''Charaxes monteiri'' is a rare tropical

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 ...

, belonging to the

Charaxinae __NOTOC__ The Charaxinae, the leafwings, are a nymphalid subfamily of butterflies that includes about 400 species, inhabiting mainly the tropics, although some species extend into temperate regions in North America, Europe, China, and southern ...

subfamily or leafwing butterflies.Biolib
/ref> It was described by

Otto Staudinger Otto Staudinger (2 May 1830 – 13 October 1900) was a German entomologist and a natural history dealer considered one of the largest in the world specialising in the collection and sale of insects to museums, scientific institutions, and ind ...

in 1885.

Description

''Charaxes monteiri'' presents an important

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

, as do most species of the genus ''

Charaxes The rajah and pasha butterflies, also known as emperors in Africa and Australia, (genus ''Charaxes'') make up the huge type genus of the brush-footed butterfly subfamily Charaxinae, or leafwing butterflies. They belong to the tribe Charaxini, ...

''. 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 about in the males and about in the females. The male has a black-brown and blue wing, while the female has a brown wing with a wide white stripes on each side and a smaller one on top. Description in Seitz- ''Ch. monteiri'' Stgr. The male is very similar above to that of '' smaragdalis'', only differing in having the distal blue spots in cellules 2—7 of the forewing much larger and sagittate and the transverse band on the hindwing anteriorly narrower and posteriorly completely united with the marginal line. Forewing beneath light grey-blue at the base and before the distal margin. In the female the forewing is black-brown above, with broad white transverse band and two white subapical spots; the hindwing above umber-brown, towards the distal margin somewhat lighter and with 8 large, angled, blue-centred, black submarginal spots and a black marginal line, thickened between the veins. Only occurring on the island of St. Thome.

Distribution and habitat

This species is endemic to the island of São Tomé in the archipelago of

São Tomé and Principe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

(

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

)."''Charaxes monteiri'' Staudinger, 1885"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' It can be found in the mountain peaks of volcanic origin.

Biology

Adults mainly feed on rotting fruits.

Taxonomy

It is considered part of the '' Charaxes tiridates'' group.

References

External links

Golden Map''Charaxes montieri'' 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 ...