''Euphaedra imperialis'', the imperial forester, 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

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 of G ...

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; th ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

, and 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 ...

.Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Adoliadini
/ref>

Description

''E. imperialis'' Lindemans. The very beautiful female on which this species is based closely approaches ''

luperca ''Luperca'' is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Carabidae. The species of this genus are found in Africa and India. Species: *''Luperca goryi'' *''Luperca laevigata ''Luperca'' is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Carabi ...

''. Whether it is only a form of this or an independent species can only be decided by comparing larger material. Both wings blackish above, the basal part tinged with dark green to beyond the middle; the subapical band of the forewing is about 6 mm. in breadth, bright ochre-yellow, and reaches vein 4, but is then continued by a band running parallel with the distal margin at a distance of about 8 mm.; this band is orange-yellow in cellules 3, 2 and the anterior part of cellule 1 b and bluish at the hindmargin; on the hindwing it is continued by a somewhat narrower blue transverse band nearly to the anal angle; the fringes of the hindwing are pure white; the under surface is light bluish green and marked almost exactly as in ''luperca'' , only differing in having the white subapical band of the forewing connected with vein 1 by a white transverse line and in the broad white transverse band of the hindwing being quite straight and hence at vein 4 nearly 9 mm. from the distal margin. The white apical spot of the forewing large on both surfaces. Cameroons Aurivillius, .O.. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. ''Die Grosschmetterlinge der Erde'' Band 13: Abt. 2, ''Die exotischen Grosschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter'', 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.

Subspecies

*''E. i. imperialis'' (southern Cameroon) *''E. i. gabonica'' Rothschild, 1918 (Nigeria, western Cameroon, Gabon) *''E. i. hecqui'' Darge, 1974 (Nigeria, Cameroon) *''E. i. arta'' Hecq, 1979 (Democratic Republic of Congo: Sankuru)

Biology

The habitat consists of forests.

References

Butterflies described in 1910 imperialis Butterflies of Africa {{Limenitidinae-stub