Pseudacraea

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daveuk
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Pseudacraea

Post by daveuk »

Don't have that many examples of this genus in my collection. Have started this thread to see if there are members of the forum who may have more & would like to share pictures of their specimens on here

Pair of Pseudacraea boisduvali. Uganda
Two male Pseudacraea boisduvali trimenii. Tanzania
Male Pseudacraea Clarkii. Uganda.

Interestingly the P. clarkii was sold to me as Graphium ridleyanus. I suppose if anything this proves that mimicry does work. Even on humans.
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by daveuk »

Pseudacarea semire
Male from Cameroun
Female recto & verso Uganda
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by Yorky »

Always thought they looked like mini antimachus
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by mcheki »

You have opened up a minefield with this genus!
The genus certainly lives up to its name. This box contains specimens recently off the setting boards before starting to be sorted and identified. This genus is very complex.
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by livingplanet3 »

Yorky wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 11:51 am Always thought they looked like mini antimachus
I recall reading somewhere that it's been theorized that P. antimachus might be part of a Müllerian mimicry ring with some species of Acraea / Pseudacraea, despite the great difference in size. Perhaps in times past, there were some considerably larger species of Acraea / Pseudacraea?
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by daveuk »

mcheki wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 3:05 pm You have opened up a minefield with this genus!
The genus certainly lives up to its name. This box contains specimens recently off the setting boards before starting to be sorted and identified. This genus is very complex.
DSC00459.JPG
A wonderful drawer. Good luck with sorting. Are these self collected?
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by daveuk »

Pseudacraea lucretia expansa
Pair. Kenya.
The orange specimen is the female.
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by Cabintom »

Pseudacraea lucretia protracta (Butler, 1874)

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11/III/2017 Kasugho, Lubero Territory, Nord Kivu 1800m
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by 58chevy »

Pseudacrea boisduvali looks very similar to Agraulis vanillae/incarnata from N. America.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1899402
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by daveuk »

58chevy wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 11:24 pm Pseudacrea boisduvali looks very similar to Agraulis vanillae/incarnata from N. America.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1899402
Except it lacks the lovely silver spots on the verso
Here is my female P. boisduvali trimenii from Tanzania
Recto & verso.
I have seen illustrated females of this subspecies which are larger than my specimen & much more richly coloured.
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by livingplanet3 »

58chevy wrote: Mon Sep 05, 2022 11:24 pm Pseudacrea boisduvali looks very similar to Agraulis vanillae/incarnata from N. America.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1899402
Agraulis is certainly a very striking butterfly, and it shows up every year on my butterfly bushes. Its host plant (Passiflora) is common in my area, and I've reared many larvae over the years. It's important to always ensure that they never run low on foliage however, otherwise they readily turn cannibalistic, which is a behavior that I've also seen in Battus.
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by Cabintom »

One of my Pseudacraea boisduvalii boisduvalii (Doubleday, 1845)
I like the nice dark HW margin on this one.

(male)
20/I/2017 Mamove, Beni Territory, Nord Kivu 1050m
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by mcheki »

Thank you daveuk. You asked if they were self-collected. No, they have been sent to me by collector colleagues and by other local collectors. They originate from several different African countries. When the genus is taxonomically placed in the drawers the locality information will be clarified.
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by Cabintom »

Pseudacraea kuenowii kuenowii Dewitz, 1879

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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by 58chevy »

Agraulis vanillae is a heliconian, most species of which are located in central & south America. Does Pseudacrea, an African genus, have any genetic relationship to heliconians?
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by livingplanet3 »

58chevy wrote: Tue Sep 06, 2022 6:49 pm Agraulis vanillae is a heliconian, most species of which are located in central & south America. Does Pseudacrea, an African genus, have any genetic relationship to heliconians?
Agraulis is in the subfamily Heliconiinae, while Pseudacraea is in the subfamily Limenitidinae (which also includes genera such as Euphaedra, Cymothoe and Lexias). The genetic relationship between the two subfamilies is discussed by Dhungel and Wahlberg (2018) -

https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.7717/peerj.4311
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by 58chevy »

Thanks for the link, livingplanet3. Great info. I wouldn't have guessed that Heliconiinae were related to Limenitidinae, but the genetic studies make it obvious.
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by africaone »

Pseudacraea lucretia gynandro light.jpg
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P. lucretia gynandrmorph (RDC, Katanga), asymetric and distorted male genitalia and forelegs female
Last edited by africaone on Wed Sep 07, 2022 8:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by africaone »

Pseudacraea lucretia ab light.jpg
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P. lucretia (RDC, Katanga) male aberrant (despite may be be gynandro but forelegs and genitalia normal)
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Re: Pseudacraea

Post by Cabintom »

Pseudacraea semire (Cramer, 1779)

(male)
25/II/2017 Kasugho, Lubero Territory, Nord Kivu 1800m
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(female)
30/VIII/2015 Mbau, Nord Kivu
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