Come and have a look at the beautiful Acraea.
I had a wake up call, as I thought that the Acraea was only a single South African species of butterfly.
We wish everyone a Happy Friday.
The butterfly was flitting around on some flowers and I will show you its beauty in here. I have also discovered that there are several species of Acraea's and some species can be found in other countries.
Now here was my surprise finding.
Acraea is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae) of the subfamily Heliconiinae. It seems to be highly paraphyletic and has long been used as a "wastebin taxon" to unite about 220 species of anatomically conservative Acraeini. Some phylogenetic studies show that the genus Acraea is monophyletic if Bematistes and Neotropical Actinote are included (see Pierre & Bernaud, 2009). Most species assembled here are restricted to the Afrotropical realm, but some are found in India, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
Source
So, it turns out that our Acraea butterfly in South Africa is not the only specie.
That all these species were properly placed in Acraea has never been generally accepted. In 1807, Johan Christian Fabricius established the genus for the garden acraea, described as Papilio horta by Carl Linnaeus in 1764, and its relatives. By and by, an increasing number of species were placed here. As early as 1848, and again in 1887 and the early 1990s, it was attempted to divide the genus into groups of closest relatives, as it was suspected that some "Acraea" might actually be closer to other genera in the tribe Acraeini.
Source
I am so glad to find that there are other species of Acraea butterflies and one can never stop learning.
"Papillon" is the French word for butterfly and I chose the Papillon name for our Non Profit, The "metamorphosis" (change) of butterflies from pupae to the beauty of adult explains perfectly what we do to help the poor to change their lives.
And That's All Friends!
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX60HS Bridge camera.
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