''Cynandra opis'', the brilliant nymph, is a
butterfly in the family
Nymphalidae. It is the only species in the
monotypic genus ''Cynandra''. 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 ...
,
Sierra Leone,
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
,
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,
Togo,
Nigeria,
Cameroon,
Gabon, 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,
Angola, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Uganda and
Tanzania.
[Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Adoliadini]
/ref> The habitat consists of dense forests.
The larvae feed on '' Dissotis'' species.
Description
Upperside: antennae brown. Head, thorax, and abdomen brown. Wings dark brown or chocolate colour, formed into divisions by lines of a yellowish colour crossing and intersecting them in various directions. A yellow bar rises on the anterior wings, near the middle, and crossing them and the posterior, meets at the extremity of the body. Close to where the bar rises on the anterior wings are six very small white spots, placed between the nerves, reaching to the anterior edges.
Underside: palpi, breast, and sides greyish brown. Anterior wings greyish, clouded with red brown, particularly at the tips; on the middle of the external edges is a patch of yellow, and on the middle of the posterior edges is a patch of a pale clay colour, with six small white spots. Posterior wings having a third part, next the shoulders, greyish and dark brown; the remainder pale clay, with a reddish-brown patch next the upper corners; from whence runs an undulated brown line to the abdominal edges at the extremity of the body, and another fainter along the external edges. The wings are dentated (tooth like).
Wingspan inches (64 mm).
Subspecies
*''Cynandra opis opis'' (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, western Cameroon)
*''Cynandra opis bernardii'' Lagnel, 1967 (Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, north-western Tanzania)
Gallery
File:Cynandra opis bernardii male.jpg, ''C. opis bernardii'' male
File:Cynandra opis bernardii female.jpg, ''C. opis bernardii'' female
References
External links
Seitz, A. ''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 46
''e''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5199883
Limenitidinae
Taxa named by Ernst Schatz
Nymphalidae genera
Monotypic butterfly genera