Charaxes xiphares

Forest king emperor
	Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Charaxes
Species:	C. xiphares
Binomial name
	Charaxes xiphares; (Stoll, [1781])
Synonyms
	Papilio xiphares Stoll, 1781; Charaxes xiphares bavenda f. ochremacula van Son, 1935; Charaxes xiphares bavenda f. cyanescens van Son, 1935; Charaxes cithaeron var. brevicaudatus Schultze, 1914; Charaxes desmondi van Someren, 1939; Charaxes xiphares draconis f. candida van Son, 1953; Charaxes xiphares kenwayi f. lutea van Son, 1953; Charaxes kulal van Someren, 1962; Charaxes maudei Joicey & Talbot, 1918; Charaxes xiphares xiphares f. occidentalis van Son, 1953; Charaxes xiphares penningtoni f. luminosa van Son, 1953; Charaxes xiphares staudei f. arikae Henning and Henning, 1992; Charaxes xiphares staudei f. louisae Henning and Henning, 1992; Papilio thyestes Stoll, 1790; Charaxes xiphares reducta Rothschild, 1929; Charaxes xiphares elatias Jordan, 1936; Charaxes xiphares walwandi f. namukanae Collins, 1989 in Henning, 1989;

Charaxes xiphares, the forest king emperor or forest king charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is native to Afromontane forest in the eastern and southern Afrotropical realm.^[1]

The wingspan is 65–80 mm for males and 70–95 mm for females.^[2]

The larvae feed on Craibia brevecaudata, Scutia myrtina, Rhamnus prinoides, Cryptocarya woodii, Scutia myrtina, Chaetachme aristata, and Drypetes gerrardii.^[1]^[2]

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:^[1]

C. x. bavenda van Son, 1935 – South Africa: Soutpansberg in Limpopo province
C. x. bergeri Plantrou, 1975 – DRC
C. x. brevicaudatus Schultze, 1914 – southern Tanzania
C. x. burgessi van Son, 1953 – DRC: Kivu, south-western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi
C. x. desmondi van Someren, 1936 – Kenya: south-east to the Taita Hills
C. x. draconis Jordan, 1936 – Swaziland and South Africa: Mpumalanga province
C. x. kenwayi Poulton, 1929 – South Africa: north-eastern Limpopo province
C. x. kiellandi Plantrou, 1976 – northern Tanzania
C. x. kilimensis van Someren, 1972 – northern Tanzania
C. x. kulal van Someren, 1962 – Kenya: north to Mount Kulal
C. x. ludovici Rousseau-Decelle, 1933 – northern Malawi, north-eastern Zambia
C. x. maudei Joicey & Talbot, 1917 – north-eastern Tanzania
C. x. nguru Collins, 1988 – eastern Tanzania
C. x. occidentalis Pringle, 1995 – South Africa: Western Cape province
C. x. penningtoni van Son, 1953 – South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal province
C. x. sitebi Plantou, 1981 – north-western Tanzania
C. x. staudei Henning & Henning, 1992 – South Africa: north-east and north-west slopes of Blouberg in Limpopo province
C. x. thyestes (Stoll, 1790) – South Africa: Eastern Cape province
C. x. upembana Plantrou, 1976 – DRC
C. x. vumbui van Son, 1936 – eastern Zimbabwe
C. x. walwandi Collins, 1989 – Kenya, Tanzania
C. x. wernickei Joicey & Talbot, 1926 – Cameroon
C. x. woodi van Someren, 1964 – southern Malawi
C. x. xiphares (Stoll, [1781]) – South Africa: Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces

Taxonomy

Charaxes tiridates group.

the supposed clade members are:

Charaxes tiridates
Charaxes numenes - similar to next
Charaxes bipunctatus - similar to last
Charaxes violetta
Charaxes fuscus
Charaxes mixtus
Charaxes bubastis
Charaxes albimaculatus
Charaxes barnsi
Charaxes bohemani
Charaxes schoutedeni
Charaxes monteiri
Charaxes smaragdalis
Charaxes xiphares
Charaxes cithaeron
Charaxes nandina
Charaxes imperialis
Charaxes ameliae
Charaxes pythodoris
? Charaxes overlaeti

For a full list see Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Savela, Markku. "Charaxes xiphares (Stoll, [1781])". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
^ ^a ^b Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
^ "African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013".^{[permanent dead link]}

Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1964 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part II. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 181-235.[1]
Van Someren, 1969 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part V. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 75-166.[2] Additional notes
Victor Gurney Logan Van Someren, 1972 Revisional notes on African Charaxes (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Part VIII. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 215-264.[3] Further notes
Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 31

External links

Images of C. x. bergeri Royal Museum for Central Africa (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. x. burgessi (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. x. desmondi (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. x. kiellandi (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. x. maudei (Albertine Rift Project)
Images of C. x. walwandi (Albertine Rift Project)

Consortium for the Barcode of Life images

[funet-1] Savela, Markku. "Charaxes xiphares (Stoll, [1781])". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 25 May 2016.

[Woodhall-2] Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.

[3] "African Charaxes/Charaxes Africains Eric Vingerhoedt, 2013".^{[permanent dead link]}

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