Amauris tartarea


Amauris tartarea, the monk or dusky friar, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia. The habitat consists of various types of forests.
Adult males mud-puddle and imbibe pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Heliotropium species, especially from the roots of dug-up plants. Both sexes are attracted to flowers. The species is mimicked by Hypolimnas anthedon.
The larvae feed on Asclepiadaceae and Brassica species.

Subspecies