__NOTOC__ ''Graphium ridleyanus'', the acraea swordtail, 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

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful 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 the larges ...

(swallowtails). It is found in eastern

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 ...

, Equatorial Guinea,

Sao Tome and Principe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...

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 ...

, the Republic of the Congo,

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of the C ...

, the DRC,

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Repub ...

, southern Sudan,

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country 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 south by Tanzania. The south ...

, Rwanda,

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

, western

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

and

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 ...

.Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Leptocercini
/ref> Its habitat consists of the forest/savanna transition zone.

Description

Hindwing rounded, without tail. Frons broadly yellow at each side, only narrowly black in the middle. Palpi unicolorous yellow. Wings above black and red, marked similarly to the species of the nymphalid genus ''

Acraea Acraea ( Ancient Greek: means 'of the heights' from ''akraios'') was a name that had several uses in Greek and Roman mythology. *Acraea, the naiad daughter of the river-god Asterion near Mycenae, who together with her sisters Euboea and ...

''. Forewing black, semitransparent in places, with a half-band of 5 red spotsin cellules 1 a—4 and two deep black transverse spots, margined with yellow at each side, in the cell; hindwing above red with black marginal band and base and a few black spots. From Lokoja on the Niger to Angola, Equatoria and Bukoba on the Victoria Nyanza. Aurivillius, .O.. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. ''Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde'' Band 13: Abt. 2, ''Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter'', 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.

Biology

Adults

mimic MIMIC, known in capitalized form only, is a former simulation computer language developed 1964 by H. E. Petersen, F. J. Sansom and L. M. Warshawsky of Systems Engineering Group within the Air Force Materiel Command at the Wright-Patterson AFB in ...

large brush-footed butterflies of the genus ''

'', such as '' Acraea egina'' and '' Acraea perenna''. Males are known to mud-puddle. The larvae feed on '' Popowia congoensis''.

Taxonomy

''Graphium eridleyanus'' belongs to a clade with six members. All have similar genitalia The clade members are: *'' Graphium angolanus'' (Goeze, 1779) *'' Graphium endochus'' (Boisduval, 1836) *''

Graphium morania ''Graphium morania'', the white lady or small white-lady swordtail, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae (swallowtails). It is found in southern Africa (KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand, Eswatini, Transvaal, S.Mozambique, SE.Zimbabwe, E. ...

'' (Angas, 1849) *''

Graphium taboranus ''Graphium taboranus'' is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, and northern Zambia. The habitat consists of woodland. Description Diagnostic.The markings of the upper ...

'' (Oberthür, 1886) *''

Graphium schaffgotschi ''Graphium schaffgotschi'', the Schaffgotsch's swordtail, is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae (swallowtails). It is found in Namibia, Angola, the southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and north-western Zambia. Its habitat c ...

'' (Niepelt, 1927) *''Graphium ridleyanus'' (White, 1843)

Realm

Afrotropical realm

Etymology

The name honours "Mr. Ridley, a gentleman in the W African Coast Service whose love for our favourite science was displayed by a collection he made near the fort of Accra and sent to this country. He gave great promise of excelling in entomology, and fell a victim to the climate of W. Africa" according to Adam White, member of the entomological societies of London and Paris, assistant in the Zoology Department,

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

, from: "Description of some apparently new Insects from the Congo, sent to England by Mr. Curror, Surgeon R. N., and the late Mr. John Cranch" (1843) ''

Annals and Magazine of Natural History The ''Journal of Natural History'' is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology. The journal was established in 1841 under the name ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' (''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'') an ...

'' 12:262-268.

References