Subfamily Heliconiinae.: A largely pantropical group, with one of the five tribes found in the Holarctic Region.
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Tribe Acraeini: There are two Afrotropical genera contained within this tribe; Telchinia and Acraea, both represented at Semuliki. There are 138 described Afrotropical species within this tribe with 104 species recorded in Uganda. At Semuliki a total of 45 species from both genera have been recorded: 25 from the genus Telchinia and 20 species of Acraea, contributing to a third of the Ugandan species total.
Genus Cymothoe: There are 15 species of the Afrotropical genus Cymothoe so far recorded at Semuliki from a.continent total of 78 (Williams, 2018) and a Ugandan total of 17 (Williams, 2015) or 90% of Uganda's total. The two Ugandan species not being recorded at Semuliki being C. distincta and C. indamora, but with both these species being recorded either in the Ituri Forest or Semliki Valley (Ducarme, 2018) it is a distinct possibility that they will also be found in Semuliki. Only three species are frequently sampled in traps and these are C. sangaris, C. cyclades and C. confusa. This genus has been categorised into clades nd the most commonly trapped species C. confusa had a distinctly clumped distribution within Semuliki. Species from this genus were observed more in the forest midstorey as compared to the preference of the forest floor for the genera Bebearia, Euphaedra and Euriphene.
Genus Cymothoe: There are 15 species of the Afrotropical genus Cymothoe so far recorded at Semuliki from a.continent total of 78 (Williams, 2018) and a Ugandan total of 17 (Williams, 2015) or 90% of Uganda's total. The two Ugandan species not being recorded at Semuliki being C. distincta and C. indamora, but with both these species being recorded either in the Ituri Forest or Semliki Valley (Ducarme, 2018) it is a distinct possibility that they will also be found in Semuliki. Only three species are frequently sampled in traps and these are C. sangaris, C. cyclades and C. confusa. This genus has been categorised into clades nd the most commonly trapped species C. confusa had a distinctly clumped distribution within Semuliki. Species from this genus were observed more in the forest midstorey as compared to the preference of the forest floor for the genera Bebearia, Euphaedra and Euriphene.
BUTTERFLY
Research, Conservation and Education
Semuliki National Park, Uganda
FAMILY NYMPHALIDAE
Subfamily Satyrinae
A large tropical group and at Semuliki there are records for seven of the genera in the Satyrinae subfamily, five genera are fruit-feeders (Bicyclus, Melanitis, Elymnias, Gnophodes and Brakefieldia) while the remaining two - Ypthimomorpha and Ypthima are commonly found in savannah and forest margins.
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Genus Ypthimomorpha
A single species resides within this Afrotropical genus, Ypthimomorpha itonia. This species has many characteristics in common with species from the genus Ypthima.
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Genus Ypthima
Of the 111 species making up this genus, 19 are found in the Afrotropical region and eight recorded in Uganda. Three have so far been recorded at Semuliki: Y. asterope, Y. doleta and Y. albida. Although Y. simplicia has so far not been recorded, it has been sampled both within the ituri Forest and the DRC portion of the Semliki Valley.
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Subfamily Danainae
There are currently eight species from three genera recorded at the park, Danaus with one, Tirumala with two and Amauris with five species.
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Genus Tirumala
There are 10 species described within this genus but only two are found within the Afrotropical region: T. formosa and T. petiverana, both recorded at Semuliki. Neither species are particularly abundant in the park and are more often netted along the park's forest margins.
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Ypthimomorpha itonia (male, upper and underside, sexes similar with females being lighter)
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Ypthima asterope (male, upper and underside, sexes similar with females being lighter)
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Ypthima doleta (female, upper and underside, sexes similar - slightly larger than Y. asterope)
Ypthima albida (waiting on field image)
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Tirumala formosa (upper and underside, males and females similar)
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Tirumala petiverana ((upper and underside, males and females similar)
Genus Amauris
There are 16 species described within this genus and all are found exclusively within the Afrotropical region: Five species have been recorded from Semuliki: A. niavius, A. tartarea, A. hecate, A. albimaculata and A. crawshayi. As these species weren't particularly targeted for recording purposes their abundance and distribution is not as well known as the fruit-feeding assemblage species.
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Amauris niavius (upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Amauris niavius (upperside, showing slight pattern variation)
Amauris niavius (underside, showing slight pattern variation)
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Amauris tartarea (female, upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Amauris hecate (female upper and underside, sexes similar)
Amauris albimaculata and A. crawshayi (waiting on field images)
Genus Danaus
There are 12 species described within this genus but only 2 species reside within the Afrotropical region.. Only one species is recorded at Semuliki, the common Danaus chrysippus.
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Danaus chrysippus (upper and underside, sexes similar)
Danaus chrysippus (upperside, pattern variation)
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Danaus chrysippus (underside, pattern variation)
Danaus chrysippus (upper and underside, further pattern variation)
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Danaus chrysippus (upper and underside, further pattern variation)
Subfamily Libytheinae
There are currently two genera within this subfamily, one of which occurs in the Afrotropical region: Libythea.
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Genus Libythea
There are nine species described within this genus but only five are found within the Afrotropical region and one has been recorded at Semuliki: L. labdaca. .
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Libythea labdaca (upper and underside,sexes similar)
Subfamily Nymphalinae
There is continuing research on the systematics of this group and for further information check out www.nymphalidae.net. Currently species are placed within six tribes (Coeini, Nymphalini, Junoniini, Victorinini, Kallimini and Melitaeini) with four monotypic tribes (Kallimoides, Vanessula, Rhinopalpa and Pycina) which have yet to be classified. The two species belonging to the monotypic tribes Kallimoides (K. rumia) and Vanessula (V. milca) are fruit-feeders and have been described within the fruit-feeding assemblage tab.
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Genus Catacroptera
A monotypic genus of Afrotropical origin. The single species has two described subspecies, of which the nominate is found at Semuliki: C. cloanthe cloanthe. A butterfly frequented more in savannah habitat.
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Genus Salamis
There are four species described within this genus but only one is found on the mainland, S. cacta. The other three species are found on the islands of Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Réunion.
Catacroptera cloanthe (waiting on field image)
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Salamis cacta (upper and underside, males and females similar)
Genus Junonia
A global genus with an Afrotropical component of 20 species. Eleven species have been recorded in Uganda and of these eight have been recorded at Semuliki. Of the three other Ugandan species, J. hierta and J. orithya have been recorded in the Ituri Forest and DRC Semliki Valley while J. natalica has been recorded at Moroto in north-eastern Uganda. Thanks to Mark Williams for providing identifying characteristics for differentiating J. stygia and J. gregorii.
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Junonia oenone (upper and underside, male - sexes similar)
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Junonia sophia (male, upper and underside - yellow form, sexes similar)
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Junonia sophia (male, upper and underside - white form)
Junonia sophia (male, upper and underside - variation)
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Junonia terea (male, upper and underside)
Junonia terea (female, upperside)
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Junonia terea (female, underside)
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Junonia gregorii (male, upper and underside)
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Junonia gregorii (female, upper and underside)
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Junonia stygia (male, upper and underside)
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Junonia stygia (female, upper and underside)
Junonia chorimene (male, upper and underside)
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Junonia chorimene (female, upperside)
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Junonia chorimene (female, underside)
Junonia ansorgei and J. westermanni (waiting on field images)
Genus Protogoniomorpha
An Afrotropical genus containing just four species, three of which are recorded in Uganda, with all three also recorded at Semuliki: P. temora, anacardii and parhassus. The fourth species of this genus P. cytora is only found in West Africa.
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Protogoniomorpha anacardii (male, upper and underside)
Protogoniomorpha anacardii (female, upperside)
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Protogoniomorpha anacardii (female, underside)
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Protogoniomorpha anacardii (wet season form, upper and underside)
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Protogoniomorpha parhassus (male, upper and underside)
Protogoniomorpha parhassus (female, upperside)
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Protogoniomorpha parhassus (female, underside)
Protogoniomorpha temora (male, upperside)
​​Image by Owene73 (original from inaturalist.org)
Genus Precis
An Afrotropical genus containing 16 species, 10 of which are recorded in Uganda but only four so far recorded at Semuliki: P. pelarga, P. actia, P. antilope and P. tugela. This genus is considerably under-represented at Semuliki, where in comparison, within the Ituri Forest and the DRC Semliki Valley nine species have been recorded. With large variations in seasonal forms and species intergrades, this can sometimes make it a difficult genus to identify specimens. Thanks to Mark Williams for identification clarification.
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Precis pelarga (male, upper and underside, wet season form)
Precis pelarga (upper and underside, dry season form)
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Precis actia, P. antilope and P. tugela (waiting on field images)
Precis pelarga (intermediate form, male, upper and underside, dry season form)
Genus Hypolimnas
There are 15 Afrotropical species described with four being recorded at Semuliki: misippus, anthedon, salmacis and monteironis. At present there are field images for only three species. H. anthedon is highly variable and some examples of variability at Semuliki are shown below.
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Hypolimnas salmacis (male, upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Hypolimnas anthedon (male, upper and underside)
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Hypolimnas anthedon (male, upperside)
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Hypolimnas anthedon (male, underside)
Hypolimnas anthedon (male, upper and underside)
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Hypolimnas anthedon (male, upper and underside)
Hypolimnas anthedon (male, upperside)
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Hypolimnas anthedon (male, underside)
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Hypolimnas anthedon (male, upper and underside)
Hypolimnas monteironis (waiting on field image)
Hypolimnas misippus (female, upper and underside)
Subfamily Cyrestinae
Comprising three genera, but only one of these genera has representation within the Afrotropical region, Cyrestis and then only one species: Cyrestis camillus.
Genus Cyrestis
C. camillus is a fairly common and distinctive species, ranging within the forest margins at Semuliki and open trails within these margins.
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Cyrestis camillus (upper and underside, sexes similar)
Subfamily Apaturinae
Comprising a total of 20 genera, but only one occurring in the Afrotropical region: Apaturopsis. This genus comprises three species, two of which are endemic to Madagascar.
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Genus Apaturopsis
The non-Madagascan endemic species recorded at Semuliki is Apaturopsis cleochares.
Apaturopsis cleochares (upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Subfamily Heliconninae
Several phylogenies have been described but as yet no definitive systematic tree has been detailed. Comprising a total of up to 50 genera and a number of tribes, the following tribes and species being recorded at Semuliki.
Tribe Vagrantini
Within the Afrotropical region this tribe is represented by three genera: Phalanta, Lachnoptera and Smerina. Only two of these genera have species present within Semuliki, the genus Smerina contains only one species endemic to Madagascar.
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Genus Lachnoptera
A small genus of two species: Lachnoptera anticlea and L. ayresii. Only L. anticlea has been recorded from Semuliki.
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Genus Phalanta
Another small genus of six species, two being recorded from Semuliki: Phalanta phalantha and P. eurytus.
Lachnoptera anticlea (waiting on field image)
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Phalanta eurytus (male, upper and underside)
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Phalanta eurytus (female, upperside)
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Phalanta eurytus (female, underside)
Phalanta phalantha (female, upper and underside)
Tribe Argynnini
Within the Afrotropical region this tribe is represented by two genera: Issoria and Argynnis. Only one species of the genus Issoria has been recorded from Semuliki.​
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Genus Issoria
A genus represented by six species, one of which has been recorded from Semuliki: Issoria baumanni. ​​​
Issoria baumanni (waiting on field image)
Subfamily Biblidinae
Comprising six genera from the Afrotropical region, with only one genus that can be considered a non fruit-feeder: Mesoxantha.
Genus Mesoxantha
Only one species is included within this genus and this is found at Semuliki: Mesoxantha ethosea.
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Mesoxantha ethosea (female,waiting on field image)
Mesoxantha ethosea (male, upper and underside)
Subfamily Limenitidinae
With a number of genera including Euphaedra, Bebearia, Euriphene and Cymothoe included within the fruit-feeding assemblage, the following genera do not feed on fruit.
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Genus Pseudoneptis
Containing only one species, Pseudoneptis bugandensis.
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Genus Evena
Formerly the genus Catuna which was found to be invalid as it was a junior synonym of Evena. There are five species within this genus and all are endemic to the forests of west and central Africa. Semuliki National Park has recorded three: crithea, angustatum and oberthueri.
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Pseudoneptis bugandensis (upper and underside, sexes similar)
Evena crithea (male, upper and underside)
Evena crithea (female, upperside)
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Evena crithea (female, underside)
Evena oberthueri (waiting on field image)
Evena angustatum (upperside, sexes similar)
​​Image by Steve Babbs (original from inaturalist.org)
Genus Neptis
This genus was recently revised by Richardson (2019), using a mixture of barcoding, genitalia dissection and wing facies, with a number of taxonomic revisions recommended. The only relevant revision affecting the species recorded at Semuliki concerns Neptis agouale parallela (Collins & Larsen, 1996) which now becomes Neptis melicerta parallela (Collins & Larsen, 1996 comb. nov.). The record N. melicerta listed in the Semuliki checklist (Forbes, 2018) is replaced by N. melicerta parallela. The resulting phylogeny tree from the revision describes eleven groups. The species detailed here will not be split into groups for simplicity.
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There are currently 160 species recognised throughout the Palearctic, Oriental and Australasian regions with 82 species being recorded in the Afrotropical region. Davenport (2001), records 34 species from Uganda while Ducarme (2018), records 29 species (now 28) from north-eastern DRC with only one (Neptis nina) not occurring either in the Ituri Forest or the DRC Semliki Valley. So far 20 species have been recorded at Semuliki but this will be an under-estimation and further targeted sampling of this genus is required to fully record the actual species diversity within this genus.
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Thanks to Ian Richardson for id confirmations and detailing species traits as well as the following information on taxonomic developments for the genus. The image below of N. melicerta unfortunately lacks the identification basal line characteristics (obscured by thumb) which could possibly also identify it as a yet unnamed species. This taxonomic conundrum will be clarified in a forthcoming paper. The image of N. kiriakoffi could also be another species N. laeta (species can be difficult to morphologically distinguish), which has been recorded by Ducarme (2018) in both the ituri Forest and Semliki DRC and is more than likely found at Semuliki. However, the orange tip to the antenna points to a more definitive identification as N. kiriakoffi.
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The image N. morosa could also be another very similar new species recently described by Richardson (2020), in a paper presenting descriptions of two additional new species to the Agatha group. One, N. morosopsis is very similar in appearance and can be defined as having 'flatter distal ends of the discal band markings on the hindwing'. These are distinctly more rounded in N. morosa as most likely seen in the image below. However, the genitalia of these two species can be easily separated. In Uganda, N. morosopsis has only been recorded in the north of the country, while also having been recorded in the eastern DRC, around 50km from Semuliki. So here again is another species that with greater sampling intensity directed at this genus, will be more than likely found to be present at Semuliki.
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Neptis saclava (upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Neptis metella (upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Neptis kiriakoffi (upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Neptis nemetes (upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Neptis melicerta (upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Neptis morosa (upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Neptis nysiades (upper and underside, sexes similar)
Neptis conspicua, constantiae, metanira, nicomedes, strigata, nicoteles, lermanni, trigonophora, serena, seeldrayersi, alta, ochracea and continuata (waiting on field images)
Genus Pseudacraea
An Afrotropical genus containing 16 species of which 10 have been recorded in Uganda and only four so far recorded at Semuliki: Pseudacraea eurytus, P. lucretia, P. warburgi and P. semire. With nine species being recorded from the neighbouring DRC Ituri Forest and Semliki Valley, targeted sampling will undoubtedly increase the species number found within the park.
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Pseudacraea semire (upper and underside, sexes similar)
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Pseudacraea lucretia (upper and underside, sexes similar)
Female image by Sven Bontenbal (Semuliki National Park Collection, www.observation.org)
Pseudacraea warburgi (male and female,upperside)
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Pseudacraea eurytus (male, upper and underside)
Genus Hamanumida
An Afrotropical genus containing a single species: Hamanumida daedalus and recorded at Semuliki.
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Hamanumida daedalus (upper and underside, sexes similar)
Specific site references and bibliography:
Richardson, I., (2019). Revision of the genus Neptis Fabricius, 1807 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) in the Afrotropical Region: Currently described taxa. Metamorphosis 30, pp 69-221.
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Richardson, I., (2020). Revision of the genus Neptis Fabricius, 1807 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in the Afrotropical Region, Part 2: Two new species in the Agatha group. Metamorphosis 31, pp 84-93.