Charaxinae-stub