Antanartia delius

Antanartia delius
Illustration by Dru Drury
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Antanartia
Species:	A. delius
Binomial name
Antanartia delius (Drury, 1782)[1]
Synonyms
Papilio delius Drury, 1782 Papilio eurocilia Fabricius, 1793 Vanessa demonica Godart, 1819 Antanartia amauroptera Sharpe, 1904 Hypanartia delius nigrescens Suffert, 1904 Antanartia delius f. kamitugensis Dufrane, 1945

Antanartia delius, the Forest Admiral, is a butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. It is found in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.^[2] The habitat consists of lowland forests.

Both sexes are attracted to fermented fruit.

The larvae feed on Australina acuminata, Pouzolzia parasitica, Musanga and Urtica species. They live in tents constructed from the leaves of their host plant. This tent is made by chewing through the midrib near the end of the leaf and forming this into a cylindrical shelter.

Antanartia delius depicted in Seitz Fauna Africana

Description

Upper Side. Antennae black. Thorax and abdomen red-brown. Anterior wings nearly black at the base, and also half of them next the tips, whereon are five small white spots, the middle of them being of a dark orange. Posterior wings also black at the base; each of them is furnished with two tails, the outward ones the longest; the external edges being bordered with dark brown, almost black, and all the middle part of the wing is dark orange.

Under Side. Palpi and legs yellowish. Breast dark brown. Abdomen yellowish. Wings with blackish and dark brown spots and marks, not to be distinctly described. Anterior wings with a broad yellowish bar crossing them from the anterior edges to the lower corners; while the posterior are also remarkable for a blueish patch placed between the outer tails and the abdominal corners. Wing-span nearly 2½ inches (60 mm). ^[3]

Subspecies

• Antanartia delius delius (Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, western Kenya, western Tanzania)
• Antanartia delius guineensis Howarth, 1966 (Bioko)

References

1. Antanartia, Site of Markku Savela
2. Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Nymphalini
3. Drury, Dru (1837). Westwood, John, ed. Illustrations of Exotic Entomology 3. p. 19. pl. XIV.