''Charaxes cithaeron'', the blue-spotted emperor or blue-spotted charaxes, is a

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 ...

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 have a re ...

. It is found in south-east Africa."''Charaxes'' Ochsenheimer, 1816"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Full description

The

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

is 70–80 mm in males and 85–95 mm in females. ''Ch. cithaeron'' Fldr. male: forewing above black with two transverse rows of blue spots; the proximal row in the middle, composed of 6 spots (2 in cellule lb and one each in 2-5), the distal consists of 8 spots, of which the first, in 6 and 7, are white; an elongate blue spot in la beyond the middle. Hindwing above beyond the middle with a broad transverse band, posteriorly whitish and anteriorly blue, blue submarginal spots and whitish marginal streaks. The basal part of the under surface with irregularly arranged, black, white-edged transverse streaks. The female has on the upperside a broad, curved white transverse band, proximally sharply defined, on the forewing and a bluish white transverse band on the hindwing and is hence very similar above to the female of '' violetta'' East Africa from Natal to Kenia in British East Africa. A full description is also 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 379-382 (for terms see ''Novitates Zoologicae'' Volume 5:545-60

Biology

Flight period is year-round. Larvae feed on ''

Trema orientalis ''Trema orientale'' (sometimes spelled ''Trema orientalis'') is a species of flowering tree in the hemp family, Cannabaceae. The basionym of ''T. orientalis'', ''Celtis orientalis'' was originally described and published in ''Species P ...

'', ''

Albizia adianthifolia ''Albizia adianthifolia'' is a tree in the family Fabaceae. It is commonly known as the flat-crown. Its range extends from eastern South Africa to Tropical Africa. Description This is a large deciduous tree with a spreading, flat crown, growing ...

'', ''

Celtis africana ''Celtis africana'', the white stinkwood, is a deciduous tree in the family Cannabaceae. Its habit ranges from a tall tree in forest to a medium-sized tree in bushveld and open country, and a shrub on rocky soil. It occurs in Yemen and over la ...

'', ''

Cola natalensis Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was im ...

'', '' Chaerachme aristata'', '' Bafia racemosa'', ''

Afzelia quanzensis ''Afzelia quanzensis'' (pod mahogany, af, peulmahonie, ve, mutokota, zu, inkehli) is a protected tree in South Africa. This deciduous tree can grow up to 20m in height, and has smooth, grey bark, which can flake in irregular patches. It has gl ...

'', '' Milletia sutherlandi'', '' Maytenus senegalensis'', and ''

Craibia brevecaudatus ''Craibia'' is a genus of legume in the family Fabaceae. It contains the following species: * ''Craibia atlantica'' * ''Craibia brevicaudata'' Craibia was named for William Grant Craib (1882–1933), a British botanist who was an Assistant for ...

''. Notes on the biology of ''cithaeron'' are given by Pringle et al (1994), and Kielland, J. (1990).

Habitat

Forested areas from the coastal belt to the Kenya Highlands.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically. *''C. c. cithaeron'' C. & R. Felder, 1859 (Tanzania, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe, South Africa, Eswatini) *''C. c. joanae'' van Someren, 1964 (Zambia, northern Zimbabwe and possibly the Tukuyu District of Tanzania) *''C. c. kennethi'' Poulton, 1926 (coast of Kenya, eastern Tanzania) *''C. c. nairobicus'' van Son, 1953 (Kenya: central highlands east of the Rift Valley) *''C. c. nyasae'' van Someren, 1964 (Malawi)

Taxonomy

Similar to ''

Charaxes xiphares ''Charaxes xiphares'', the forest king emperor or forest king charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is native to Afromontane forest in the eastern and southern Afrotropical realm. Description The wingspan is 65–80 mm f ...

'' but the female has a much wider forewing white band. Also similar to ''

Charaxes violetta ''Charaxes violetta'', the violet-spotted emperor or violet-spotted charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Africa.Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

References

Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 31
*

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 ...

(1964). Revisional notes on African ''Charaxes'' (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part II. ''Bulletin of the British Museum'' (Natural History) (Entomology) 181-23

External links

''Charaxes cithaeron'' 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. cithaeron cithaeron''

Royal Museum for Central Africa The Royal Museum for Central Africa or RMCA ( nl, Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika or KMMA; french: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale or MRAC; german: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika or KMZA), also officially known as the AfricaMuse ...

(Albertine Rift Project)
Images of ''C. cithaeron kennethi''
(Albertine Rift Project)
Images of ''C. Cithaeron nairobicus''
(Albertine Rift Project)
African Butterfly Database
Range map via search

cithaeron Cithaeron or Kithairon (Κιθαιρών, -ῶνος) is a mountain and mountain range about sixteen kilometres (ten miles) long in Central Greece. The range is the physical boundary between Boeotia in the north and Attica in the south. It is ma ...

Butterflies described in 1859 {{Charaxinae-stub