Cynandra

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
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 Limenitidinae
Tribus: Adoliadini
Genus: Cynandra
Species: C. opis
Name

Cynandra Schatz, [1887] in Staudinger & Schatz.

Type species: Papilio afer Drury, 1782 (= Papilio opis Drury, [1773])
References

Lagnel, M., 1966: Une nouvelle sous-espèce de Cynandra opus Drury. Lambillionea 66:

Cynandra opis, the brilliant nymph, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Cynandra. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Tanzania.[2] The habitat consists of dense forests.

The larvae feed on Dissotis species.

Description
Female
Dorsal view
Ventral view

Upperside: antennae brown. Head, thorax, and abdomen brown. Wings dark brown or chocolate colour, formed into divisions by lines of a yellowish colour crossing and intersecting them in various directions. A yellow bar rises on the anterior wings, near the middle, and crossing them and the posterior, meets at the extremity of the body. Close to where the bar rises on the anterior wings are six very small white spots, placed between the nerves, reaching to the anterior edges.

Underside: palpi, breast, and sides greyish brown. Anterior wings greyish, clouded with red brown, particularly at the tips; on the middle of the external edges is a patch of yellow, and on the middle of the posterior edges is a patch of a pale clay colour, with six small white spots. Posterior wings having a third part, next the shoulders, greyish and dark brown; the remainder pale clay, with a reddish-brown patch next the upper corners; from whence runs an undulated brown line to the abdominal edges at the extremity of the body, and another fainter along the external edges. The wings are dentated (tooth like).

Wingspan 2+1⁄2 inches (64 mm).[3]
Subspecies

Cynandra opis opis (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, western Cameroon)
Cynandra opis bernardii Lagnel, 1967 (Cameroon,Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, north-western Tanzania)

References

"Cynandra Schatz, [1887]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Adoliadini
Drury, Dru (1837). Westwood, John (ed.). Illustrations of Exotic Entomology. Vol. 2. p. 35-36. pl. XVIII.