Mimacraea marshalli
Mimacraea marshalli | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Lycaenidae |
Genus: | Mimacraea |
Species: | M. marshalli |
Binomial name | |
Mimacraea marshalli Trimen, 1898[1] | |
Synonyms | |
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Mimacraea marshalli, the Marshall's acraea mimic, is a butterfly in the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.[2] The habitat consists of Brachystegia woodland in hilly country at altitudes ranging from 1,200 to 1,700 metres, as well as open woodland.
Adults feed from the secretions of scale insects (Coccoidea species). They were noted to stroke the insects with their antennae while feeding from their secretions. Adults are on wing from October to May.
The larvae feed on dark, blue-green (or black) algae (cyanobacteria) growing on tree trunks. They are brown, densely hairy and very mobile.
Subspecies
- Mimacraea marshalli marshalli (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, north-eastern and eastern Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Sankuru, Lualaba, South Kivu and Haut-Uele)
- Mimacraea marshalli dohertyi Rothschild, 1901 (Kenya: highlands east of the Rift Valley, Tanzania: north to the Arusha district)
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mimacraea marshalli. |
Wikispecies has information related to: Mimacraea marshalli |
- ↑ Mimacraea at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms
- ↑ Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Subtribe Mimacraeina
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