Berberia abdelkader is a species of butterfly in the Nymphalidae family. It is endemic to the North African region, mainly Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

, and Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

. It flies in the vast steppes and the males are easily seen flying in search of a shy female. Usually, females are fertilised as soon as they hatch.

Subspecies

There are 3 subspecies of Berberia abdelkader:

• ssp. abdelkader (E.Morocco (Col du Jerada, Oujda) - Algeria - W.Libya)
• ssp. nelvai (Seitz, 1911) (Aures Mountains, Algeria), Moulares Mines (Tunisia)
• ssp. taghzefti (Wyatt, 1952) (Taghzeft Pass (Morocco)

Source

• Michel Tarrier
• Tennent, John, 1996; The butterflies of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia; ISBN 0-906802-05-9