''Graphium almansor'', the Almansor white-lady swordtail or

Honrath Eduard Gustav Honrath (11 August 1837, in Coblenz – 19 April 1893, in Berlin) was a German entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera, particularly '' Parnassius''. Honrath was a well-known art dealer in Berlin. Among his entomological achiev ...

's white lady, is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae (swallowtails). 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 ...

, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, 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 ...

, Angola, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and possibly

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

.Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Leptocercini
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Description

Markings white; median band of the forewing also broadly interrupted in cellule 2, as the discal spot of this cellule is absent or very small; the transverse spot of the cell of the forewing reaches the front margin of the cell, but is rather broadly separated from the discal spot in cellule 3; hind¬wing without discal dots and with indistinct or partly absent submarginal dots, the apex of the cell filled in with white; the cell of the forewing with a white apical spot; the discal spot in cellule 1 b of the fore¬wing does not reach so far basad as the spot in 1 a and is therefore shorter. —- Ashanti and Angola. ''G. carchedonius'' Karsch only differs from ''almansor'' in that the discal spots in 1 a and 1 b of the forewing are both obliquely rounded off proximally and the cell of the forewing has no apical spot. — Togo and Congo region. n subspecies''G. uganda'' the white markings of the fore¬ wing are much reduced, consisting only of three short streaks in the middle of the cell, small discal spots in 1 a, 1 b and 3, two streaks in cellule 6, a broken discal spot in 8 and submarginal dots in 1 b, 2, 3 and 6; the discal spot in 1 a is placed much nearer to the base than that in lb; the transverse band of the hind¬ wing is somewhat yellowish, covers the apex of the cell and is incised in cellules 2 and 6, but without discal spots.Uganda.

Biology

Adults of both sexes mimic '' Amauris'' species, including ''

Amauris damocles ''Amauris damocles'', the small monk, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon and Tanzania. The habitat consists of ...

'' and species of the '' Amauris echeria''-group. Males are attracted to damp spots on river banks ( mud-puddling) and both sexes feed from flowers. The larvae feed on ''

Pseudospondias microcarpa ''Pseudospondias'' is a genus of plants in the subfamily Spondiadoideae of the cashew and sumac family Anacardiaceae. They grow as dioecious shrubs or trees and are found in forests of Sub-Saharan Africa. Species ''The Plant List'' and ''Catal ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Graphium almansor almansor'' (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Zambia) *''Graphium almansor birbiri'' (Ungemach, 1932) (south-western Ethiopia) *''Graphium almansor carchedonius'' (Karsch, 1895) (Guinea, Ghana, Togo) *''Graphium almansor escherichi'' (Gaede, 1915) (eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda) *''Graphium almansor uganda'' (Lathy, 1906)Lathy, P.I. 1906 A contribution towards the knowledge of African Rhopalocera.''Transactions of the Entomological Society of London'' 1906: 1-10.. (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, south-western Kenya, north-western Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi)

Taxonomy

''Graphium almansor'' belongs to a species group with 16 members. All are very similar The species group members are: *'' Graphium abri'' Smith & Vane-Wright, 2001 *'' Graphium adamastor'' (Boisduval, 1836) *'' Graphium agamedes'' (Westwood, 1842) *''Graphium almansor'' (Honrath, 1884) *'' Graphium auriger'' (Butler, 1876) *'' Graphium aurivilliusi'' (Seeldrayers, 1896) *'' Graphium fulleri '' (Grose-Smith, 1883) *'' Graphium hachei'' (Dewitz, 1881) *'' Graphium kigoma'' Carcasson, 1964 *'' Graphium olbrechtsi'' Berger, 1950 *'' Graphium poggianus'' (Honrath, 1884) *'' Graphium rileyi'' Berger, 1950 *'' Graphium schubotzi'' (Schultze, 1913) *'' Graphium simoni'' (Aurivillius, 1899), *'' Graphium ucalegon '' (Hewitson, 1865) /small> *'' Swallowtail Butterflies Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful Butterfly, butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes ...