Acraea camaena


Acraea camaena, the large smoky acraea, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, southern Burkina Faso, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko, the Republic of the Congo and Angola.

Description

A. camaena Drury. Forewing unicolorous smoke-black with black median spot but otherwise entirely without markings. Hindwing beyond the middle smoke-black with large free basal and discal dots, before the marginal band yellowish; marginal band incised at the veins, deep black with white dots. Sierra Leone to Nigeria and Fernando Po.

Biology

The habitat consists of dry forests, including open coastal forests.
Both sexes are attracted to flowers.
The larvae feed on Premna hispida and Smeathmannia pubescens.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the Acraea terpsicore species group - but see also Pierre & Bernaud, 2014