Charaxes cedreatis, the green demon charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, southern Sudan, northern Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, south-western Kenya, western Tanzania and north-western Zambia.

Description

  • Original description

The male differs from that of Charaxes etheocles in the greenish sheen in the basal third of the upperside of the forewing. It is possible that there are a number of female forms not been properly associated with cedreatis

Aurivillius in Seitz-Female f. cedreatis Hew. Forewing above at the base to the white transverse band and hindwing to 5 mm. from the distal margin olive-grey; the white transverse band of the forewing in cellules 2—6 5mm. in breadth and sharply defined, in la indistinct; apical part black with 2 whitish postdiscal spots in 6 and 7. Hindwing with whitish submarginal and greenish marginal streaks. Above coloured and marked as in the females of tiridates and numenes. Gold Coast to Angola.

Biology

The habitat consists of evergreen forests, Brachystegia (Miombo) woodland and riverine forests. Notes on the biology of cedreatis are given by Pringle et al. (1994), Larsen, T.B. (1991), Larsen, T.B. (2005) and Kielland, J. (1990).

The larvae feed on Albizia brownei, Albizia grandibracteata, Albizia zygia, Griffonia simplicifolia, Annona senegalensis, Dalbergia lactea and Scutia myrtina.

The typical khaki-coloured female apparently mimics females of the much larger species tiridates, numenes and bipunctatus, a phenomenon known as ‘Swynnertonian mimicry’.

Taxonomy

Charaxes cedreatis is a member of the large species group Charaxes etheocles

  • c
  • Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1969 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology)75-166.

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