Vanessa Abyssinica

Vanessa Abyssinica
	Vanessa abyssinica spp. jacksoni in Tanzania
Systematics
Class :	Insects (Insecta)
Order :	Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Superfamily :	Papilionoidea
Family :	Noble butterfly (Nymphalidae)
Genre :	Vanessa
Type :	Vanessa Abyssinica
Scientific name
	Vanessa Abyssinica
	( C. Felder & R. Felder , 1867)

Vanessa abyssinica is a butterfly ( butterflies ) of the genus Vanessa from the family of noble butterflies (Nymphalidae), which occurs in Africa. The specific epithet is derived from Abyssinia .

features

Adults

Vanessa abyssinica has a wingspan of 22 to 44 millimeters. The upper side of the forewing is black-brown. From the middle of the costa a slightly curved yellowish band goes to the outer edge, which is wider than in similar species. There are several whitish spots in the apex . The black-brown upper side of the hind wing has a narrow orange band, which is usually separated from the hem by a narrow black line. Behind the bandage there is a series of small, mostly bluish pithead eye spots.

Pre-imaginal stages

The greenish egg is barrel-shaped with a diameter of 0.56 millimeters and a height of 0.62 millimeters. The egg caterpillar has a black head and a black-brown body. In the subsequent stages, the bristles are longer and more numerous. From the second larval stage onwards, small bumps form, which are clearly extensions (scoli) in the third stage. In the fifth and final stage of the caterpillar, the head has two light brown stripes. On the black body, which is speckled with white dots, a whitish line runs from the second thorax segment to the eighth abdominal segment . The bristles on the head and abdomen are whitish. The caterpillar becomes up to 18 millimeters long.

The light brown doll with a silver sheen is 14 millimeters long. The head has no appendages.

Geographical distribution and habitat

Vanessa abyssinica occurs in mountain forests in Ethiopia , Kenya , Tanzania , Uganda , Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo .

Way of life

The eggs are deposited individually on a stinging hair on the underside of a young leaf or on a stem near the outermost leaf bud of the food plant. The young caterpillars live within a leaf bud and eat the bud from the inside, the caterpillars' droppings remain in the bud. This behavior is very unusual for caterpillars from the spotted butterfly subfamily (Nymphalinae). In the third larval stage, they leave the bud and spin a nest from a leaf.

The caterpillars feed on Urtica massaica Mildred and Obetia pinnatifida Baker .

The moths can be baited very well with bananas .

Systematics

Pyrameis abyssinica was first described by Cajetan von Felder and his son Rudolf in 1867. In 1903 Rothschild & Jordan assigned it to the genus Antanartia . This was retained by Howarth in 1966 when he revised the genus Antanartia . In 1989, while examining the pre-imaginal stages of abyssinica , Nakanishi noticed that they are much more similar to the genus Vanessa than those of Antanartia , represented by hippomene and schaeneia . In 2005, genetic studies by Wahlberg, Brower and Nylin showed that abyssinica is most closely related to the admiral ( V. atalanta ) and the Indian admiral ( V. indica ). An investigation by Wahlberg and Rubinoff in 2011 also placed hippomene and V. dimorphica , which has since been separated from hippomene , into the genus Vanessa .

Subspecies

Vanessa abyssinica spp. abyssinica ( Felder & Felder , 1867) occurs in Ethiopia. The yellowish band on the forewing is not interrupted. The eye spot in space two is smaller than those in three and four and often without a blue core. In space five, the band often widens abruptly.
Vanessa abyssinica spp. vansomeri ( Howarth , 1966) occurs in western Uganda, Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (East Kivu , Ituri ). The yellowish band on the forewing is interrupted.
Vanessa abyssinica spp. jacksoni ( Howarth , 1966) occurs in the highlands of Kenya at 1,500 to 2,700 meters above sea level and in northern Tanzania. The eye spots in spaces two to four are about the same size and the eye in space two has a blue core. In space five, the band is only slightly wider.

Synonyms

Pyrameis abyssinica
Antanartia abyssinica

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b The African butterflies . In: Adalbert Seitz (ed.): The large butterflies of the earth . tape 13 . Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart 1925, p. 227-229 .
↑ ^a ^b Akinor Nakanishi: Immature Stages of Antanartia abyssinica (FELDER) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) . In: The Entomological Society of Japan (Ed.): Japanese Journal of Entomology . tape 57 , no. 4 , December 25, 1989, ISSN 0915-5805 , p. 712-719 ( nii.ac.jp [accessed January 18, 2015]).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Mark C. Williams: Tribe Nymphalini Swainson, 1827 . 2007 ( WORD file [accessed March 31, 2015]).
^ VGL van Someren: List of foodplants of some east african Rhopalocera, with notes on the early stages of some Lycanidea . In: Journal of the Lepidopterists Society . tape 28 , no. 4 , 1974, p. 322 ( PDF [accessed January 17, 2015]).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d T. G. Howarth: Revisional notes on the genus Antanartia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) . In: Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History . tape 18 , no. 2 . Adlard and Son, Dorking 1966, p. 21–43 ( online [accessed February 5, 2013]).
↑ Niklas Wahlberg, Andrew VZ Brower, Sören Nylin: Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of tribes and genera in the subfamily Nymphalinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) . In: The Linnean Society of London (Ed.): Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . tape 86 , no. 2 , 2005, p. 227-251 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1095-8312.2005.00531.x ( PDF ).
↑ Niklas Wahlberg, Daniel Rubinoff: Vagility across Vanessa (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): mobility in butterfly species does not inhibit the formation and persistence of isolated sister taxa . In: Systematic Entomology . tape 36 , no. 2 . Wiley, April 2011, p. 362-370 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1365-3113.2010.00566.x ( online [accessed January 13, 2013]).

[Seitz13-1] The African butterflies . In: Adalbert Seitz (ed.): The large butterflies of the earth . tape 13 . Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart 1925, p. 227-229 .

[Nakanishi-2] Akinor Nakanishi: Immature Stages of Antanartia abyssinica (FELDER) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) . In: The Entomological Society of Japan (Ed.): Japanese Journal of Entomology . tape 57 , no. 4 , December 25, 1989, ISSN 0915-5805 , p. 712-719 ( nii.ac.jp [accessed January 18, 2015]).

[Williams-3] Mark C. Williams: Tribe Nymphalini Swainson, 1827 . 2007 ( WORD file [accessed March 31, 2015]).

[Someren-4] VGL van Someren: List of foodplants of some east african Rhopalocera, with notes on the early stages of some Lycanidea . In: Journal of the Lepidopterists Society . tape 28 , no. 4 , 1974, p. 322 ( PDF [accessed January 17, 2015]).

[Howarth-5] T. G. Howarth: Revisional notes on the genus Antanartia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) . In: Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History . tape 18 , no. 2 . Adlard and Son, Dorking 1966, p. 21–43 ( online [accessed February 5, 2013]).

[Wahlberg2005-6] Niklas Wahlberg, Andrew VZ Brower, Sören Nylin: Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of tribes and genera in the subfamily Nymphalinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) . In: The Linnean Society of London (Ed.): Biological Journal of the Linnean Society . tape 86 , no. 2 , 2005, p. 227-251 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1095-8312.2005.00531.x ( PDF ).

[WahlbergRubinoff-7] Niklas Wahlberg, Daniel Rubinoff: Vagility across Vanessa (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae): mobility in butterfly species does not inhibit the formation and persistence of isolated sister taxa . In: Systematic Entomology . tape 36 , no. 2 . Wiley, April 2011, p. 362-370 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1365-3113.2010.00566.x ( online [accessed January 13, 2013]).