Pseudacraea Eurytus
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''Pseudacraea eurytus'', the false wanderer, 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 ...
of 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
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
.


Description

The numerous forms of this group dolomena'' and ''Pseudacraea rubrobasalis">rubrobasalis''">Pseudacraea dolomena">dolomena'' and ''Pseudacraea rubrobasalis">rubrobasalis''may be known at once by the long, distinct black streaks on the interneural folds of the hindwing; forewing always with 5 rounded black spots in the cell and 1 or 2 at the base of cellule 1b. The butterflies stand in interesting but very complicated mimetic relations with the '' Planema'' species which fly together with them. In the males the forewing is more pointed with the distal margin straight or slightly in the females the forewing very obtusely rounded with the distal margin curved. * ''Ps. eurytus'' L. (46 c). The hindmarginal spot of the forewing is large, reaches vein 3 and has its proximal edge sharp and straight, but does not cover the base of cellules 1b and 2; hindwing beneath at the base reddish, in the male above red-yellow, towards the distal margin gradually becoming broadly darkened, in the female white with very broad black marginal band, rather sharply defined proximally; the hindmarginal spot and the subapical band of the forewing yellow in the male, white in the female. Sierra Leone to the Cameroons. * ab. ''epigea'' Btlr. The subapical band and the broad hindmarginal spot of the forewing are light orange-yellow as in the hindwing the same, the upperside only with a dark marginal band 3–4 mm. in breadth. Among the type-form. * ab. ''bicolor'' Auriv. is distinguished by having the subapical band of the forewing white, but the hindwing and the hindmarginal spot on the forewing red-yellow. Congo. * ''terra'' Neave differs in having the hindmarginal spot of the forewing very broad, almost entirely filling up the base of cellules 1-2, whilst the ochre-yellow ground-colour of the hindwing reaches the distal margin in cellules 1a-4 and only in cellules 5-7 is separated from it by a narrow black band; the hindmarginal spot and the subapical band of the forewing are lighter yellow. Uganda. * '' imitator'' Trim, is the south-eastern race and is distinguished by having the hindmarginal spot of the forewing absent or very small and placed behind the middle of the hindmargin and the hindwing black-brown at the base, so that the white colour forms a median band. The markings are white in the female, light ochre-yellow or whitish in the male. Natal. The wingspan">KwaZulu-Natal">Natal. The wingspan is 60–68 mm for males and 65–75 mm for females.


Subspecies

*''Pseudacraea eurytus eurytus'' — southern Senegal (Casamance) to Cameroon, Angola, Zaire, southern Sudan, Uganda, west of the Rift Valley in western Kenya and western Tanzania *''Pseudacraea eurytus imitator'' Trimen, 1873 — South Africa, southern Mozambique *''Pseudacraea eurytus conradti'' Oberthür, 1893 — Kenya: east of the Rift Valley, eastern Tanzania, Malawi, northern Mozambique *''Pseudacraea eurytus obscura'' Neave, 1904 — Uganda *''Pseudacraea eurytus '' Ungemach, 1932 — south-western Ethiopia


Biology

Adults are on wing year round, but mainly from December to May. There is a strong peak in late summer. The larvae feed on ''Mimusops obovata'', ''Englerophytum magalismontanum'', ''Englerophytum natalense, E. natalense'' and ''Donella viridifolia''.


Genetic Underdominance

False wanderers display a rare example of stable genetic
Underdominance In genetics, underdominance, also known as homozygote advantage, heterozygote disadvantage, or negative overdominance," is the opposite of overdominance. It is the selection against the heterozygote, causing disruptive selection and divergent ge ...
. This species possesses two alleles which each confer an appearance similar to that of another local butterfly species that is toxic to its predator. Individuals who are heterozygous for this trait appear to be intermediate in appearance and thus experience increased predation and lowered overall fitness, since false wanderers heavily rely on
Batesian mimicry Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, who worked on butt ...
for survival.


References


External links


''Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde'' 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 56
''f'' as ''conradti'' Limenitidinae Butterflies of Africa Butterflies described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Limenitidinae-stub