Subfamily Heliconiinae.: A largely pantropical group, with one of the five tribes found in the Holarctic Region.
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Tribe Acraeini: There are two Afrotropical genera contained within this tribe; Telchinia and Acraea, both represented at Semuliki. There are 138 described Afrotropical species within this tribe with 104 species recorded in Uganda. At Semuliki a total of 45 species from both genera have been recorded: 25 from the genus Telchinia and 20 species of Acraea, contributing to a third of the Ugandan species total.
Genus Cymothoe: There are 15 species of the Afrotropical genus Cymothoe so far recorded at Semuliki from a.continent total of 78 (Williams, 2018) and a Ugandan total of 17 (Williams, 2015) or 90% of Uganda's total. The two Ugandan species not being recorded at Semuliki being C. distincta and C. indamora, but with both these species being recorded either in the Ituri Forest or Semliki Valley (Ducarme, 2018) it is a distinct possibility that they will also be found in Semuliki. Only three species are frequently sampled in traps and these are C. sangaris, C. cyclades and C. confusa. This genus has been categorised into clades nd the most commonly trapped species C. confusa had a distinctly clumped distribution within Semuliki. Species from this genus were observed more in the forest midstorey as compared to the preference of the forest floor for the genera Bebearia, Euphaedra and Euriphene.
Genus Cymothoe: There are 15 species of the Afrotropical genus Cymothoe so far recorded at Semuliki from a.continent total of 78 (Williams, 2018) and a Ugandan total of 17 (Williams, 2015) or 90% of Uganda's total. The two Ugandan species not being recorded at Semuliki being C. distincta and C. indamora, but with both these species being recorded either in the Ituri Forest or Semliki Valley (Ducarme, 2018) it is a distinct possibility that they will also be found in Semuliki. Only three species are frequently sampled in traps and these are C. sangaris, C. cyclades and C. confusa. This genus has been categorised into clades nd the most commonly trapped species C. confusa had a distinctly clumped distribution within Semuliki. Species from this genus were observed more in the forest midstorey as compared to the preference of the forest floor for the genera Bebearia, Euphaedra and Euriphene.
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Semuliki National Park, Uganda
Tribe Melanitini: Prior to its revision by Pyrcz et al., (2020), the Paleotropical Melanitini tribe had been composed of only two Afrotropical genera (Melanitis and Gnophodes) and comprised six species. Using adult and larval morphology, together with molecular data the taxonomic classification of the tribe was updated and now comprises four genera with Afrotropical species representation (Haydonia, Gnophodes, Melanitis and Ducarmei).​​
Genus Haydonia: The taxonomic changes proposed by Prycz (2020) now places what was Gnophodes chelys within a new genus Haydonia. This is the only species recorded at Semuliki from the four species described within the Haydonia genus. Two other species within this genus; H. pythia and H. harpa have been recorded in the DRC Ituri Forest by Ducarme (2024). It has been described as a montane species by Pyrcz, but has been recorded both at Semuliki and the DRC Ituri Forest and Semliki valley by Ducarme (2024).
Haydonia chelys (Fabricius, 1793)
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Haydonia chelys (male, upper and upperside)
Haydonia chelys (male upper and upperside, variation)
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Haydonia chelys (male upper and underside, variation)
Haydonia chelys (female, upperside)
Haydonia chelys (male underside, variation)
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Haydonia chelys (female, upperside)
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Haydonia chelys (female uppersides, variation)
Haydonia chelys (female underside, variation)
Genus Gnophodes: A genus with five described species, with one being recorded from Semuliki: G. parmeno. The taxonomic changes split what was G. betsimena into three allopatric species (speciation caused by geographical changes), with G. betsimena now being confined to Madagascar and G.parmeno being the species recorded at Semuliki. G. grogani has been recorded by Ducarme (2024) in the DRC Ituri Forest, although it was solely described as a montane species by Pyrcz (2020).
Gnophodes parmeno (Doubleday, 1849)
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Gnophodes parmeno (male, upperside)
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Gnophodes parmeno (male, underside)
Gnophodes parmeno (female, upperside)
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Genus Melanitis: The two Afrotropical Melanitis species have both been recorded at Semuliki: M. libya and M. leda. M. leda is commonly sampled in the fruit traps while M. libya was rarely encountered. M. libya (along with D. ansorgei) also appeared to be site-dependent which is often due to small-scale spatial differences in environmental conditions that either promotes or inhibits populations, conditions which are often observed within a forest. M. libya and M. leda are seasonally polymorphic and M. leda forms are illustrated by Williams (2020). ​
Melanitis libya (Distant, 1882)
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Melanitis libya (male upper and underside, sexes similar)
Melanitis leda (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Melanitis leda (male upper and underside, wet season form)
Melanitis leda (female upperside, dry season form)
Melanitis leda (female underside, dry season form)
Genus Ducarmeia: The Melanitini tribe taxonomic change moved Melanitis ansorgei into a new monobasic (single species) genus -Ducarmeia. ​
Ducarmeia ansorgei (Rothschild, 1904)
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Ducarmeia ansorgei (male, upper and underside)
Ducarmeia ansorgei (female, upperside)
Ducarmeia ansorgei (female, underside)
Specific genus site links, references and bibliography:
Ducarme, R. (2024). The butterflies (Lepidoptera) Papillionoidia of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Nymphalidae.Net provides a detailed taxonomic overview of the Tribe Melanitini. Tribe Melanitini (Wahlberg, N).
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Pyrcz, T.W., et. al., (2020). Previously unrecognized diversity of Afrotropical Melanitini butterflies (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae):
doubling the number of species and genera. Arthropod Systematics and Phylogeny: 78(2) pp.171-216.
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Savela, M. Haydonia Pyrcz, (2020). Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Excellent online resource.
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Williams, M.C., (2020). Genus Haydonia. A section of Afrotropical Butterflies (17th Edition). Publication is available from Lepidopterists' Society of Africa website https://www.lepsocafrica.org/?p=publications&s=atb.