The White-barred Emperor or White-barred Charaxes (Charaxes brutus) is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Nymphalidae

Nymphalidae

The Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterflies which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called...

 family. It is found in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 (see subspecies section for detailed information).
The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 60–75 mm in males and 75–90 mm in females. Flight period is year-round.

The larvae feed on Grewia

Grewia

The large flowering plant genus Grewia is today placed by most authors in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by in the APG. Formerly, it was placed in either the linden family or the Sparrmanniaceae...

species, Entandrophagma delevoi, Trichilia dregeana

Trichilia dregeana

Trichilia dregeana is a tree in the family Meliaceae. It is commonly known as the Forest Mahogany. These trees are found in forest areas from the Eastern Cape of South Africa to Tropical Africa.- References :...

, Blighia unifugata, Melai azedarach, Trichilia emetica

Trichilia emetica

Trichilia emetica is a tree in the family Meliaceae. It is commonly known as the Natal Mahogany. These trees are found in riverine vegetation and open woodland from KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa to Tropical Africa.- References :...

, and Ekebergia capensis

Ekebergia capensis

Ekebergia capensis is a tree in the Meliaceae family. It is commonly known as the Cape Ash. Its range extends from the Eastern Cape of South Africa to Sudan and Ethiopia.-References:...

.

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognised:

• Charaxes brutus brutalus (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, West Nigeria)
• Charaxes brutus cyclone (Coastal Kenya & Tanzania)
• Charaxes brutus agustus (Eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, Northern Angola, Zaire, West Uganda)
• Charaxes brutus natalensause (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania)
• Charaxes brutus roberta (Pemba Island)

Brutus brutus(Cramer,1779)W.African forest block,from guinea to W.Nigeria

Brutus angustus Rothschild,1900 C.Africa to Uganda in the east and RDC to the south

Brutus alcyone Stoneham,1943 Kenia,Tanzania,Rwanda,Burundi(estern parts)

Brutus roberti Turlin,1987 confined to Pemba Island,of the coast of Kenia/Tanzania

Brutus natalensis Staudinger and Schatz E.Africa from Tanzania to S.Africa

External links

• Species info