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Project Noah Nature School
Axiocerses harpax harpax
Axiocerses harpax, the common scarlet, is a butterfly in the Lycaenidae family, found in West Africa.
Found in woodland area on the way to Wli Falls.
Photographed in the woodlands of the Volta region of Ghana, this Common Scarlet (Axiocerses harpax harpax) is our Spotting of the Day! The Common Scarlet belongs to the family Lycaenidae, a group with an estimated 6000 species accounting for about one third of all butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea). The majority of lycaenids have some form of association with ants, a relationship called myrmecophily (literally, "ant-love"). For some lycaenids this association goes as far as inducing ants to feed them by regurgitation, a process known as trophallaxis. Axiocerses harpax has a trophallactic association with ants in the genus Crematogaster (acrobat ants). To learn more about the fascinating ecology of ant association: https://buff.ly/2rxj0K6 Researched by Daniele...
Spotted on May 4, 2017
Submitted on May 5, 2018
4 Comments
Missed this Antonio... Thanks for the SOTD congrats !
Great series Pam,congrats on the well deserved SOTD and thanks for sharing
Congratulations Pam, your Common Scarlet is our Spotting of the Day:
"Photographed in the woodlands of the Volta region of Ghana, this Common Scarlet (Axiocerses harpax harpax) is our Spotting of the Day! The Common Scarlet belongs to the family Lycaenidae, a group with an estimated 6000 species accounting for about one third of all butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea). The majority of lycaenids have some form of association with ants, a relationship called myrmecophily (literally, "ant-love"). For some lycaenids this association goes as far as inducing ants to feed them by regurgitation, a process known as trophallaxis. Axiocerses harpax has a trophallactic association with ants in the genus Crematogaster (acrobat ants).
To learn more about the fascinating ecology of ant association: https://buff.ly/2rxj0K6 "
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Beautiful!