Belenois raffrayi

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Pieridae

'The Pieridae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Worldwide in distribution, most species are found in the tropics. Adults have medium to small wings that are white, yellow, or orange, with some black or red, and many have hidden ultraviolet patterns that are used in courtship . Species with more than one generation usually have distinct seasonal variation in appearance . Adults of all species visit flowers for nectar, and adults of both sexes have three pairs of walking legs . Males patrol in search of receptive mates, and females lay columnar eggs on leaves, buds, and stems. The majority of caterpillars of North American whites and sulphurs feed on legumes or crucifers (members of the Mustard family ). Typically, temperate species overwinter in the pupal or larval stage , while tropical species overwinter as adults.

'[1]

Subfamily Pierinae

Whites, marbles, and orangetips are members of the Family Pieridae. In North America, 31 species are included . Adults of most species are predominantly white above with some black pattern elements , and their hindwings often have a pattern of yellow and black scales that appear green. Sexes of most species are only slightly dimorphic , though male orangetips have bright orange wingtips. Nearly all adults are avid flower visitors. The males of almost all North American species patrol open, sunny habitats for females, although males of some tropical whites (e.g. Mexican Dartwhite) perch along ravines . Caterpillars of most western whites feed on mustards, though some use capers and others, pineneedles. All species overwinter in the chrysalis stage, and some orangetips and marbles may pass several unfavorable years in the chrysalis stage before hatching .[2]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology:  

This butterfly is linked to forests , forest margins and open grasslands of montane and submontane areas (mostly above 600-700 m ) (Kielland 1990). Both sexes are attracted to flowering shrubs and herbaceous plants .


Larval host-plants include Capparis species (Capparaceae) (Van Someren 1974) and Rhus species (Anacardiaceae) (Kielland 1990).

 

[3].

List of Habitats :

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.6     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland   
  
•     1.9     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane   
  
•     4     Grassland   
  
•     4.7     Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 05-Mar-2007

The nominate subspecies of this butterfly was described from Ethiopia and Sudan. Two additional subspecies are recognized from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda (ssp. extendens) and another from western Tanzania (ssp. similis).

 

[3].

Similar Species

Members of the genus Belenois

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 5 species and subspecies in this genus:

B. anomala (Socotran Caper White) · B. calypso (Calypso Caper White) · B. raffrayi (Raffrays White) · B. rubrosignata (Red-Edged White) · B. theuszi (Central Caper White)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• On a collection of butterflies. London, 1880-98 url p. 436.
• The Hope reports. Oxford: Printed for private circulation, 1897-1958. url p. 10, p. 14, p. 9.
• The Uganda protectorate; an attempt to give some description of the physical geography, botany, zoology, anthropology, languages and history of the territories under British protection in East Central Africa, between the Cong by Sir Harry Johnston. .. With 506 illustrations from drawings and photographs by the author and others, 48 full-page coloured plates by the author and 9 maps by J.G. Bartholomew and the author. London, Hutchinson & Co., 1902. url p. 457.
• Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. London, The Society. url p. 436, p. 91, p. 92.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 17, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Larsen, T. 2011. Belenois raffrayi. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 30January2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2976664
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Gar-1147
• IUCN ID: 194844
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1580276

Footnotes

1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=15&sci=Pieridae&com=Whites and Sulphurs [back]
2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Creusa&search=Search [back]
3. Larsen, T. 2011. Belenois raffrayi. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.