Noble butterfly

Noble butterfly

We are delighted that Marianne Moenikes has taken over the sponsorship of the Charaxes zingha butterfly.

Charaxes zingha is a butterfly from the Nymphalidae family. There is no German common name.

The male has red wings with very broad, black edges, the female rather orange-red wings with paler and narrower edges. The wingspan is about 7 cm.

This butterfly lives in forests, where it can be seen flying in open woodland areas and along sunny rivers and forest edges.
Charaxes zingha likes to settle under large leaves with its head hanging downwards. The moths can often be observed on fermenting fruit. One of the caterpillars' food plants is Hugonia (Linaceae).

Their distribution ranges from Senegal to Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (north), Uganda and Tanzania (west).
They are endangered due to the destruction of the rainforests.