Bematistes vestalis

Smoky bematistes
	in Ghana
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Bematistes
Species:	B. vestalis
Binomial name
	Bematistes vestalis; Felder & Felder, 1865
Synonyms
	Acraea vestalis Felder & Felder, 1865; Acraea (Acraea) vestalis; Planema vestalis congoensis Le Doux, 1937; Planema vestalis stavelia Suffert, 1904; Planema umbra ab. fasciata Aurivillius, 1913;

Bematistes vestalis, the smoky bematistes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.^[3]

Description

.

P. vestalis is distinguished from all the other species by the transverse band on the upperside of the forewing, otherwise so sharply conspicuous, being entirely absent or only in its posterior part (in cellules l-2) distinct and light grey-yellow; cellule 1 a is nearly always yellowish to beyond the middle; the hindwing above is light brown-yellow at least to the middle, but beneath only yellow-brown at the base as far as the apex of the cell. In the type-form vestalis Fldr. (58 e) the upperside of the fore wing is unicolorous blackish to the base except for a yellow stripe at the hindmargin and the more or less distinct transverse band and the hindwing above has a black marginal band 7-9 mm. in breadth, sharply defined proximally, and beneath a usually very distinct whitish transverse band behind the basal part. Sierra Leone to the Niger. - In stavelia Suff. (59 a) the basal part of the forewing above is more or less broadly suffused with light yellow and the yellow basal area on the upperside of the hindwing is not sharply defined distally and sends out yellowish rays nearly to the distal margin; on the under surface of the hindwing the whitish median band is absent or indistinct. Cameroons to the Congo. ^[4]

Subspecies

Bematistes vestalis vestalis (Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria)
Bematistes vestalis congoensis (Le Doux, 1937) (Democratic Republic of the Congo: Lualaba and Lushala), western Tanzania)
Bematistes vestalis stavelia (Suffert, 1904) (Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo: north-west to Mongala)

Biology

The habitat consists of lowland forests.

This species is mimicked by the striata morph of Pseudacraea eurytus.

The larvae feed on Adenia cisampelloides.

Taxonomy

See Pierre & Bernaud, 2014 ^[5]

References

^ Felder, C., & Felder, R. [1865-1867].Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara vi, 1-549. [1865: 1-136; 1865: 137-378; 1867: 379-549]
^ "Acraea Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Tribe Acraeini". Archived from the original on 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
^ Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Grosschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Grosschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Pierre & Bernau, 2014 Classification et Liste Synonymique des Taxons du Genre Acraea pdf