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
Genus Gnophodes: There were three species of the Afrotropical Gnophodes genus described; 2 species being recorded at Semuliki: G. chelys and G betsimena. The third species, G. grogani is found in more montane forest habitat. Both species are sampled frequently, although not abundant and appear to be site-specific, found in the more disturbed Kirumya forest site. Recent taxonomic changes now places G. chelys within a new genus Haydonia while G. betsimena has been split into three allopatric species (speciation caused by geographical changes), with G. betsimena being confined to Madagascar and G.parmeno being the species recorded at Semuliki.
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Gnophodes parmeno (male, upperside)
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Gnophodes parmeno (male, underside)
Gnophodes parmeno (female, upperside)
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Gnophodes parmeno (female, underside)
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Haydonia chelys (male, upper and upperside)
Haydonia chelys (male upper and upperside, variation)
Haydonia chelys (male upper and underside, variation)
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Haydonia chelys (female uppersides, variation)
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Haydonia chelys (female, upper and underside)
Haydonia chelys (female underside, variation)
Specific genus site links, references and bibliography:
Nymphalidae.Net provides a detailed taxonomic overview of the Tribe Melanitini. Tribe Melanitini (Wahlberg, N).
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Pyrcz, T.W., et. al., (2020). Previously unrecognized diversity of Afrotropical Melanitini butterflies (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae):
doubling the number of species and genera. Arthropod Systematics and Phylogeny: 78(2) pp.171-216.
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Savela, M. Gnophodes Doubleday, [1849]. Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Excellent online resource.
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Williams, M.C., (2020). Genus Gnophodes. A section of Afrotropical Butterflies (17th Edition). Publication is available from Lepidopterists' Society of Africa website https://www.lepsocafrica.org/?p=publications&s=atb.