Bematistes epaea

Common bematistes
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Clade:	Euarthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Bematistes
Species:	B. epaea
Binomial name
Bematistes epaea (Cramer, 1779)
Synonyms
Papilio epaea Cramer, 1779 Acraea epaea (Cramer, 1779) Acraea (Acraea) epaea Papilio gea Fabricius, 1781 Planema epaea ab. sublutosa Strand, 1914 Planema epaea ab. angustifasciata Grünberg, 1910 Planema epaea bicolorata Le Doux, 1937 Planema epaea f. insolita Le Doux, 1937 Planema epaea f. aurata Le Doux, 1937 Planema epaea nigrita Le Doux, 1937 Acraea epitellus Staudinger, 1896 Planema epaea homochroa Rothschild & Jordan, 1905 Acraea epaea insulana Ackery, 1995 Planema epaea var. insularis Aurivillius, 1910 Planema epaea kivuana Jordan, 1910 Planema epaea lutosa Suffert, 1904 Planema epaea f. cremea Le Doux, 1937 Planema epaea var. melina Thurau, 1903 Planema paragea Grose-Smith, 1900 may be a full species

Bematistes epaea, the common bematistes, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. The habitat consists of forests and dense Guinea savanna.

Both sexes are mimicked by Elymniopsis bammakoo, Pseudacraea eurytus and Mimacraea darwinia, while the female is also the model for the female of Papilio cynorta. Acraea jodutta is probably a co-mimic.

The larvae feed on Lindaeckeria schweinfurthii, Lindaeckeria dentata and Adenia cisampelloides.

...
Wikipedia