Phalanta eurytis
Encyclopedia
The Forest Leopard is a butterfly
of the Nymphalidae
family. It is found in tropical Africa
, Ethiopia
and Sudan
.
The wingspan
is 40-45 mm for males and 43-48 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round with a peak from January to June.
The larva
e feed on Dovyalis rhamnoides, Dovyalis caffra
, Populus, Trimeria, Maytenus
and Salix species.
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
of the Nymphalidae
Nymphalidae
The Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterflies which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called...
family. It is found in tropical Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 40-45 mm for males and 43-48 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round with a peak from January to June.
The larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e feed on Dovyalis rhamnoides, Dovyalis caffra
Dovyalis caffra
Dovyalis caffra Warb., the Umkokola, or Kei apple, is a small to medium-sized tree, native to southern Africa. Its distribution extends from the Kei River in the south, from which the common name derives, northwards along the eastern side of the continent to Tanzania...
, Populus, Trimeria, Maytenus
Maytenus
Maytenus is a genus of flowering plants in the staff vine family, Celastraceae. Members of the genus are distributed throughout Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Micronesia and Australasia, the Indian Ocean and Africa...
and Salix species.
Subspecies
- Phalanta eurytis eurytis (Tropical Africa)
- Phalanta eurytis microps (Rothschild & Jordan, 1903) (Ethiopia, Sudan)