Fashion commodore | |
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Wet-season form, São Tomé and Príncipe | |
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Dry season form, Uganda | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Nymphalidae |
Genus: | Precis |
Species: | P. pelarga
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Binomial name | |
Precis pelarga (Fabricius, 1775)
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Synonyms | |
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Precis pelarga, the fashion commodore, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae which is native to tropical sub-Saharan Africa.
Description
[edit]Precis pelarga has a wingspan reaching about 43–51 millimetres (1.7–2.0 in). The forewings are falcate. A clearer band crosses the forewings and hindwings. This band is orange-white in the wet season, bluish white in the dry season (seasonal polymorphism). The basal area of the wings is brown, while the margins are blackish, with a series of small white spots. The undersides of the wings are variegated, with yellowish-brown cryptic colours, mimicking dead leaves. Larvae feed on Solenostemon and Coleus (Lamiaceae species).
Distribution
[edit]This species is present in tropical Africa (Senegal, Angola, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, western Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea).
Habitat
[edit]Precis pelarga can be found in open forests and in savannah, at an elevation of about 0–1,350 metres (0–4,429 ft) above sea level.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Precis_pelarga-2_Ahozon_2012-01-22_uns.jpg/220px-Precis_pelarga-2_Ahozon_2012-01-22_uns.jpg)
References
[edit]- "Precis Hübner, [1819]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
External links
[edit]- Learn about butterflies
- Fleeting Wonders
- Precis pelarga at Tree of Life web