Noble butterfly

Noble butterfly

We are delighted that Prof Dr Klaus Zerres has taken over the sponsorship of the female of the butterfly species Cymothoe beckeri.

The front wings of the female are black with white spots, the hind wings are mainly white with a black, white-spotted edge and a characteristic yellow spot. The wingspan of the wings is between 7.5 cm - 8.5 cm.

Cymothoe beckeri is a forest butterfly, but it also copes better with agricultural land than most species of the genus.

A special feature of these noble butterflies is that the females imitate poisonous, diurnal "moths" such as Otroeda planax and Nyctemera hesperia to protect themselves from predators.
The males are mainly found at sunspots in the forest, where they sit and attack butterflies flying by. Males and females feed on fallen fruit. The caterpillars' food plants are species of the genus Caloncoba (Flacourtiaceae).

Its distribution area extends from Nigeria to Cameroon, Gabon, Angola, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda (west).

This species is also endangered by the destruction of the rainforests.