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.
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Research, Conservation and Education
Semuliki National Park, Uganda
Subfamily Biblidinae: A predominantly Neotropical group, but within the Afrotropical region six genera are included. All six genera include species from Semuliki. The subfamily Biblidinae contributes 12 species to the fruit-feeding assemblage from five different genera (Mesoxantha are non fruit-feeders - not included here). None of the species could be regarded as common.
Genus Neptidopsis: A genus containing two species, one being recorded at Semuliki: N. ophione. This species was the most commonly sampled of Biblidinae species.
Neptidopsis ophione nucleata (Grünberg, 1911)
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Neptidopsis ophione (upper and underside, sexes similar)
Genus Eurytela. A small Afrotropical genus comprising four species, two of which are recorded at Semuliki: E. dryope and E. hiarbas. Both species are not common with E. hiarbas only being sampled once.
Eurytela dryope angulata (Aurivillius, 1899)
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Eurytela dryope (upper and underside, sexes similar)
Eurytela hiarbas hiarbas (Drury, 1782)
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Eurytela hiarbas (female, upper and underside - males darker)
Genus Sevenia. An Afrotropical genus comprising 17 species, four of which are recorded at Semuliki: S. garega, S. umbrina, S. boisduvali and S. occidentalium. All four species were uncommon. Sexes are similar for all four species.
Sevenia garega (Karsch, 1892)
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Sevenia garega (male, upper and underside)
Sevenia umbrina (Karsch, 1892)
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Sevenia umbrina (male, upper and underside)
Sevenia boisduvali omissa (Rothschild, 1918)
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Sevenia boisduvali (male, upper and underside)
Sevenia occidentalium occidentalium (Mabille, 1876)
Sevenia occidentalium (male, upper and underside)
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Sevenia occidentalium (female, upper and underside)
Genus Ariadne: A genus comprising five Afrotropical species, with three species being recorded at Semuliki: A albifascia, A. enotrea and A. pagenstecheri. None of these species could be described as common, however A. enotrea was sampled more frequently than the other two species. A. personata has been recorded from the NE Ituri Forest.
Ariadne albifascia (Joicey and Talbot, 1921)
Ariadne albifascia (male, upperside (possibly enotrea)
Ariadne albifascia (female, upper and underside)
Ariadne enotrea suffusa (Joicey and Talbot, 1921)
Ariadne enotrea (male, upperside)
Ariadne enotrea (female, upper and underside)
Ariadne pagenstercheri (Suffert, 1904)
Ariadne pagenstecheri (waiting on field image)
Genus Byblia: A genus comprising only two species, both recorded at Semuliki: B. ilithyia and B. anvatara. Both species were recorded from the grassland patch at Semuliki.
Byblia anvatara crameri (Aurivillius, 1894)
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