Acraea encedana Pierre, 1976

Liseki, Steven D. & Vane-Wright, Richard I., 2018, Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mount Kilimanjaro: Nymphalidae subfamily Helconiinae, Journal of Natural History 52 (39 - 40), pp. 2511-2552 : 2535

[ Acraea encedana Pierre, 1976 ]

Larsen 1996: pl. 52, fig. 651i. d ’ Abrera 1997: 165 (2 figs; note that sex symbols are reversed; the ‘ male ’ is a female f. ‘ alcippina ’ Aurivillius , 1899, from Arusha District; the ‘ female ’ is a male) . SI: Figure 22a – f.

Forewing length: male 25.0 – 32.0 mm [mean (n = 26) 28.44 mm, SD = 1.418]; female 30.0 – 35.5 mm [mean (n = 16) 32.41 mm, SD = 1.205].

Note: It is widely said that this species is reliably separable from the next ( A. encedon ) only by examination of the genitalia (and early stages). Pierre and Bernaud (2014) recognise five morphs of A. encedana ; as with the more numerous morphs of A. encedon , all show individual variation, and apparently occur in both sexes. Larsen (1996, p. 363), however, stated that A. encedana has a ‘ deeper orange ground colour, and the postdiscal black spots on the hindwing underside which are closer to the [discal] cell ’. Examination of material in OUMNH identified by Jacques Pierre suggests that the ground colour character is helpful, but probably not the supposed hindwing spot pattern difference. Larsen (1996, 2005, p. 447) also suggested that encedana is larger than encedon (our forewing length data are consistent, but the sample mean values are quite small, with considerable overlap), and is generally restricted to open, marshy habitats. Bernaud (2000) indicates that in West Africa, at least, encedana can be found on mountains above 1500 m, whereas encedon does not exceed that altitude. The larval foodplants differ radically ( encedon on Commelina , encedana on Desmodium ), as does the coloration of larvae and pupae.