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''Pseudacraea lucretia'', the false diadem or false chief, 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

. ''lucretia'' group. The species of this group are easy to separate from those of the preceding groups by the black, white-striped palpus and by the absence of the black spots at the base of the forewing. Beneath, however, they are very different. The sexes are coloured and marked almost alike. - ''Ps. lucretia'' is a widely distributed species and forms several local races. All the forms are black with white or yellow markings. The forewing has a hindmarginal spot, reaching at most to vein 2, a median band composed of 4 (or 5) spots, one at the apex of the cell, one each at the base of cellules 3 and 4 and one in the middle of cellule 2, and a subapical band of 2 spots in cellules 5 and 6. The hindwing has a broad median band and both wings usually before the distal margin two small punctiform spots or dashes in each cellule. The forewing is lighter beneath than above, black-grey with a thick black longitudinal streak in the cell, a triangular black spot at the base of cellule 2 and in the marginal part with black streaks on the interneural folds; the light markings as above. Hindwing beneath yellowish at the base with 6 or 7 rounded black spots, then at least to the middle white or yellowish and at the distal margin more or less broadly darkened with black veins and folds and more distinct submarginal spots than above.- ''lucretia'' Cr. (46 a). The markings on the upper surface white or white-grey; the hindmarginal spot of the fore wing is almost as long as its breadth at the hindmargin, usually reaches vein 2, but is anteriorly rounded or cut off obliquely; spots 2 and 3 in the median band are sharply defined and moderately large, but the other two much smaller and sometimes dull grey; the median band of the hindwing is of almost uniform breadth, straight-edged, 6–7 mm.in breadth and at the inner margin only reaching vein 1 b; the black basal part does not reach the beginning of vein 2. Sierra Leone to Angola and Uganda. -''protracta'' Btlr. only differs in having the median band of the hindwing and the hindmarginal spot of the forewing (at least at the hindmargin) yellowish. Congo. -''expansa'' Btlr. (46 a) is distinguished by the increased size of the light markings and by having the distal margin of the hindwing spotted with brown-yellow at the anal angle. The white spots in the median band of the forewing are especially strongly enlarged; the hindmarginal spot is indeed much broader at the hindmargin than in ''lucretia'' but is much shorter, reaching at most to the middle of cellule 1 b; the median band of the hindwing is white. 10–14 mm. in breadth, distally rounded and reaching the inner margin. East Africa from Delagoa Bay to British East Africa. –  ab. ''heliogenes'' Btlr. only differs from expansa in having the light markings light yellow to brown-yellow instead of white; on the other hand the yellow colour of the distal margin at the anal angle of the hindwing is often absent. Nyassaland and German East Africa. - ''walensensis'' E. Sharpe is the most northerly race, occurring in Somaliland and Abyssinia, and apparently cannot always be sharply differentiated from the type-form. The hindmarginal spot of the forewing is often united with the median band and the submarginal spots on the upperside of the hindwing stand out sharply. Whether the black colour at the base of the hindwing reaches vein 2 or not is not mentioned. - ''tarquinia'' Trim. (46 a) is distinguished by the nearly black ground-colour and the much reduced, sometimes indistinct, light spots of the fore wing and is also on an average somewhat smaller than the other forms. The median band of the hindwing is light yellowish, moderately broad, distally somewhat rounded, and does not reach the inner margin; the hindmarginal spot of the forewing is very small, yellowish, occasionally entirely absent; the spots of the median band very small and often separated; the subapical dots of both wings absent or indistinct. Larva above bright green, beneath whitish; lateral line, head and the first, strongly elongated spines flesh-red; the last spines light yellow; lives on ''Mimusops obovata'' and ''Chrysophyllum''. Pupa green with yellow lateral line and the head produced to a very long point; recalls the pupa of ''Leucophasia sinapis'', but is curved in the opposite direction. Natal to German East Africa. - ''comorana'' Oberth. nearly agrees with the following form and like this differs from all the continental forms in having the black colour at the base of the hindwing above broader, reaching the beginning of vein 2. It is distinguished from ''apaturoides'' by the hindmarginal spot of the forewing, which is smaller, anteriorly rounded, and only reaches the fold of cellule 1 b. Comoros. - ''apaturoides'' Fldr. (46 a) has the hindmarginal spot of the forewing sharply defined, almost quadrate and anteriorly cut off straight by vein 2, and the black basal part of the upperside of the hindwing extended as far as vein 2; the white markings of the upper surface are slightly tinged with greenish and the white colour on the underside of the hindwing reaches the base or is there only slightly spotted with yellowish. Madagascar. The
wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
is 60–72 mm for males and 65–68 mm for females.


Subspecies

*''Pseudacraea lucretia lucretia'' (Senegal to Nigeria) *''Pseudacraea lucretia apaturoides'' (C. & R. Felder, 867 (Madagascar) *''Pseudacraea lucretia comorana'' Oberthür, 1890 (Comoro Islands: Anjouan) *''Pseudacraea lucretia expansa'' Butler, 1878 (South Africa (Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga) Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, east of the Rift Valley in Tanzania and Kenya) *''Pseudacraea lucretia gamae'' Joicey & Talbot, 1927 (São Tomé and Príncipe: Principe) *''Pseudacraea lucretia karthalae'' Collins, 1991 (Comoro Islands: Grand Comore Island) *''Pseudacraea lucretia protracta'' (Butler, 1874) (Cameroon to Angola, Zaire, Uganda, southern Sudan, western Tanzania, western Kenya) *''Pseudacraea lucretia tarquinia'' (Trimen, 1868) (Eastern Cape to northern KwaZulu-Natal) *''Pseudacraea lucretia walensensis'' (Sharpe, 1896) (southern Ethiopia)


Biology

Adults are on wing year round, with a peak from January to July. The larvae feed on ''
Mimusops obovata ''Mimusops'' is a genus of plants in the family Sapotaceae, described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. ''Mimusops'' is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Australia, and various oceanic islands.Allaby, Michael. 1998. ''A D ...
'', ''
Mimusops zeyheri ''Mimusops zeyheri'' is a medium-sized (up to 15m) evergreen tree belonging to the family Sapotaceae and widely distributed in rocky places from the east coast of southern Africa, inland and northwards to tropical Africa. It is commonly known as ...
'', ''
Mimusops afra ''Mimusops afra'' (coastal red milkwood, , , Sepedi: , ) is a species of tree in family Sapotaceae. This tree is found in coastal dune vegetation in Southern Africa from the Eastern Cape, through KwaZulu-Natal to southern Mozambique. Descripti ...
'', ''
Englerophytum magalismontanum ''Englerophytum magalismontanum'', commonly known as stamvrug, is an evergreen tree that mostly grows in rocky places. It has an extensive range, from northern KwaZulu-Natal northwards along the east coast and into the southern African interior, ...
'', '' E. natalense'' and ''
Donella viridifolia ''Donella viridifolia'', commonly known as fluted milkwood, is a potentially large (up to 20 m tall) species of evergreen milkwood tree that occurs in East African coastal forests, southerly coastal forest mosaics and in some inland fores ...
''.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7254134 Butterflies described in 1775 Limenitidinae Taxa named by Pieter Cramer Butterflies of Africa