Charaxes violetta


Charaxes violetta, the violet-spotted emperor or violet-spotted charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Africa.
Species is double brooded from August to October and April to June.
Larvae feed on Blighia unijugata and Deinbollia species.

Full description

The wingspan is 65–70 mm for males and 75–85 mm for females. Both sexes above almost exactly like the corresponding sexes of cithaeron, but differing in the presence of a fine, nearly straight transverse line in the middle of the hindwing beneath, distally margined with white, in the male narrowly, in the female for a breadth of 2–3 mm. Delagoa Bay to Nyassaland and Mombasa.Larva green, sprinkled with minute yellowish dots; horns on the head bluish or violet; the dorsal spots grey or rust-coloured.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:
  • C. v. maritima van Someren, 1966
  • C. v. melloni Fox, 1963
  • C. v. meru van Someren, 1966
  • C. v. violetta Grose-Smith, 1885

Realm

Afrotropical realm

Taxonomy

Charaxes tiridates group.
The supposed clade members are:
For a full list see Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013.