Amauris tartarea

Amauris tartarea
Figure 2
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Amauris
Species:	A. tartarea
Binomial name
Amauris tartarea Mabille, 1876[1]
Synonyms
Amauris egialea var. tartareaMabille, 1876 Amauris (Amauris) tartarea Amauris psyttaleaPlötz, 1880 Amauris damocles var. gabunicaAurivillius, 1881 Amauris bulbiferaGrose-Smith, 1887 Amauris damocles var. albidiorStaudinger, 1896 Amauris mozartiSuffert, 1904 Amauris tartarea reataSuffert, 1904 Amauris psyttalea ab. intermediaGrünberg, 1911 Amauris damocles ab. bibundanaStrand, 1913 Amauris damocles ab. tartaroidesStrand, 1913 Amauris damocles ab. bassanaStrand, 1913 Amauris damocles ab. psyttaloidesStrand, 1913 Amauris psyttalea vansomereniBryk, 1937 Amauris psyttalea vansomereni ab. lagaiDufrane, 1948 Amauris tartarea f. palisoteaStoneham, 1958 Amauris tartarea f. steropesStoneham, 1958 Amauris damocles var. damoclidesStaudinger, 1896 Amauris lecerfiBoullet, 1913 Amauris damocles damoclides ab. amplificataJoicey and Talbot, 1925

Amauris tartarea, the monk or dusky friar, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.^[2] The habitat consists of various types of forests.

Adult males mud-puddle and imbibe pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Heliotropium species, especially from the roots of dug-up plants. Both sexes are attracted to flowers. The species is mimicked by Hypolimnas anthedon.

The larvae feed on Asclepiadaceae and Brassica species.

Subspecies

• Amauris tartarea tartarea (Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea: Mbini, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya, western Tanzania, Zambia, north-eastern Botswana, Namibia)
• Amauris tartarea damoclidesStaudinger, 1896 (south-eastern Kenya, eastern and northern Tanzania, Malawi, north-eastern Zambia)
• Amauris tartarea tukuyuensisKielland, 1990 (south-western Tanzania)

References

1. "Amauris Hübner, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. "Afrotropical Butterflies: Nymphalidae - Subtribe Danaina". Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2012-05-29.

Further reading

• Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 25 also as bulbifera and psyttalea and (spp.) damoclides