Acraea pharsalus

Acraea pharsalus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Acraea
Species:	A. pharsalus
Binomial name
Acraea pharsalus Ward, 1871
Synonyms
Acraea (Actinote) pharsalus Acraea pharsalus f. duplicatus Stoneham, 1943 Acraea pharsaloides Holland, 1892 Acraea pharsalus saluspha Suffert, 1904 Acraea pharsalus var. pharsaloides ab. pallidepicta Strand, 1911 Acraea pharsalus var. pharsaloides ab. nia Strand, 1911 Acraea pharsalus f. ruperti O’Neil, 1919

Acraea pharsalus, the East African Forest Acraea or Pharsalus Acraea, is a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique. The habitat consists of forests and riverine vegetation in Guinea savanna.

Adults have been recorded from July to September.

The larvae feed on Theobroma cacao, Tectona grandis, Ficus exasperata, Ficus aspersifolia, Ficus sycomorus, Laportea peduncularis, Fleurya ovalifolia and Boehmeria species.

Subspecies

• Acraea pharsalus pharsalus (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea: Bioko and Annobon, Angola, northern Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya, Tanzania, northern Zambia)
• Acraea pharsalus carmen Pyrcz, 1991 (Equatorial Guinea: island of Principe)
• Acraea pharsalus pharsaloides Holland, 1892 (eastern Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique)
• Acraea pharsalus rhodina Rothschild, 1902 (Ethiopia, Sudan: south to the Boma plateau)