''Charaxes lactetinctus'', the blue patch charaxes, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

, the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and possibly

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Description

''Ch. lactetinctus'' Karsch Both wings above broadly suffused with milk-white at the base; the forewing then black with orange distal band, cleft at the costal margin, but at the hindmargin indistinct in cellules la and lb and with orange marginal spots; the distal half of the hindwing black with narrow orange marginal band, preceded by blue spots; thorax and abdomen above milk-white. Both wings beneath dark violet-brown; the cell of the forewing with two transverse streaks, the first and second black and white ringed, but the third entirely white. A rare species, only observed in the Togo hinterland and Adamaua.

Biology

The habitat consists of savanna, including dry thorn-bush savanna. The larvae feed on '' Syzygium cordatum'' and ''

Maesopsis eminii ''Maesopsis eminii'', the umbrella tree, is a species of tree in the family Rhamnaceae found in India and Africa. It is the only species in the genus ''Maesopsis''. It is often grown as a plantation tree, and as a shade tree in coffee plantation ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Charaxes lactetinctus lactetinctus'' (western Guinea, northern Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, northern Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Central African Republic, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, western and north-western Kenya) *''Charaxes lactetinctus ungemachi'' Le Cerf, 1927 Le Cerf, F. 1927 Description d’un ''Charaxes'' nouveau d’Abyssinie. ''Encyclopedie Entomologique'' (B. 3. Lepidoptera) 2: 144. (south-western Ethiopia and possibly Sudan)

Related Species

Recent taxonomic revision, corroborated by phylogenetic research, allow more rational grouping of related species (compared with historical attempts) based upon with cladistic relationships. Within a well-populated

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

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

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recen ...

,"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 26 are now considered together as the ''jasius'' Group. ''C. lactetinctus'' is the 27th species in the Clade, and has undergone remarkable evolutionary divergence over the last 1.5 to 2.5 million years separating it from its closest existing relatives among the ''eudoxus'' and ''pollux'' subgroups, to the extent that it is considered a monospecific ''lactetinctus'' Group.

References

* Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1972 Revisional notes on African ''Charaxes'' (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part VIII. ''Bulletin of the British Museum'' (Natural History) (Entomology)215-26

External links

Images of ''C. lactetinctus lactetinctus''
Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project)
''Charaxes lactetinctus lactetinctus'' images
at Consortium for the Barcode of Life
''Charaxes lactetinctus ungemachi'' images
at BOLD Butterflies described in 1892 lactetinctus Butterflies of Africa {{Charaxinae-stub