Graphium ridleyanus
Graphium ridleyanus, the acraea swordtail, is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Central African Republic, the DRC, Chad, southern Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, western Tanzania and Zambia. Its habitat consists of the forest/savanna transition zone.
Description
Hindwing rounded, without tail. Frons broadly yellow at each side, only narrowly black in the middle. Palpi unicolorous yellow. Wings above black and red, marked similarly to the species of the nymphalid genus Acraea. Forewing black, semitransparent in places, with a half-band of 5 red spotsin cellules 1 a—4 and two deep black transverse spots, margined with yellow at each side, in the cell; hindwing above red with black marginal band and base and a few black spots. From Lokoja on the Niger to Angola, Equatoria and Bukoba on the Victoria Nyanza. from Royal Museum of Central Africa.Biology
Adults mimic large brush-footed butterflies of the genus Acraea, such as Acraea egina and Acraea perenna. Males are known to mud-puddle.The larvae feed on Popowia congoensis.
Taxonomy
Graphium eridleyanus belongs to a clade with six members. All have similar genitaliaThe clade members are:
- Graphium angolanus
- Graphium endochus
- Graphium morania
- Graphium taboranus
- Graphium schaffgotschi
- ''Graphium ridleyanus''