Charaxes jasius (Two-tailed Pasha, Erdbeerbaumfalter, La Nymphale de l´Arbousier)

Charaxes jasius, also called Two-tailed Pasha or Erdbeerbaumfalter is a very great butterfly from Afrotopic ecozone (Africa). The first description was in 1767 by Linnaeus. With a wingspan of 8.0 – 10.0 cm the Two-tailed Pasha is a small member of the family NYMPHALIDAE, but it is a typical member of the genus Charaxes. The butterfly is brown and orange with blue, white and grey spots. Hind wings have two tails.

Photos for easy identification

Photo © by Mario Maier ([email protected])

Photo © by Mario Maier ([email protected])

These are nice photos of Charaxes jasius (Two-tailed Pasha, Erdbeerbaumfalter, La Nymphale de l´Arbousier). Charaxes jasius is a member of the family NYMPHALIDAE from Afrotropic ecozone (Africa).

Description

The forewings are dark brown. The margin is broad and orange. At the margin there is a chain of small orange spots.
The underside is very colourful. Some areas are orange, grey, white and auburn. There are many black spots, which have a white border.

The hind wings are black and have two tails. The margin is ridged and yellow or orange. At the margin there is a chain of small blue spots.
The underside is very colourful. Some areas are grey and auburn. There is a white band. The margin is yellow or orange. There are many longish black spots, which have a white border.

The body is auburn with black strips, but the upside is black.

Sex differences: None.

Distribution

The Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius) is a butterfly of the Afrotropic ecozone (Africa) and the Palaeartic ecozone (Europe). The distribution include whole Africa without the Sahel and the South of Europe (Spain, France, Italy and Greece).
You can see the Two-tailed Pasha until 500 m sea level.

This world map shows the ecozones in which this butterfly is distributed.

Flight period

The flight period of Two-tailed Pasha is from May to October.

Larval food / Foodplants

Arbutus

General information

The first description of this butterfly was in 1767 by Linnaeus. There are some subspecies.

Charaxes jasius brunnescens [Poulton, 1926]
Charaxes jasius epijasius [Reiche, 1850] Sahel Charaxes
Charaxes jasius harrisoni [Sharpe, 1904] Harrison's Charaxes
Charaxes jasius pagenstecheri [Poulton, 1926]
Charaxes jasius saturnus [Butler, 1865] Foxy Charaxes, Koppie Charaxes

The caterpillar is green with many little yellow spots and two big green spots on back. The head has four warts and the afterbody has also two. The pupa has no silken girdle. This species overwinters as caterpillar.

Protection provisions / Red List

CITES: (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora):

-no entry- (as at 23.06.2005)
EU regulation on trading with species of wild Fauna and Flora

-no entry- (as at 19.08.2005)
IUCN Red List of threatened species:

-no entry- (as at 2004) (see: www.redlist.org/)
Red List of endangered species of Austria:

-unrepresented- (see: www.roteliste.at/)

Regulation of the Viennese regional government:

-unrepresented- (see: www.wien.gv.at/recht/landesrecht-wien/rechtsvorschriften/html/l4800200.htm)