Acraea (butterfly)
| Acraea | |
|---|---|
| Adult male fiery acraea (A. acrita) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Tribe: | Acraeini |
| Genus: | Acraea Fabricius, 1807 |
| Type species | |
| Papilio horta (Linnaeus, 1764) | |
| Species | |
|
Presently about 220, see text | |
| Synonyms | |
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Acraea is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae) of the subfamily Heliconiinae. It seems to be highly paraphyletic and has long been used as a "wastebin taxon" to unite about 220 species of anatomically conservative Acraeini. Some phylogenetic studies show that the genus Acraea is monophyletic if Bematistes and Neotropical Actinote are included (see Pierre & Bernaud, 2009). Most species assembled here are restricted to the Afrotropical realm, but some are found in India, Southeast Asia, and Australia.