Amauris niavius

Amauris niavius, the friar, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the forests of tropical Africa.

Amauris niavius
Male, dorsal side
Ventral side, Bobiri Forest, Ghana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Amauris
Species:
A. niavius
Binomial name
Amauris niavius
Synonyms
  • Papilio niavius Linnaeus, 1758
  • Amauris obliterata Dufrane, 1948
  • Amauris partita Talbot, 1941
  • Amauris dominicanus Trimen, 1879
Amauris niavius - museum specimen

The wingspan is 80–85 mm for males and 78–82 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round (with peaks in late summer and autumn).[1]

The larvae feed on Cynanchum (including C. medium, C. nigrum and C. vincetoxicum), Gymnema (including G. sylvestre), Marsdenia, Secamone, Tylophora and Ipomoea. Larvae of subspecies dominicanus feed on Gymnema sylvestre.[2]

Subspecies
  • Amauris niavius niavius (from western Kenya to Zaire, Angola, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Fernando Pó (Macías Nguema Island))
  • Amauris niavius dominicanus Trimen, 1879 (Natal, Mozambique, from Rhodesia to Malawi, eastern Tanzania and Kenya east of the Rift Valley)
  • Amauris niavius aethiops Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (Ethiopia, northern Uganda, southern Sudan)

References
  1. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
  2. "Amauris Hübner, 1816" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
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