''Euxanthe crossleyi'', the Crossley's forest queen, is a

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

Nigeria Nigeria, 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 Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

, the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

, the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

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 ...

.Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Euxanthini
/ref> The habitat consists of lowland evergreen forest and riverine forests. Adults are attracted to fermented bananas. The larvae feed on '' Blighia zambesiaca'', '' Blighia unijugata'', ''

Deinbollia ''Deinbollia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Sapindaceae. Its native range is tropical and Southern Africa and islands in the western Indian Ocean. Its genus name of ''Deinbollia'' is in honour of Peter Vogelius Deinbo ...

'' and '' Phialodiscus'' species. It is named after the specimen collector

Alfred Crossley Alfred Crossley (11 August 1839 – 28 February 1877) was a seaman and natural history collector who explored and collected specimens from Madagascar. A number of species were described from his collections, several named after him including '' Chei ...

Subspecies

*''Euxanthe crossleyi crossleyi'' (Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, western Democratic Republic of the Congo, north-western Zambia) *''Euxanthe crossleyi ansorgei'' Rothschild, 1903 (southern Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, western Kenya, western Tanzania) *''Euxanthe crossleyi claudiae'' Rousseau-Decelle, 1934 (southern Democratic Republic of the Congo) *''Euxanthe crossleyi magnifica'' Rebel, 1914 (eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, north-western Tanzania).

References

External links

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Butterflies described in 1871 Charaxinae Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Christopher Ward (entomologist) {{Charaxinae-stub