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Subfamily Charaxinae  Charaxes hansali  Melanitis leda (Linnaeus, 1758)       Common Evening Brown

 C. & R. Felder, [1867]

 Cream-banded Charaxes     A rare species in the Levant’s southern fringes. This large and
          unmistakable Satyrid is unique among the region butterflies;
          being a crepuscular species, flying mainly at dusk, hence its
 This powerful flyer is one of the largest butterflies of   common name. Adults may vary greatly in the wings’ shape and
 #
 the region, rivalling in size its related species C. Jasius.   underside coloration between wet and dry seasons, with the first
 Better adapted to arid areas than other congeners;   having more angular wings and much reduced and often absent
 inhabiting desert oasis and scrap-vegetation areas   eye spots.
 supporting its LHP. Males are territorial. Adults are
 attracted to fermenting fruits and feed on sap.
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 3 - B | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Magenta
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 3 - B | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Yellow
          %LRORJ\
 #21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 3 - B | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Black
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 3 - B | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Cyan
 Biology  )OLJKW  SHULRG  In Saudi Arabia reported in May (Wadi Dur, T.
          Larsen, 1980; A.R. Pittaway, 1981), October (Wadi Sharas,                         DGXOW  1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8      9       1 0      1  12


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                                                                                    HJJJ
 Flight period: recorded in Gebel Elba, SE Egypt in March   T. Larsen, 1981) and December (Dhofar, T. Michels, 1979).                lar v a
                                                                       pupa
 and April (Gilbert & Zalat, 2007: 101) ~1000-1800 m.   Elsewhere fly year round (Larsen, 1983).
 Recorded in Jebel el Lawz, Hejaz, NW Saudi Arabia in
 April, 2000-2500 m. In Oman recorded in March, 400-  /LIH KLVWRU\   not reported from the Levant. A fully grown 40 mm
 1000 m (Larsen, 1983: 419). Elsewhere year round.  long larva was found in the Lemur’s Anja Community Reserve in
          SW Madagascar in mid-April 2018 and was bred to male adult
 Life history: not reported in the Levant. In Africa: the   by DB (illustr.). The larva was light green with thin dark green
 singly laid egg is spherical with ridged flat top, cream   dorsal line and three wider lines along both sides, the lower one
 and change to yellow, a brown ring appears later and   being the wider. The body was covered with small white setae
 the egg becomes brown before L1 hatches after 7-10   and short white hairs. The body ends with whitish-green fork.
 days. The newly hatched larva it olive green with black   The head had two “horns”, dark green, with dark brown strip
 head. The mature larva resembles that of C. Jasius: is   runs up its sides to the “horns”, bordering a thinner white strip.
 55 mm long, green with thin yellow strips on both sides   The head was covered with long hairs, white on the green and
 and a mid-dorsal small oval reddish-purple spot. The   white areas, dark brown and white on the brown areas and horns    dry season form
 pupa is suspended from the LHP, 28 mm long, green   (illustr.). The green pendulous 17 mm long pupa is typical Satyrid
 and resembles that of C. Jasius. The adult eclosed after   shape, it remained green until one day before hatching in the
 3 weeks (Henning, 1988: 96).  lab. after eight days.
 Recorded hostplants: Not reported in the Levant,   5HFRUGHG KRVWSODQWV  Poaceae (Gramineae).
 elsewhere  Salvadora persica or  Dobera glabra
 (Salvadoraceae). Also known to feed on Osyris (illustr.)
 and Colpoon spp. (Santalaceae), but these plants are   'LVWULEXWLRQ
 extremely rare in NW Arabia (Collenette, 1999: 666).
          TL: “China”.  This species is widely distributed throughout all
          the Palaeotropical and Australian regions with numerous sspp.
 Distribution  described throughout its range. The Levant’s specimens belong
          to the nominotypical ssp.
 TL: “Africa, Bogos” (N Ethiopia). Distributed from E                          wet season form
 Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, to SE Egypt and the Arabian
 Peninsula. Three subspecies were reported in the wider
 Levant: C. h. hansali C. & R. Felder [1867] - confined
 to southeast Egypt in Gebel Elba.  C.  h. arabica Riley,
 1931. TL: “S. E. Arabia, Qara Mts and Wadi Balsh” -
 recorded from Dhofar & Oman (Larsen, 1983: 418)                                                  © Dubi Benyamini
 and C. h. yemeni Turlin, 1998, described from Yemen.
 In April 2001 it was discovered at Jebel el Lawz, NW
 Hejaz, a northwards expansion of 950 km from its
 known record in Taif (Pittaway, 1985), (Benyamini &
 Müller, 2020).                               © Dubi Benyamini


                                                                                                  © Dubi Benyamini




 ©  Limor Gefen  Charaxes jasius  © Hilary Welch  © Leah Benyamini  © Leah Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini







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