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 ...
. It is found in
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
.
Very close to '' Charaxes eudoxus'' but with more dentate wing margins and
longer tails; there are also minor differences in the genitalia
The habitat consists of sub-montane and montane forests.
Subspecies
*''Charaxes lucyae lucyae'' (north-eastern Tanzania)
*''Charaxes lucyae gabriellae'' Turlin & Chovet, 1987 (north-eastern Tanzania)
*''Charaxes lucyae mwanihanae'' Kielland, 1982Kielland, J. 1982 Three new races of Rhopalocera (Lepidoptera) from Tanzania. '' Lambillionea'' 81 (9-12): 86-90. (eastern Tanzania)
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: ''jasius'' subgroup (7 species)
Clade 2: contains the well-populated three additional subgroups (19 species) of the jasius Group: called the ''brutus'', ''pollux'', and ''eudoxus'' subgroups.
*the ''eudoxus'' subgroup (11 species):
*'' Charaxes eudoxus''
*''Charaxes lucyae''
*'' Charaxes richelmanni''
*''
Charaxes musakensis
''Charaxes musakensis'' is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Cameroon. The habitat consists of Afromontane, montane forests at altitudes above 1,300 meters. Taxonomy
Known only from the Type (biology), type locality Musake Hut ...
*van Someren, V.G.L., 1975 Revisional notes on African ''Charaxes'', ''Palla'' and ''Euxanthe'' (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part X. ''Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History'' (Entomology) 32 (3):65-13
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 ...