Viridixes eupale

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Superfamilia: Papilionoidea

Familia: Nymphalidae
Subfamilia: Charaxinae
Tribus: Charaxini
Genus: Viridixes
Species: Viridixes eupale
Name

Viridixes eupale (Drury, 1782)

Synonyms

Papilio Plebejus Urbanus eupale Drury, 1782 (original combination)
Papilio Nymphalis amasia Fabricius, 1795
Charaxes eupale latimargo Joicey & Talbot, 1921 (synonymized by Bouyer et al., 2008: 3)
Charaxes dilutus miotoni van Someren, 1975 replacement name for Charaxes dilutus ngonga Van Someren, 1974 (synonymized by Bouyer et al., 2008: 3)
Charaxes dilutus veneris White & Grant, 1989 (synonymized by Bouyer et al., 2008: 3)
Type locality: Nyamkhowa Mountain, Nyika plateau, Malawi. 1500 m.
Holotype: Coll. White. male ♂. 27.XI.1986. legit R.S. White.
Charaxes eupale veneris (White & Grant, 1989):
Charaxes dilutus kasitu White & Grant, 1989 (synonymized by Bouyer et al., 2008: 3)
Type locality: Swamp forest near Kasitu rock. Dzelanyama range. Malawi. 1250 m.
Holotype: Coll. White. male ♂. XI.1984. legit R.S. White.
Viridixes eupale (Drury, 1782): Bouyer et al., 2008: 3.

References
Additional references

Bouyer, T., Zakharov, E.V., Rougerie, R. & Vingerhoedt, E. 2008: Les Charaxes du groupe eupale: description d'un nouveau genre, révision et approche génétique (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Charaxinae). Entomologia Africana Hors Série 3: 1–32. Reference page.
White, R.S. & Grant, T.A. 1989. Descriptions of two new subspecies of Charaxes dilutus Rothschild from Malawi (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Lambillionea 89(3-4): 35-39. Reference page.

Charaxes eupale, the common green charaxes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.[4]

Biology

eupale is the most common forest charaxes [5] The habitat consists of lowland evergreen forests.

The larvae feed on Scutia myrtina, Albizia gummifera, Albizia zygia, Albizia adianthifolia and Cathormion species.

Notes on the biology of eupale are given by Larsen, T.B. (1991) [6]

The green colouration is produced by pigments as opposed to being produced structurally, which is common in most green butterflies.

Description

A full description is given by Rothschild, W. And Jordan, K., 1900 Novitates Zoologicae Volume 7:510 et seq. [1] (for terms see Novitates Zoologicae Volume 5:545-601 [2])
Subspecies

Charaxes eupale eupale (Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria)
Charaxes eupale latimargo Joicey & Talbot, 1921 [7](south-eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, northern Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, western Kenya, north-western Tanzania)
Charaxes eupale veneris White & Grant, 1989[8] (Malawi, Tanzania, northern Zambia)

Similar species

Similar to Charaxes dilutus but apical green patch darker and hind wing with a dark green margin [9]

Charaxes eupale is in the Charaxes eupale species group (clade) The clade members are:

Charaxes subornatus
Charaxes eupale
Charaxes dilutus
Charaxes montis
Charaxes minor
Charaxes schiltzei
Charaxes schultzei
Charaxes virescens

Bouyer et al., 2008 erected the genus Viridixes Bouyer & Vingerhoedt, 2008 to accommodate species belonging to the eupale species group.[10]
Realm

Afrotropical realm
References
Drury, D. 1782. Illustrations of Natural History 3: xxvi, 1-769 + 2pp. London
"Charaxes Ochsenheimer, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
Bouyer, Zakharov, Rougerie & Vingerhoedt , 2008 Les Charaxes du "groupe eupale" : Description d'un nouveau genre, révision et approche génétique (Lépidoptera, Nymphalidae, Charaxinae) Entomologia Africana Hors série n°3, 2008.
Afrotropical Butterflies: File H - Charaxinae - Tribe Charaxini
Larsen, T.B. 2005 Butterflies of West Africa. Apollo Books, Svendborg, Denmark: 1-595
Larsen, T.B. 1991 The Butterflies of Kenya and their Natural History. Oxford University Press, Oxford: i-xxii, 1-490.
Joicey , J.J., & Talbot, G. 1921. New Lepidoptera collected by Mr. T.A. Barns in east central Africa. Bulletin of the Hill Museum, Witley 1: 40-166.
White, R.S., & Grant, T.A. 1989. Descriptions of two new subspecies of Charaxes dilutus Rothschild from Malawi (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Lambillionea 89 (3-4): 35-39.
Kielland, J. 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363.

Bouyer, T., Zakharov, E.V., Rougerie, R. & Vingerhoedt, E. 2008: Les Charaxes du groupe eupale: description d'un nouveau genre, révision et approche génétique (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Charaxinae). Entomologia Africana Hors Série 3: 1–32.

Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 32
Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1974 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part IX. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Entomology) 29 (8):415-487. [3]
Bouyer, T., Zakharov, E., Rougerie, R. & Vingerhoedt, E. (2008): Les Charaxes du groupe eupale : description d’un nouveau genre, révision et approche génétique (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Charaxinae) Entomologica Africana Hors Série 3:1-32.