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CHARAXES VARANES (Charaxes varanes)
Phylum —arthropoda
Class —insecta
Order — lepidoptera
Family —nymphalidae
Genus –charaxes
Appearance
The older caterpillars are green, with three toothed light brown spots on the back. On their head they have 4 horns turned back.
The wingspan is 65–70 mm in males and 70–90 mm in females.The upperside of the body and roughly the inner half of the wings is white, sharply delineated on the forewings parallel to the length of the body, and diffusely delineated parallel to the margin of the hindwing. Outside the white area of the upperside, the wings are orange to brown, with a pattern of lighter and darker flecks. The underside of the body and wings mimic a dead leaf. A slightly diffuse but clear, sepia brown straight line divides the under wing in a zone next to the body and a zone near the wings' edges. The inner zone is mostly light beige with three parallel, curved, interrupted, grey brown wavy lines, circling the wings' attachment to the body. A triangle based on the front of the forewing and bordering the division line has the dark grayish-brown color of the outer zone. The outer zone of the underside of the hindwing has a line of clear eyespots while the forewing has vaguer markings. The outer spur on the hindwing is well developed. Male and female are alike.
Habitat
This butterfly found in Africa from Saudi Arabia to South Africa.
Behavior
Its flight period is year round.
Charaxes varanes is a large, actively, fast and high flying butterfly. These butterflies are usually observed as single individuals flying fast and high. They mostly rest with closed wings, although males may sit high with slightly opened wings.
It demonstrates daily activity.
Diet
The caterpillars feed on the leaves of Allophylus and Cardiospermum (Sapindaceae family).
The butterflies feed on the sap flowing from wounds on trees, and rotting fruits.
Reproduction
For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. Females lay eggs one at a time on the top of the leaves of the forage plant.The eggs are yellow.Forage plants should be replaced every 3-4 days.It is better to keep the caterpillars in terrariums of 6-8 pieces.In the terrarium, you need to place a branch of a forage plant. The temperature is 22-25oC. The humidity is 70-80%. The pupa is bright green. Butterflies live approximately for 10 days.
In captivity
The mesh cage with a size of 50 × 50 × 70 mm is suitable for keeping butterflies. Room temperature is necessary. Daylight time is 12 hours. You can feed butterflies an overripe banana or with honey syrup diluted with boiled water in a ratio of 1:10.
