''Charaxes variata'' 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 ...

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 have a re ...

. It is found in central, southern and north-western and western

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

. The habitat consists of '' Cryptosepalum'' forests. The larvae feed on ''

Cryptosepalum exfoliatum pseudotaxus ''Cryptosepalum exfoliatum'' is a species of tree native to tropical Africa. It is the dominant tree species in the Zambezian Cryptosepalum dry forests ecoregion of Zambia and Angola, where it is known locally as "mavunda"."Zambezian Cryptose ...

'', ''

Brachystegia spiciformis ''Brachystegia spiciformis'', commonly known as zebrawood, or msasa, is a medium-sized African tree having compound leaves and racemes of small fragrant green flowers. The tree is broad and has a distinctive amber and wine red colour when the y ...

'', ''

Brachystegia taxifolia ''Brachystegia'' is a genus of tree of the subfamily Detarioideae that is native to tropical Africa. Trees of the genus are commonly known as miombo, and are dominant in the miombo woodlands of central and southern tropical Africa. The Zambezian ...

'' and '' Dicrostachys cinerea''.

Description

A full description is provided by Van Someren, V. G. L., 1969 Revisional notes on African ''Charaxes'' (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. ''Bulletin of the British Museum'' (Natural History) (Entomology) 75-16

Taxonomy

''Charaxes variata'' is a member of the large Charaxes etheocles, species group ''Charaxes etheocles''. Described as a subspecies of '' Charaxes viola'' but ranked as a full species by Williams (2006).Williams, M.C. 2006. Butterflies and Skippers of the Afrotropical Region (Papilionoidea and Hesperioide

References

External links

Images
at Consortium for the Barcode of Life, Bold ''Charaxes variata''
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''Charaxes variata f. caerulescens''
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''Charaxes variata f. tricolor'' Butterflies described in 1969 variata Endemic fauna of Zambia Butterflies of Africa {{Charaxinae-stub