Acraea rabbaiae
Acraea rabbaiae, the clear wing acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini, from Mozambique to Kenya and in Tanzania.
Description
A. rabbaiae Ward. Fore wing diaphanous with a black basal dot in 1 b and with discal dots in 1 b to 6, 10 and 11, which beneath are united with one another and with a spot in the apex of the cell, forming a black transverse band; the veins at the distal margin black and in cellules 4 to 7 bordering large but indistinct light yellowish marginal spots. Hindwing very thinly scaled, whitish, with black, light yellow- spotted marginal band 2 to 3 mm. in breadth and entirely without other markings. Delagoa Bay to British East Africa and Rhodesia. - mombasae Smith only differs in having the hindwing and partially also the forewing scaled with very light brown-yellow instead of white and the discal dots of the forewing smaller and often indistinct. German East Africa.The wingspan is 45–52 mm for males and 55–65 mm for females.
Subspecies
- Acraea rabbaiae rabbaiae
- Acraea rabbaiae perlucida Henning & Henning, 1996
Biology
Adults are on wing year-round, with peaks from September to June and from March to June.The larvae feed on Tryphostemma zanzibaricum and Schlechterina mitostemmatoides.